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Public Consultation on the Proposed Amendments to the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act (EFMA)

Foreign manpower
10 May 2012

  1. The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is inviting members of the public to give feedback on proposed amendments to the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act (EFMA). A public consultation document, summarising the proposed changes, can be accessed on the REACH website over the next three weeks (10 May 2012 to 31 May 2012).

    Background
  2. As MOM tightens foreign labour policies to slow down and manage the growth of the foreign workforce, errant employers may be tempted to circumvent the work pass framework to hire foreign manpower that they should not be entitled to. This erodes employment opportunities for Singaporeans and gives errant businesses an unfair advantage over other law-abiding competitors.
  3. Besides errant employers, syndicates also profit from illegally importing and supplying foreign workers. MOM has been encountering increasingly complex cases, as syndicates devise new modus operandi to counter prevailing enforcement approaches.

    Key amendments to EFMA
  4. MOM proposes the following amendments to the EFMA to strengthen enforcement capabilities, tighten the integrity of the work pass framework and ensure the effectiveness of our foreign labour policies:

    a) Establish an administrative financial penalty regime to complement criminal prosecution. The powers of the Controller of Work Passes will be expanded to enable the Controller to impose administrative financial penalties to disgorge monetary profits employers may have gained from circumventing the work pass framework.

    b) Create new EFMA contraventions to address circumvention of key levers of the work pass framework and increase penalties to ensure that they are commensurate with the potential profits from the contraventions.

    c) Expand investigatory powers and include presumption clauses for certain EFMA offences to facilitate enforcement of complex syndicate operations.

    Call for public feedback
  5. MOM invites members of public to give us your feedback on these proposed changes.