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Oral Answer by Ms Gan Siow Huang Minister of State for Manpower to PQ on Review of Fines for Illegal Deployment of Foreign Domestic Workers

Foreign manpower Employment practices

NOTICE PAPER NO. 96 OF 2020 FOR THE SITTING ON 15 OCTOBER 2020 QUESTION NO. 244 FOR ORAL ANSWER

MP: Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang 

To ask the Minister for Manpower whether the Ministry will consider increasing the maximum fine for employers who illegally deploy a foreign domestic worker.

Answer:

  1. Employers who illegally deploy their foreign domestic workers face financial penalty of up to $10,000. They could also be debarred from hiring foreign domestic workers.
  2. While the current administrative financial penalty is capped at $10,000, the eventual penalty takes into consideration the severity of the infringement and number of counts the infringement was committed. Between 2017 and 2019, 16 employers were issued with financial penalties each year, ranging from $3,300 to $24,000.
  3. The number of cases of illegal deployment of foreign domestic workers has remained relatively stable over the past few years. We do not plan to review the maximum penalty at the moment. However, we are reviewing the guidelines to see if the cases currently resolved with a warning should in future be subject to a financial penalty. This is so that employers will take their responsibility towards their foreign domestic workers seriously.