Type of issue: contract problems
12
11, 2019
Swindle, cheat and manipulate, example no. 1
A hotel advertised itself in India to jobseekers. Someone sent us the name of the hotel. We tried to book a room.
5
10, 2019
Cheated of $6,000, Nurunobi is angry
During the job interview, the boss described his company as a large main contractor. Then why did Nurunobi get work on only 9 days out of the first 24?
15
12, 2018
In-Principle Approval: uses and abuses 2011 – 2018, part 3
Part 3: Getting around IPAs in salary disputes Part 2 of this series described the uneven way in which the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) officers and the ministry’s Labour Court [footnote 1] handled salary claims. Sometimes, the In-Principle Approval letter ("IPA") [footnote 2] was admitted as the basis for adjudicating claims. When that happened, employers
7
09, 2018
Policy brief 2018, no. 3: Require standard employment contracts
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
9
11, 2017
TWC2’s top three recommendations
In late June 2017, Channel NewsAsia asked Transient Workers Count Too for a commentary article with the suggested theme of "whether we think migrant workers are an integral part of Singapore society, following reports of how many have to head back given the slowing economy." The article we submitted (in early July) is below. After we
20
05, 2017
Bangladeshi bank charges 10% interest per month
Street scene, Dhaka Rakib and Kanak don't know each other, but both come on the same day to Transient Workers Count Too with similar stories. The chief similarity was that they both had borrowed from Brac Bank whose branches and billboards can be seen all over Bangladesh. This bank is a major loan-maker
26
12, 2016
MOM’s Labour Court skirted with enforcing an illegal ‘contract’
Volunteers at TWC2 were alarmed to hear from Sohel Rana, in mid July 2016, that the Assistant Commissioner of Labour presiding over his Labour Court case might be planning to rule in a manner contrary to written law. It would seriously undermine his claim and set an extremely bad precedent. Md Sohel Rana's case had
14
11, 2016
Reflections: Salary issues faced by migrant workers
Most interns who spend 6 - 9 weeks with TWC2 are asked to wrap up their internship with an essay on a specific topic. Rebecca spent her mid-year vacation 2016 with us assisting with casework and the Labour Court Research Project. In the process, she came across many foreign workers who had suffered salary non-payment or
5
11, 2014
Bhuiyan and friends defeated
This is a four-part story about four workers whose employer's behaviour appears to have crossed a few red lines relating to trafficking in persons. Five months after Monir Bhuiyan and three others lodged their salary complaints against their employer J S Metal Pte Ltd, the company was still in business, presumably with good cashflow and
5
11, 2014
Bhuiyan and friends defeated, part 3
Continued from part 2. Part 1 narrated what happened when Monir Bhuiyan, Titu, Mahi Uddin and Shahjahan came to Singapore for their jobs at JS Metal Pte Ltd. They had each been offered $550 a month as basic salary. This was documented in the In-Principle Approval letters (IPA) issued by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM)