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Oral Answer by Minister of State for Manpower Gan Siow Huang to PQ on minimum household income criteria to employ migrant domestic worker

Foreign manpower

NOTICE PAPER NO. 1085 OF 2022 FOR THE SITTING ON 5 APRIL 2022
QUESTION NO. 2776 FOR ORAL ANSWER

MP: Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis 

To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) what is the minimum household income required to employ a migrant domestic worker (MDW); (b) what is the rationale for not disclosing such income criteria; and (c) what is the number and percentage of annual MDW applications over the last five years that are rejected based on household income criteria.

NOTICE PAPER NO. 1085 OF 2022 FOR THE SITTING ON 5 APRIL 2022
QUESTION NO. 2777 FOR ORAL ANSWER

MP: Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis 

To ask the Minister for Manpower in respect of senior citizens seeking to employ a migrant domestic worker (MDW) but who do not have an earned income, whether the sponsorship scheme can be expanded to allow for potential employers to set aside the full costs of hiring a MDW over the contract period in an escrow account to demonstrate financial means.

Answer

  1. The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) assesses an applicant’s eligibility to employ a migrant domestic worker (MDW) based on various factors such as the income of the prospective employer, the ability to provide proper and safe accommodation for the domestic helper, and the caregiving needs of the household. Income is not the sole factor in determining whether the application can be approved. In addition, MOM may consider other relevant information to determine an applicant’s financial ability to hire the MDW. These include caregiving needs and retired senior citizens without regular income but who have savings. In assessing renewal applications, we also consider the track records of the employers, such as whether they previously defaulted on salary or levy payment. Hence, we do not have a rigid income criteria and do consider many other factors.

  2. Over the past 5 years, an average of about 2,000 cases (or about 1% of all the applications) each year were rejected after taking the various factors into consideration.