Company fined $18,000 for making false declaration on fair hiring

1. A company has been convicted of falsely declaring in its work pass application that it had considered local candidates fairly, in order to hire a foreigner it had pre-selected for a job position.
2. The sole director of Ti2 Logistics Pte Ltd, Francis Chiang Tin Yui, pleaded guilty to one charge under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act. The Court convicted the company of the charge and imposed a fine of $18,000. The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has barred the company from hiring foreign employees for 24 months, and will revoke the work pass of the foreign employee who was hired for the position with immediate effect.
3. Ti2 Logistics is the first firm to be prosecuted for making false declarations on fair hiring considerations, under the enhanced Fair Consideration Framework (FCF) . In January 2020, MOM stiffened the administrative penalties under the FCF to strengthen deterrence against workplace discrimination, by revoking work pass privileges of discriminatory employers for a longer duration. In addition, MOM will prosecute employers and key personnel who make false declarations on fair consideration.
   
   Case Background
4. On 26 June 2019, Ti2 Logistics submitted an Employment Pass (EP) application for a foreign candidate it had pre-selected for the position of General Manager. In its work pass application, the company indicated that it had interviewed one foreigner for the said position. However, MOM rejected the EP application as the company failed to comply with the FCF requirement.
5. To circumvent the FCF requirement, the company posted an advertisement on Jobs Bank for the position of Business Development Manager on 10 July 2019.
6. Investigations revealed that 22 local candidates responded to the advertisement by submitting their résumés to the company via Jobs Bank. However, the company did not review and consider any of the local candidates.
7. The company then resubmitted the EP application for the pre-selected foreign candidate on 26 July 2019. In its work pass application, the company falsely declared that it had interviewed two Singaporeans and one foreigner for the position, and considered local candidates fairly.
   
   Employers to comply with fair hiring requirements
8. Ms Christine Loh, Director of Employment Standards Enforcement of MOM’s Labour Relations and Workplaces Division, said, “Ti2 Logistics’ conviction is a strong reminder to employers that MOM does not tolerate any form of workplace discrimination. It is unacceptable for employers to treat the job advertising requirement under the FCF as a paper exercise. We will continue to be vigilant on discriminatory employers, and take stern action against those who try to circumvent our fair hiring requirements.”
9. All employers must make accurate, complete and truthful declarations to the Controller of Work Passes in their work pass applications. Those who fail to do so can be fined up to $20,000, or jailed for up to two years or both, for each charge.
10. Members of the public who have specific information of employers with discriminatory hiring or workplace practices should report the matter to the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) at www.tal.sg/tafep/contact-us. All information will be kept strictly confidential.