Two companies, Techcom Construction & Trading and Sunway Concrete Products, were charged in court for failing to pay their workers on time, reported the Straits Times on Friday, 16 Nov 2012. Sunway is the main contractor for Techcom.
Techcom faces a total of 59 charges under the Employment Act for failing to pay its workers salaries on time. The company and its director, Lim Siew Hiong, also face another 37 charges relating to the collection of kickbacks — receiving sums of $300 or $500 from each of Techcom’s foreign employees for renewing their work permits.
Lim also faces additional charges of intentionally aiding Sunway in flouting work pass conditions by requiring Sunway’s foreign employees to each pay similar sums for the renewal of their work permits.
Sunway Concrete Products faces 54 charges for not paying its workers in a timely manner.
In February this year, a large number of foreign workers lodged complaints with the Ministry of Manpower over unpaid salaries. Investigations found that their salaries had not been paid between September 2011 and December 2011. The salaries owed to these workers ranged from $3,250 to $7,400.
Under the Employment Act, basic salaries have to be paid no later than seven days after the end of the ‘salary period’ which cannot be longer than one month. Overtime pay have to be paid within 14 days after the end of the salary period.
The newspaper reported that all salaries have since been paid.