Debated in Parliament on 11 May 2021.
Mr Yip Hon Weng asked the Minister for Manpower (a) whether the Ministry regulates how maid agencies should follow up on the FDWs' welfare throughout their employment period; (b) whether agency fees can be prorated monthly rather than collected in one lump sum to motivate them to remain invested in the employee’s performance and well-being; and (c) whether there are training opportunities for agency employees to improve communication with FDWs and identify signs of distress.
At the Committee of Supply in March, MOM said that we were reviewing measures to better safeguard the well-being of MDWs. One of the areas was to leverage existing touchpoints with MDWs so that they could seek timely help if needed. Since April, MOM has introduced house visits and supported the Centre of Domestic Employees (CDE) to expand the one-to-one interviews to cover more MDWs. MOM is looking at how employment agencies (EAs) can also play an active part in checking in on MDWs whom they place. This is to complement the other touchpoints that MDWs have contact with.
The payment terms of EAs are determined in the contract between employers and EAs. As EAs incur recruitment and training costs upfront, they may have to raise overall fees if lump-sum payment is not allowed. Nevertheless, we agree that EAs should have an interest to make good matches and that the MDWs whom they place are settling in well. To encourage EAs to take greater ownership of their matching outcomes, MOM announced in 2019 that EAs will be required to offer employers the option of a service fee refund of at least 50% if the MDW’s contract ends prematurely within the first six months of employment. This measure will be implemented by the end of this year. We will monitor how this measure works.
To the point about training, all employment agency personnel (EAPs) are required to obtain the Certificate for Employment Intermediaries (CEI). The CEI equips EAPs with knowledge of employment laws and regulations, as well as good EA practices to adopt, such as checking-in with the employer and the MDW during the initial months of deployment to find out if the MDW has encountered any employment-related issues. In addition, the Association of Employment Agencies (Singapore) offers the Employment Agency Professional Development Course to improve the capabilities of EAPs. The course trains EAPs on how to resolve disputes between MDWs and employers, and identify MDWs who might be in distress. We encourage EAs to upskill their EAPs to help them better serve their clients.
PAPERCUTS