Written Answer to PQ on Complaints received from migrant workers

NOTICE PAPER NO. 2250 OF 2023 FOR THE SITTING ON OR AFTER 4 OCT 2023
QUESTION NO. 5201 FOR ORAL ANSWER

MP: Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang

To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) for each year in the past five years, how many complaints from workers have been received (i) by the Ministry’s Forward Assurance and Support Team (FAST) officers and (ii) via the FWMOMCare mobile application respectively; and (b) what are the top five complaints received.

Answer:

1. With Forward Assurance and Support Teams (FAST) on the ground and the introduction of the FWMOMCare mobile application, migrant workers have easier access to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM). This has allowed MOM to be more effective in assuring and addressing their concerns.

2. Migrant workers contact MOM for various reasons and request for information and assistance. Each feedback and request is followed up by MOM, but we do not track complaints as a category. The common issues raised by migrant workers that require intervention by MOM are illegal employment, criminal kickbacks, false declaration of salary, employment agency’s failure to refund agency fees and illegal deployment.