Groups welcome agency fee refund for foreign workers
Source: CNA
SINGAPORE: A key amendment recently passed in the Employment Agencies (Amendment) Bill is being seen as a step forward by employment agencies and groups that look after the welfare of foreign workers.
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Source: CNA
SINGAPORE: A key amendment recently passed in the Employment Agencies (Amendment) Bill is being seen as a step forward by employment agencies and groups that look after the welfare of foreign workers.
Under the new rules, foreign workers or maids who have their contract terminated within six months will be refunded 50 per cent of their agency fees.
While workers who are prematurely terminated may take some comfort from the new measure, some industry players said there are some concerns regarding the move to get the employment agencies to refund the workers.
"This regulation in fact is good for the workers. However, we need to study into the mechanisms how the refund works. If the maids resign work through the employers of their own accord, or own personal reason, the refund to the maids might not be appropriate," said Gary Chin, Managing Director, Nation Employment.
Some also questioned how the refund system can be implemented if a worker is prematurely terminated without the Employment Agency's knowledge.
Bridget Tan, President, Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics, said: "The employer has the right to just cancel the work permit still under the present system to send a domestic worker home and deport her without even the agent knowing, the EA knowing that she has been deported."
John Gee, President of Transient Workers Count Too, shared the same view.
"If they get fired by an employer, employers don't necessarily return a worker to an agency if they don't want them. Sometimes they will send them out of the country pretty quickly.
"And if the agency doesn't hear about this quickly, then how would they intervene?"
The issue of whether workers will also be given the full refund of the agency fee was also raised.
Others raised the possibility of workers not being given the full refund.
"One of the questions is how much will be counted as a fee and if some agencies who are not so responsible can try to describe the charges made to workers in such a way that the fee is minimised to a meaningless figure. That would be one area which needs looking at," said Gee.
According to the Manpower Ministry, the onus is on the Employment Agency to know if a worker is terminated within the six-month period.
The ministry's website states the agency may consider entering into a contractual agreement with the employer to ensure that the employer informs the agency when the worker's employment is terminated.
And if a worker fails to receive the refund, the worker can report it to the Manpower Ministry.
"We always advise employers if they need to terminate or repatriate a maid, we will advise them to go through us. However, there are certain percentage of employers [who] prefer to do it by themselves," said Chin.
"So the only way that we get to know is that we alias closely with our insurers. They will provide us the information upon the security bond being cancelled. Then we can double check with the employers what is the status of the current maid," he added.
The new measures are expected to kick in by April this year and will be administered by a new Commissioner for Employment Agencies in the Manpower Ministry.
While workers who are prematurely terminated may take some comfort from the new measure, some industry players said there are some concerns regarding the move to get the employment agencies to refund the workers.
"This regulation in fact is good for the workers. However, we need to study into the mechanisms how the refund works. If the maids resign work through the employers of their own accord, or own personal reason, the refund to the maids might not be appropriate," said Gary Chin, Managing Director, Nation Employment.
Some also questioned how the refund system can be implemented if a worker is prematurely terminated without the Employment Agency's knowledge.
Bridget Tan, President, Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics, said: "The employer has the right to just cancel the work permit still under the present system to send a domestic worker home and deport her without even the agent knowing, the EA knowing that she has been deported."
John Gee, President of Transient Workers Count Too, shared the same view.
"If they get fired by an employer, employers don't necessarily return a worker to an agency if they don't want them. Sometimes they will send them out of the country pretty quickly.
"And if the agency doesn't hear about this quickly, then how would they intervene?"
The issue of whether workers will also be given the full refund of the agency fee was also raised.
Others raised the possibility of workers not being given the full refund.
"One of the questions is how much will be counted as a fee and if some agencies who are not so responsible can try to describe the charges made to workers in such a way that the fee is minimised to a meaningless figure. That would be one area which needs looking at," said Gee.
According to the Manpower Ministry, the onus is on the Employment Agency to know if a worker is terminated within the six-month period.
The ministry's website states the agency may consider entering into a contractual agreement with the employer to ensure that the employer informs the agency when the worker's employment is terminated.
And if a worker fails to receive the refund, the worker can report it to the Manpower Ministry.
"We always advise employers if they need to terminate or repatriate a maid, we will advise them to go through us. However, there are certain percentage of employers [who] prefer to do it by themselves," said Chin.
"So the only way that we get to know is that we alias closely with our insurers. They will provide us the information upon the security bond being cancelled. Then we can double check with the employers what is the status of the current maid," he added.
The new measures are expected to kick in by April this year and will be administered by a new Commissioner for Employment Agencies in the Manpower Ministry.
