Discussion: Ministry of Manpower’s administrative processes
Arriving in our mailbox earlier this week was a new booklet published by the Ministry of Manpower, titled '6 Simple Steps to comply with Employment Laws'. This is indeed a good initiative; from here on, employers will have fewer excuses not to do things in accordance with the law. The six 'simple steps' featured in
Shamim (above) recounts a meeting he had at another coffee shop By Troy Lee, based on two interviews in October 2017 Shamim paints a picture of how he got his latest job. In the second half of 2016, while he was happily in his previous job, "I meet his man, Basir, at a
On 5 December 2017, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) put up a note on their Facebook page accusing TWC2 of publishing an "inaccurate" account. This was in relation to the story we had posted on 12 October 2017 titled "Fraud committed using ministry letterhead". We stand by our story. We consider MOM's accusation against us
By Liang Lei, based on an interview in October 2017 Running into unexpected trouble overseas is often inconvenient and frustrating – even seasoned travellers among us would readily testify to this. Language barriers, differences in culture and unfamiliarity with foreign administration often confuse us and increase the chances of making mistakes. It must be incomparably
"As of Oct 2017," said Lim Swee Say, Minister for Manpower, in a written answer to a parliamentary question, "400 [Work Permit holders have] changed employers after completing their work permit terms." He gave this reply on 6 November 2017. To assess the significance of this number, it is necessary to provide some background. Over
In a landmark judgment released 1 November 2017, the High Court has ruled that the basic salary stated in the In-Principle Approval for a Work Permit (IPA) "would constitute prima facie evidence" of the correct basic salary rate, unless the employer can prove otherwise. The bar for proving otherwise was also set very high. This
Sarowar (not his real name) approaches our help desk hesitantly. Despite being in his mid-thirties, he does not exude much self-confidence. Maybe it's because he knows his English is weak, and what he has to tell us is fairly complicated. However, it didn't take us long to grasp the nub of the problem: Someone had
A boss was apologetic that he was unable to pay his employees their salaries on time. But what is interesting is the reason why he couldn't do so: he had to pay foreign worker levies to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) first. Below are key portions of a transcript of a meeting between the boss (who
By Troy Lee based on an interview in July 2017 In the early hours of Friday, 7 July 2017, Md Raiful Islam touched down at Changi airport, looking forward to start on a new job. By midday, he was devastated. The job did not exist. He had paid about 465,000 Bangladeshi taka (about S$8,000) for
Transient Workers Count Too came across a very interesting statement by Mr Tan Khim Long, director of KBC Engineering Pte Ltd. The company was defending a salary claim by a former employee, a Bangladeshi named Showkat, for short-payment of salary. The case was heard by the Manpower Ministry's Labour Court in late 2016 and early
