FAQs on post-Circuit Breaker measures for employment agencies

MOM had issued an EA Alert to the industry on 5 April 2020 to clarify what EA activities can continue outside of the key appointment holder’s or EA personnel’s home.

These activities are:

• Provision of boarding house facilities to accommodate FDWs, foreign workers or confinement nannies before deployment or during transfer from one employer to another.
• Essential transportation services include:
  • Picking up the FDWs, foreign workers or nannies from the airport when they arrive in Singapore and sending them to the SHN location (e.g. SHN dormitory, EA boarding house or employer’s residence);
  • Sending the FDW or foreign workers for mandatory medical check-ups before deployment;
  • Sending the FDWs, foreign workers or nannies to the doctor for medical attention when they are living at the SHN dormitory or EA boarding house;
  • Transferring the FDWs, foreign workers or nannies from the SHN dormitory to the EA boarding house;
  • Transferring the FDWs, foreign workers or nannies from the EA boarding house to the employer’s residence for deployment; and
  • Sending the FDWs, foreign workers or nannies to the airport for repatriation.
• Verification checks at the SHN dormitory or EA boarding house to ensure that the FDWs, foreign workers or nannies meets all the prevailing entry requirements before deployment.
• Deployment briefing to the FDWs, foreign workers or nannies at the SHN dormitory, EA boarding house or employer’s residence.
• Activities to support the SHN requirements, such as providing food and other daily essentials to the FDWs, foreign workers or nannies, and ensuring that the FDWs, foreign workers or nannies complete the mandatory 14-day SHN and behave responsibly during the SHN.

During these activities, EAs must reduce the duration of physical interaction to the minimum:

• Between all employment agents.
• Between employment agents and FDWs, foreign workers, nannies or employers.

In addition, to limit exposure, only one designated employment agent can provide the aforementioned services to a fixed group of 10 FDWs and foreign workers.

EAs can conduct other EA activities online, such as interviewing job seekers and employers and matching job seekers with employers. All such activities must be done from home and EAs must not continue to operate from your workplace premises and retail outlets.

EAs must not open their workplace premises to perform mediation or counselling services.

EAs should use video or phone calls to perform such services.

Yes, you can obtain and keep electronic copies of the required written acknowledgements or agreements.

To manage the risks of transmission of COVID-19, consumer-facing businesses, including FDW EAs, are in general not permitted to resume normal business operations after 2 June 2020.

In recognition of the impact on revenue, the 75% tier wage support for such businesses, including FDW EAs, will be further extended from April 2020 to August 2020, or when FDW EAs are allowed to re-open, whichever is earlier.

The foreign worker levy waiver and rebate will also be extended to FDW EAs from April 2020 to July 2020 (50% waiver and $375 rebate for July 2020).

FDW EAs can continue to carry out some business activities that had previously been exempted from the Circuit Breaker measure (refer to EA Alert issued on 5 April 2020).

For activities that have not been exempted, FDW EAs can continue to conduct such activities online or over the phone.

If there are special circumstances where FDW EAs need to meet clients or other stakeholders on-site, FDW EAs can apply for time-limited exemptions.