Foreign Domestic Worker (FDW) Employer Fined for Compromising Safety of Her Worker

1. A Foreign Domestic Worker (FDW) employer, Tang Cheong Kim, was convicted and fined $4,000 in Court on 6 November 2007 for failing to provide a safe working environment for her FDW.
   
   

   Facts of the Case

2. In May 2007, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) received a complaint that an FDW had performed work in an unsafe manner at a 10th floor unit of Signature Park Condominium.
3. Investigations revealed that Tang Cheong Kim had breached Work Permit conditions when she compromised the safety of her FDW. Tang Cheong Kim had instructed her worker on several occasions to climb over the parapet and onto the narrow balcony ledge of her 10th floor apartment, which has no barricade or grille, to water and rearrange the potted plants. Please see Annex A for an illustration.
   
   

   Failure to Provide a Safe Working Environment

4. Aw Kum Cheong, Divisional Director, Foreign Manpower Management Division, MOM, said, “Employers have a moral and legal responsibility to protect the safety and welfare of their FDWs. They should ensure that their FDWs work in a safe environment and are not exposed to unnecessary work hazards. Since 2006, MOM has prosecuted five employers for compromising the safety of their FDWs. We will continue to take errant employers to task.”
5. As part of the Work Permit conditions, employers are responsible for providing a safe working environment for their FDWs. Failure to do so is an offence under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act (EFMA) and offenders can be fined up to $5,000 and/or jailed up to six months. Errant employers will also be debarred from employing another FDW.
6. FDWs and members of the public can report unsafe working conditions to MOM by calling the MOM FDW Hotline at (65) 1800-339 5505 or via email at mom_fmmd@mom.gov.sg.