Debated in Parliament on 6 Aug 2018.
Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Manpower (a) in the past three years, of the notifications received to reduce the salary of a Work Permit holder stated in their in-principle approval letter, what proportions are within (i) one month, (ii) one year of the Work Permit issue date; and (b) whether the Ministry will consider a limit on the amount a company is allowed to reduce the salary of the Work Permit holder.
In the past three years, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) was notified of salary reductions affecting less than 2% of non-domestic Work Permit holders per year. From that number, less than one in 10 were within one month, and about four in 10 were within one year, after the Work Permit was issued.
As explained in a reply to a Parliamentary Question raised by the Member on this topic last month, MOM is studying the issue and we will consult the relevant stakeholders to determine the best step forward for foreign workers.
Mr Speaker: Mr Louis Ng.
I thank the Minister of State for the reply. Could I just check further whether 2% is about 14,000 workers every year? It is quite a huge number. So, I want to check whether MOM obtains this copy of the written consent to show that the worker accepts the salary reduction, or do we only verify that this written consent exists when a dispute occurs, during the dispute resolution stage.
Second, could I also ask, with the upcoming consultation, whether MOM would also be consulting with non-government organisations (NGOs) that are working on this issue as well?
I thank the Member. I will take the second question first. Certainly, we are open to NGOs being consulted or taking their feedback.
On the first question, certainly, I think that all the foreign workers have direct access to MOM if they want to make a complaint. At this moment, we do not take every written change at the point of application. But having said that, when there is a dispute, we will require the documentation to be provided. And the law protects the worker, especially when there is no documentation provided in terms of a written agreement on the change in salary.
Mr Speaker: Mr Louis Ng.
Sir, just one more question. I understand that the reply is that five in 10 of these salary reductions occurred within one year from the Work Permit issue date. But could I also check whether we have data on how many of the salary reductions occurred before the Work Permit issue date, which means that the foreign workers were promised a salary, but when they arrived in Singapore, the salary was immediately reduced? Does this conduct constitute providing false information to MOM during the Work Permit application stage?
I thank the Member. In short, any reduction in salary before the Work Permit issuance will constitute an offence. Technically, there is no need for them to submit any documentation because reduction in salary before Work Permit issuance is not allowed.
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