In the third of our policy briefs for 2018, Transient Workers Count Too recommends that it should be mandatory for work permit holders to first sign a Standard Employment Contract (SEC) even before a work permit application is made. The SEC should set out all the key employment terms, and these should be in accordance with the Employment Act and the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act.

TWC2 recommends that a copy of the SEC should be attached to every application for a work permit so that the terms set out in the SEC are consistent with the details declared in the work permit application.

By having a clearer, written employment contract, and by having the IPA details in line with the SEC, it should make it easier to resolve any dispute that may in future arise.

The policy brief also points out the weakness of the present requirement for Key Employment Terms (KET) to be provided to workers 14 days after they start working. Because this requirement is  (a) post-employment and (b) delinked from the work permit application and its resulting IPA, “it is unclear how KETs relate to the employment terms already established by the IPA or whether an employee must agree, and in what manner, to the KETs.”

The policy brief (in pdf) can be downloaded by clicking the icon at right.