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Demerit points system for employment agencies

Employment agencies will receive demerit points for infringements.

When demerit points are issued

Employment agencies (EAs) that breach the Employment Agencies Act, Employment Agencies Rules or Employment Agency Licence Conditions may be issued demerit points.

EAs that commit severe infringements (e.g. illegal deployment of foreign workers, abuse of workers) may have their licence revoked.

Administrative requirements

Note: These requirements took effect on 1 November 2014.

Depending on the number of demerit points they accumulate, EAs will face the following administrative requirements:

Demerit points accumulated Administrative requirements
4 EA must provide a minimum security deposit of $40,000.
8 EA must provide a minimum security deposit of $60,000.
12
  • EA will have $10,000 of its security deposit forfeited.
  • EA must top up its security deposit back to $60,000.
  • EA will be placed under surveillance (suspension of WP Online and EP Online accounts, surveillance status will be made known on the EA Directory, EA may be subjected to inspections).
  • EA must have all key appointment holders (KAHs) re-take the CEI (KAH) exam. This applies even if the EA was exempted from CEI during application.

EA's WP Online and EP Online accounts will be suspended until all KAHs have passed the exam, and until all issues are resolved.
18
  • EA will have an additional $15,000 of its security deposit forfeited.
  • EA must top up its security deposit back to $60,000.
  • EA will be placed under surveillance (WP Online and EP Online accounts will be suspended, surveillance status will be made known on the EA Directory, EA may be subjected to inspections).

EA’s WP Online and EP Online accounts will be suspended until all issues are resolved.
24 EA’s licence will be suspended or revoked, depending on the case.

Surveillance

EAs with 12 or more demerit points will be placed under surveillance for 12 months.

When under surveillance, EAs will:

  • Have their WP Online and EP Online accounts suspended for a minimum of 3 months.
  • Be audited. If an EA commits any infringement during the surveillance period, its licence may be suspended or revoked.

Note: EAs on surveillance will be subjected to all the administrative requirements listed in the table above.

Validity of demerit points

As long as an EA has fewer than 12 demerit points, each demerit point will remain live for a fixed period of 12 months from the date it was issued.

Validity for less than 12 demerit points

An EA with 12 or more demerit points will have its record cleared only if it does not accumulate new demerit points for a continuous period of 12 months:

Scenario Validity of demerit points
EA has 12 or more demerit points and does not accumulate new demerit points for 12 months. Demerit points will be cleared after 12 months.
EA has 12 or more demerit points and is given new demerit points while under surveillance. Validity of the first 12 demerit points will be extended to match the validity of the new demerit points.

Validity for 12 or more demerit points