Akbar is at risk of being cheated thousands of dollars. This story is going to explain how the conditions for this possible outrage has been laid. 6:30 pm, 26 March 2015. He blacks out. Construction worker Akbar Hossain Abdur Rob will not regain consciousness till days later. That gap remains a blank; he only knows
By Lee Min-wei In the wee hours of 3 June 2015, Juvy, a petite and soft-spoken Filipina domestic worker, mustered the courage to flee from her employer’s apartment. Leaving behind most of her belongings in a locked suitcase, she put what she could into a small tote and yellow plastic bag and took a taxi
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
TWC2's monthly outreach took place on 14 June 2015 at Boon Lay. Two social workers, three interns and eight volunteers participated. Led by social worker Louis Ong, they fanned out to distribute TWC2 flyers and speak to workers to introduce the ways we can help them. We stress that our services are provided free of
By Chang Ya Lan At eight in the morning, Md Golam Kibria Rokon Uddin Molla would already have arrived at the construction site, dressed in his construction attire, ready for a hard day’s work. The company that he worked for was in the business of structural construction work – in other words, laying the foundation for
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
Minister for Manpower Lim Swee Say In response to a question by Member of Parliament Hri Kumar (PAP Bishan), the Minister for Manpower, Lim Swee Say, provided an oral answer in Parliament on 11 May 2015: The Employment Act (EA) protects both local and foreign workers against salary non-payment. Under the law, employers
A typical day in TWC2's office. Foreground: six workers owed 4 months' pay, calculating their owed amounts including overtime. Rear: five workers from a different company waiting to consult with TWC2's social worker. They had come to Singapore with MOM's approval for a job, only to be told by the boss that there's no
