FOREIGN DOMESTIC WORKERS (Provisional accreditation scheme)

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FOREIGN DOMESTIC WORKERS:

(Provisional accreditation scheme): 6.

Ms Braema Mathiaparanam asked the Acting Minister for Manpower if he will explain (a) how the provisional accreditation scheme will work and contribute to the overall objective of raising the service standards of agencies dealing with foreign domestic workers; (b) how effective the accreditation scheme will be as only a third of the 600 firms have signed up; and (c) what assurance is there that those on the scheme will not pack up after a year, leaving behind sub-standard service delivery.

The Acting Minister for Manpower (Dr Ng Eng Hen): Mr Speaker, Sir, the

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Ministry of Manpower announced two years ago, that from June 2004 onwards, all Employment Agencies, or EAs, who place foreign domestic workers will need to be accredited before their licences can be renewed. This was to increase professionalism within the industry.

There has been steady progress since the announcement. Two bodies - CASETRUST from CASE and the Association of Employment Agencies ( Singapore ) - presently administer the accreditation scheme. As at mid-April 2004, we have 82 accredited EAs, with 118 in the process of accreditation. These Employment Agencies handle about 73% of the foreign domestic workers being placed out. More Employment Agencies are expected to become accredited when they need to renew their licences.

However, we have also received requests from some Employment Agencies. These are mainly the smaller ones, who have asked for more time and assistance. In consultation with the two accreditation bodies, my Ministry has introduced the provisional accreditation scheme to help these Employment Agencies transit to full accreditation.

Ms Braema Mathiaparanam (Nominated Member): Could I ask the Minister the answer to part (c) of the Question, please? What assurance is there that once the firms come under the provisional scheme, they may just pack up, leaving some employers and domestic workers in the lurch over their contracts under the provisional scheme?

Dr Ng Eng Hen: Sir, the Member has suggested that there is some connection being on the provisional accreditation scheme. I am not quite certain what she means or why the provisional accreditation scheme has anything to do with the Employment Agencies, or the Employment Agencies reneging on their contracts. The accreditation scheme was meant to increase professionalism. The

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risk of either employers or employees reneging on their contracts should be seen as a separate aspect. What we are trying to do is to raise the level of standard so that there is a clear understanding. When these Employment Agencies place foreign domestic workers, there should be conditions stipulated in the contracts. We also try to move upstream these Employment Agencies to look at some of the issues and well-being of these foreign domestic workers after they have been placed out. This would be an on-going movement.

But I suppose that any time that the foreign domestic workers join their employers, there can be problems. We would try to reduce this upfront, but it is a little bit unreasonable to ask anyone to assure that Employment Agencies can guarantee that there will be no problems after that.