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Oral Answer by Mr Tan Chuan-Jin, Acting Minister for Manpower, to Parliamentary Question on the Number of Complaints Filed by Workers

Notice Paper 116. Of 2014 For The Sitting On 14 April 2014
Question Nos. 1851 For Oral Answer

MP: ANG WEI NENG

To ask the Acting Minister for Manpower (a) in the past three years, what is the number of complaints filed by (i) local workers (ii) foreign domestic workers and (iii) other foreign workers from traditional and non-traditional sources; (b) how many of these complaints made by local and foreign workers are substantiated; and (c) whether there are instances where the Ministry took action against workers who make invalid complaints.

Answer:

  1. In 2013, MOM assisted approximately 7,000 non-domestic work permit holders, of all nationalities, with difficulties. About half of these cases were employment-related, covering claims for salary or overtime payments. The remainder included well-being issues, such as employers failing to ensure that their workers had acceptable accommodation; as well as work injury compensation-related issues, such as non-payment of compensation. As of 2013, just to give us a sense of proportion, this represented less than 1% of the total non-domestic work permit holder population.
  2. This was a significant drop from 2011 and 2012, where we assisted approximately 14,000 cases each year. This was in spite of the increase in foreign worker population.
  3. With regard to foreign domestic workers, the number of workers assisted has also come down, from an average of about 700 workers per year in 2011 and 2012, to less than 500 workers last year, in spite of the increasing population. These cases tend to relate to salary disputes and illegal deployment. As of 2013, again, to have a sense of proportion, this represented about 0.2% of the total foreign domestic worker population.
  4. There has been a slight increase in the number of local workers who approached MOM to resolve issues related to employment and work injury compensation. In 2013, about 3,800 local workers lodged cases with MOM for such matters; compared with an average of about 3,400 such cases annually in 2012 and 2011. Is there a particular reason for this increase? I think a lot of it has got to do with increased awareness. We have stepped up our efforts to make sure that our workers understand their rights considerably and I think this has been the impact of that.
  5. While the overall situation is generally good, as you can see from the proportions, they do represent quite small proportions of the overall foreign workforce, it is clearly not perfect situation, there are egregious practices and there is certainly always room for improvement. While my Ministry stands ready to assist any worker with a rightful claim, regardless of nationality, it is also important to emphasise that we will not tolerate attempts to game or take advantage of our systems. Persons who do so will be taken to task. Over the past three years, we have taken action against about 100 workers for making false declarations to our officers.