Breaking foreign hiring laws now punishable by jail time

Stricter penalties should make Singapore employers think twice before illegally hiring foreigners.

The Employment of Foreign Manpower Act has been amended to allow Ministry of Manpower (MOM) to step up its enforcement actions against errant employers, errant foreign workers and syndicates, said Mr Tan Chuan-Jin, Acting Minister for Manpower and Senior Minister of State for National Development, in a speech to parliament.

Severe offences, such as illegal employment of foreign workers, will now be subject to higher penalties including a minimum fine of $5,000, up to a maximum fine of $30,000, and/or a maximum imprisonment term of 12 months, for first-time offenders, Mr Tan said.

In describing the rationale behind the heavier punishments, Mr Tan said: "Employers in Singapore are by and large responsible, but there are those who seek to profit by circumventing our work pass framework. As we further tighten the policies on the hiring and retention of foreign manpower, we can expect errant employers to try harder to get around the rules. This is where we are not lacking in creativity. For example, we have found some declaring higher salaries than they are actually paying their foreign workers, asking foreign workers to foot their own levies and insurance premiums, or contributing CPF to locals that do not really exist or are not actively in their employment in order to meet the required ratio of local to foreign workers, and submitting forged certificates to qualify for skilled work passes."

"Singaporeans ultimately suffer when employers fail to pay the true costs of hiring foreign manpower or hiring foreign manpower that they are not entitled to. Local workers will lose out on employment opportunities. Honest employers who play by the rules are also unfairly disadvantaged. Besides errant employers, syndicates also profit from setting up sham operations to illegally import and supply foreign workers who otherwise should not be here. Syndicates have devised increasingly complex schemes to get round our enforcement approaches. Such operations exploit foreign workers, and they cost our locals employment opportunities and cost us resources to assist stranded workers," he added.

The amendments will also now allow the courts to take into account any costs avoided by the employer, including medical and work injury compensation insurance premiums, security deposits and levy payments, Mr Tan noted.

"Administrative infringements such as the failure to terminate the employment of a foreign worker after receiving notification of the Controller’s revocation of the worker’s work pass, will be subject to a $10,000 administrative financial penalty," he said further.