Debated in Parliament on 2 Oct 2018.
Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Manpower (a) in the last three years, how many Work Permit holders are hired under the Direct R1 Pathway or Market-Based Skills Recognition Framework; (b) how does the Ministry verify that workers hired under the two schemes are paid at least the minimum salary of $1,600; (c) how many employers have been charged for false salary declarations relating to these schemes; and (d) whether the Ministry will consider requiring Work Permit holders on these schemes to be paid electronically to verify that they are paid the minimum salary as is done for S-Pass holders.
As at the end of 2017, there were 91,700 Work Permit holders granted R1 (Skilled) status on account of their skills or years of experience and meeting a minimum salary criterion.
As part of the application for or renewal of Work Permits, employers are required to declare that the indicated salary is true, and they are warned that failure to pay the declared salary or providing false information is an offence. The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) conducts random inspections to detect non-compliance. In addition, when foreign workers lodge complaints of underpayment of salary or kickbacks, MOM also investigates the employer for making a false declaration in their application.
In 2017, 61 employers were investigated for falsely declaring the salary in a Work Permit application involving the R1 qualifying routes raised by the Member. Of these, 18 employers were either prosecuted or issued with an Administrative Financial Penalty. Their work pass privileges were also suspended.
All employers are already required by law to pay their foreign workers through electronic means if the worker requests for it. The Migrant Workers' Centre is stepping up education efforts to encourage workers to make such requests. They are also making arrangements to help foreign workers to open bank accounts. In addition, as earlier announced, MOM is consulting with stakeholders on the further step of making electronic payments of salaries mandatory for all Work Permit holders.
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