Greater Flexibility for Businesses to Optimise their Foreign Manpower

Extension of Maximum Period of Employment and Greater Flexibility in Deployment

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) will accord greater flexibility for businesses to optimise their foreign manpower, within the dependency ratio ceiling (DRC) limits. This is in response to calls by some Members of Parliament during the recent Budget debate and feedback from industries during MOM’s regular industry engagements.

With effect from July 2012, MOM will extend the maximum Period of Employment (POE) for unskilled Work Permit Holders (WPHs) from Non-Traditional Sources (NTS) and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) from the current 6 years to 10 years for all sectors.

MOM will also consider allowing businesses greater flexibility in the deployment of their existing foreign workers across job duties within the same firm, to boost efficiency and productivity. A pilot run will be carried out later this year for the Hotel industry.

For more information, please see our press release and blog post.