Discussion: laws and regulations
The story "Cannot sleep.... I remember my wife's crying" described the injustice done to Bangladeshi worker Humaun. He came to Singapore for a promised job only to be told there was none for him. The job offer had been properly documented through an In-principle Approval for a Work Permit (IPA) from the Ministry of Manpower,
Kuwait's legislature passed two new laws recently to improve the conditions of domestic workers. One of the laws sets up a new type of company for recruiting domestic workers to replace the private companies that currently recruit domestic helpers. The new type of company cannot take any payments from the recruited workers. According to a statement
Have you ever seen anyone spit in public? Have you ever done it yourself? That’s what I thought: most of you have seen people spit and some of you have done it yourself. It’s more common among older people, and more common among men than women. I’ve seen many people spit, but I’ve never known
Our letter published in the Straits Times Forum on 17 June 2015 mentioned that countries in the Middle East have made it mandatory to pay workers' salaries through bank transfers when Singapore has not. This note provides a bit more detail about this point. UAE In the United Arab Emirates, which comprises Dubai, Abu Dhabi
Published in the Straits Times Forum, 17 June 2015: --- FOREIGN WORKERS' WAGE WOES Ensure pay is banked, offer mobility Sunday's report ("More foreign workers seek help over wage woes") mentioned that the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) will be making it mandatory for employers to issue itemised payslips next year. Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2)
Buried within a news story in the Sunday Times (More foreign workers seek help over wage woes, 14 June 2015) was this sentence: Next year, employers must issue itemised payslips and provide written key employment terms, to prevent salary disputes, MOM said. A check at the ministry's website does not indicate any recent announcement on
By Alexandra Galvez “I don’t want to go to jail. I cannot come back to Singapore to work if I go to jail. I like Singapore and I want to continue working here. I need to provide for my family,” Ali (not his real name) is worried, his countenance darkening with anxiety and desperation. The
By Samantha Ege Information is what opens the door to knowing our rights, exploring our options and making conscious decisions. Yet, information is something that we do not always have. In the absence of information, our rights can seem invalidated, our options unclear and our decisions not so concrete. In the absence of information, we
By William Chin The laws are there and the processes are supposed to be in place to help employees who have been injured at work. Saiful's story however, gives a glimpse of the hoops that migrant workers have to jump through and the price they pay. On 3 December 2013, Saiful Islam Lokman Hossain sustained
In a blogpost, Manpower minister Lim Swee Say said "Between 2012 and 2014, more than 5,000 foreigners were barred from working in Singapore for life, for submitting forged academic certificates to obtain work passes. " The main point of the post was to explain how his ministry handles cases of treats forged degrees and those
