Debated in Parliament on 2 Feb 2021.
Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap asked the Minister for Manpower in each year of the the past five years, how many cases of firms underpaying its foreign staff have been detected.
Mr Leong Mun Wai asked the Minister for Manpower with regard to cases of underpayment of foreign employees’ salaries (a) how many of these cases have been discovered since 2010; (b) what are the main methods used to effect such underpayments; and (c) whether employment agencies are involved in any of these violations.
Under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act, it is an offence for employers to not pay foreign employees their contractual fixed monthly salaries or inflate the salaries of their foreign employees with no intention of paying them the amount declared to MOM.
Between 2010 and 2014, an average of 60 employers per year were taken to task for underpaying their foreign employees’ salaries. MOM stepped up education efforts to encourage foreign employees to report salary irregularities. We also improved detection capabilities. As a result, between 2015 and 2019, about 190 employers per year were taken to task. Most cases did not involve employment agencies. Nonetheless, over the same 10-year period, enforcement action was taken against six licensed employment agencies.
In some cases, underpayment was done simply by paying their foreign employees a lower salary. Some tried to avoid leaving any paper trail by crediting full declared salaries to the foreign employees and requiring the employees to return a portion back to them in the form of electronic transfers or in cash.
There is no excuse for underpayment of any employee, foreign or local. MOM will continue to take strong surveillance and enforcement action against errant employers and any other parties who abetted the offences.
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