Written Answer by Mrs Josephine Teo Minister for Manpower to PQ on Employers' Obligation to Provide Sufficient Masks to Migrant Worker Employees

NOTICE PAPER NO. 258 OF 2021 FOR THE SITTING ON 16 FEBRUARY 2021

QUESTION NO. 679 FOR ORAL ANSWER

MP: Mr Leon Perera

To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) whether employers have a legal obligation to provide sufficient masks to their migrant worker employees at no cost to these employees; (b) whether the Ministry actively monitors worksites to ensure that migrant worker employees are provided with sufficient masks; and (c) whether whistleblower employees who report their employers for not providing sufficient masks will be protected from being dismissed or repatriated.

Answer:

1. MOM, BCA and EDB actively monitor workplaces to ensure that businesses comply with Safe Management Measures. This includes checking that all employees wear masks while at work.

2. At worksites, occupiers have a responsibility to ensure that all employees are masked at work. Agencies’ inspections have shown that this is complied with. In 98% of workplaces inspected, employers maintained ample stock of masks for their employees’ use at work. For the remainder, we have advised these employers of the good practice to have sufficient supply of masks to fulfil the requirement that all employees be masked.

3. The Government and other organisations have also distributed masks to all Singapore residents, including migrant workers. The Migrant Workers’ Centre, together with the Temasek Foundation and other partners and donors, has distributed masks and other essential items to more than 650,000 migrant workers.

4. Migrant workers who face a shortage of masks can approach the Migrant Workers’ Centre or MOM for assistance. MOM has ways of following up on whistleblowing reports without revealing the identity of the informant.