New Employment Agency Regulatory Framework

Employment agencies play a critical role in matching workers with the right skills with employers, ultimately raising the productivity of our labour force. For the employment agencies industry to be effective, we need a regulatory framework that is relevant to today’s context.

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) implemented the new Employment Agency Regulatory Framework on 1 April 2011 to achieve four main objectives:

1. Tighten enforcement against unlicensed and errant employment agencies
2. Raise professionalism and accountability of industry stakeholders 
3. Ensure provisions and processes are relevant to today’s context 
4. Offer flexibility to cater to different needs in the industry

This will benefit:

1. Legitimate employment agencies by building confidence in the professionalism of the employment agency industry 
2. Employers by providing them with greater transparency in the recruitment process
3. Workers by keeping out unlicensed players from the industry and holding all employment agency personnel accountable for their actions

Second Reading of Employment Agencies (Amendment) Bill 2011

2nd Reading Speech for Introduction of  Employment Agencies (Amendment) Bill by Mr Lee Yi Shyan, Minister of State for Trade & Industry and Manpower, 11 January 2011

Fact Sheet and Guide

• Fact Sheet on New Employment Agency Regulatory Framework
• Changes to the Employment Agency Regulatory Framework - quick guide for employment agencies

Presentation Slides

• Presentation slides on the new Employment Agency Regulatory Framework

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

• Objective
• Coverage
• How employment agencies, employers and workers will be affected?
• How will employment agencies placing foreign domestic workers (FDWs) and FDW employers be affected?
• New employment agency regulatory framework
          i)    Licensing framework
          ii)   Certification and registration
          iii)  Certificate of employment intermediaries
          iv)  Security deposits
          v)   Fee caps
          vi)  Fee refund requirement
          vii) Others
•  Penalties & offences
•  Education and outreach

Employment Agency Bulletin

We are introducing a news bulletin titled “Employment Agency Bulletin” to communicate the changes in a series of emails to employment agencies. If you would like to receive the Employment Agency Bulletin, we welcome you to sign up for this free service here.

Past issues:

• Introducing Employment Agency Bulletin, 11 January 2011
• Employment Agency Bulletin Issue 1, 13 January 2011
• Employment Agency Bulletin Issue 2, 14 January 2011
• Employment Agency Bulletin Issue 3, 22 March 2011
• Employment Agency Bulletin Issue 4, 1 April 2011
• Employment Agency Bulletin Issue 5, 15 April 2011
• Employment Agency Bulletin Issue 6, 29 April 2011
• Employment Agency Bulletin Issue 7, 20 May 2011
• Employment Agency Bulletin Issue 8, 3 June 2011
• Employment Agency Bulletin Issue 9, 24 June 2011
• Employment Agency Bulletin Issue 10, 22 July 2011
• Employment Agency Bulletin Issue 11, 7 October 2011
• Employment Agency Bulletin Issue 12, 18 November 2011
• Employment Agency Bulletin Issue 13, 14 March 2012
• Employment Agency Bulletin Issue 14, 27 April 2012

Enquiries

If you have further questions regarding the new Employment Agency Regulatory Framework after reviewing the FAQs, you may email to mom_fmmd@mom.gov.sg with your enquiry and leave us your name and contact number. Alternatively you may call (65) 6438 5122.