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Employer pleads guilty to leaving worker to die by roadside
Tay Kok Eng. Photo credit: Straits Times Employer Tay Kok Eng, 56, admitted to a court that he dumped a severely injured worker on the roadside where the man eventually died. He did this despite two doctors having earlier advised Tay to take the worker Chelladurai Lenin, 47,
Myanmar agents send underaged maids
The Straits Times reported that employment agents in Myanmar are encouraging young women to lie about their ages in order to work in Singapore as domestic workers. Currently, Singapore requires a person to be at least 23 years old for the domestic work sector, and the onus is on employment
Chinese workers died while checking concrete pour for leaks
Details are beginning to emerge about the accident that happened in the Bugis area on Wednesday, 18 July 2012. The two workers from mainland China who perished were reported to be have been under a mould into which wet concrete was being poured. They were there to check for leaks
12,768 work injury claims made in 2011
There is a rising trend in work injury claims, reported the Straits Times on 16 July 2012. Figures from the Ministry of Manpower show that more people have been making injury claims through the Work Injury and Compensation Act (Wica) over the past three years. Last year, 12,768 claims were
Tan Chuan-jin defends employer-provided medical insurance for foreign workers
In Parliament on Monday, 8 July 2012, Minister of State for Manpower Tan Chuan-jin defended the current policy of requiring employers to provide medical insurance, so that such costs do not burden the local taxpayer. Otherwise, he said, "that would be unfair to society at large". "[T]he government has to
Teenage worker from India dies in traffic crash
A 19-year-old worker from India was killed and 18 others injured after the lorry they were in was involved in a head-on collision with another lorry on Tuesday, 3 July 2012, reported the Straits Times. He had been working in Singapore for only five months. Mr Kathiravan and three others
10 percent of Work Permit holders pay income tax
A Ministry of Finance official wrote to the Forum pages of the Straits Times to say that about ten percent of Work Permit holders pad income tax in 2011. The short letter is given here in full: Work permit holders, such as domestic helpers, are generally semi-skilled or unskilled ('Provide
Eighth domestic worker so far this year dies from fall
Falling from heights has claimed the life of an eighth domestic worker this year. An Indonesian maid fell to her death from the ninth floor of a Woodlands flat on Thursday (26 April 2012) at about 6:20 pm, reported the Straits Times (28 April 2012, Yet another maid falls to
Minister of state Halimah exhorts employers not to insist on cleaning windows
Minister of state for community development, youth and sports, Halimah Yacob, called on employers not to insist that domestic workers clean the outside of windows. She was responding to reporters' questions about the seven maids who had fallen to their deaths so far this year while cleaning windows or hanging
Settling-in programme for domestic workers to start on May 1, 2012
The new Settling-in-Programme (SIP) for first-time domestic workers will kick in from May 1, reported the Straits Times on April 14, 2012. The compulsory programme replaces a controversial entry test which many first-time maids find hard to pass because of their weak command of the English language. The workers must attend