Salman had to send a photo of his location twice a day to his boss to show that he was at the assigned work location
Some migrant workers face pay discrepancies from their employers, but do not speak out because they fear losing their jobs. Given the high unemployment rate in their home countries, and the difficulty of securing overseas employment – together with the need to pay huge agent fees – it is no wonder that the fear of losing a job can be paralysing.
Salman (not his real name) is one such worker. I sit with him for an hour to try to understand his story.
He is a skilled and experienced electrician, hired on an S-Pass with a stated salary of $4,000 a month. This would be his basic salary, and if his job was one where he is considered a “workman”, i.e. one doing physical labour, he should be entitled to overtime pay as well. Furthermore, S-Pass holders should always be paid through their bank accounts.
Salman noticed many things amiss in his monthly pay. He wasn’t paid anywhere close to $4,000 a month, and what he got, he received in cash. Month to month, the actual amount varied, ranging from around $2100 to $2400. Without being issued any payslips, he has not been able to figure out how the amounts were calculated, but it looks as if it was computed from the number of hours worked and a mysteriously unknown hourly rate.
We are curious why the employer would apply an hourly rate, so we ask him to describe what he actually did, job-wise. He says he is sent to sites where he had to do electrical installation. Mostly these are small renovation jobs or to fit out new shops. On days when there is no electrical work needed, he is tasked to help out with other kinds of work such as plastering.
He sends his boss a photo of the site he is assigned to at the beginning of each workday, and another photo at the end of the workday. Partly, it is to prove that the assigned tasks have been done, but from the timestamp of the photos, it is also possible to deduce the start-times and end-times of Salman’s workdays. That would be one way for the employer to compute his working hours.
During his first few months in Singapore, Salman valued having the job; it meant he could remit money to his family in Bangladesh. His priority was to work hard for his company. Like many, when one starts on a new job, they would want to do their best to not lose it. Having humbly-earned money was of utmost priority.
Nonetheless, he asked his boss about the pay discrepancies. The boss always had some excuse or another: from poor business conditions to a cash-flow issue following a need to restock inventory. Initially, Salman believed him and tried to be understanding. But over time, his feelings turned into anxiety and frustration.
Apparently, short-payment of salaries was affecting not just him, but his coworkers too. However, none of them were willing to raise their concerns; they feared angering their boss. They feared losing their jobs. They feared deportation.
“I am just [a] worker,” is how Salman puts those feelings to me. I detect a hint of bitterness, borne of the hopelessness he had been feeling.
Then, in late September 2024, he lost his job. It happened one morning when, unlike all the other days, his boss did not assign him work. He was told to remain in the dorm – no reason given. Suspecting something was up, he checked the validity of his S-Pass and saw that it had been invalidated. He asked his boss about it. The boss said it wasn’t him who cancelled it. The Ministry of Manpower did, he said. Something about quota issues.
Was Salman expected to believe that?
Regardless of where the truth lay, Salman’s worst fears had come true. But, in a way, he was also freed from fear. With the job gone, there was no stopping him from filing a formal complaint over short-payment of salary. He has become immune to all of his boss’ threats. Conversations with buzz words such as “send you home”, colourfully infused with Chinese swear words no longer have power over him. Now, he is determined to speak out.
Salman’s struggles are reflective of the migrant workers who remain silent about their unfair salary mistreatment. Having law and a mechanism for redress helps. But reporting such cases with confidence is a test of personal courage.
Salman describes his initial trust in his boss, and what happened after he raised the salary issue too often.
Transcript:
I cannot always push him always because when I speak my full salary give, that time he speak, he told me, “economy no good, my business no good. If business good, later I give.” I believe him because he my employer. That’s why I no many push him. When I many many time I talking give money, that time, without information, without notice, he cutting my S-Pass.
15514