EMPLOYMENT ACT (Violations)

EMPLOYMENT ACT

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(Violations): **

21.

Mr Yeo Guat Kwang asked the Minister for Manpower (a) how frequently does his Ministry carry out enforcement actions against employers violating the Employment Act; and (b) if his Ministry did a follow-up with the employer of the Bangladeshi worker who was asked to work more than 12 hours a day and did not even have gloves to protect himself from injury.

Dr Ng Eng Hen: The Employment Act stipulates the minimum conditions of employment in Singapore and employers are required to comply with these conditions. My Ministry takes a serious view on employers who flout the provisions of the Employment Act. We investigate complaints of violations which are brought to the Ministry’s attention and where an offence has been committed, appropriate action, including prosecution, is taken against the employer.

With regard to the media report that a Bangladeshi worker was asked to work more than 12 hours a day, I would like to inform the House that under the Employment Act, the maximum working hours a day, including overtime work, is 12 hours. Further, the maximum hours of overtime work is limited to 72 hours a month unless an exemption is granted by the Commissioner for Labour. To ensure that the safety of workers is not compromised, employers are also required to provide the necessary safety equipment to protect them from accidents.

It is therefore an offence for an employer to ask his workers to work more than 12 hours a day, and the employer concerned is liable for prosecution if he has committed such an offence. On conviction, the employer can be fined up to $1,000 for each offence and, for the second or subsequent convictions, he is liable to pay a fine not exceeding $2,000 and/or imprisonment of up to one year.

Between 2005 to February this year, the Ministry has successfully prosecuted five employers for various offences committed under the Employment Act. One employer was fined $24,000 for deploying four workers to work more than 12 hours a day.

The Ministry has not received any complaint by the Bangladeshi worker who was reported to have been asked by his employer to work in excess of the legal limit of 12 hours. If the incident had been brought to the attention of the Ministry, we would have investigated into the matter. However, we note from the press report that the worker has already returned to his home country.