645 employers taken to task for salary-related offences last year
Ministry of Manpower. TODAY file photo
Ng Jing Yng
jingyng [at] mediacorp.com.sg
SINGAPORE – The Manpower Ministry (MOM) acted against 645 employers last year for salary-related offences, four times more than the number of cases in 2013.
Speaking in Parliament yesterday, Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say said that most of these errant employers were served with advisories or warning letters. Among them, 49 were prosecuted in court for severe salary breaches, he added.
Responding to a parliamentary question from Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC MP Hri Kumar Nair on measures against employers who withheld wages from workers, Mr Lim told the House that the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has stepped up enforcement efforts since last year. This includes investigating every salary-related claim, while amendments to the Employment Act last year also meant that employers who failed to pay salaries were subjected to higher penalties. MOM employment inspectors have also been given greater enforcement powers to arrest suspects and enter workplaces to conduct inspections, he said.
Mr Lim added that there were 1630 cases heard in the Labour Court last year. Of these, two-thirds of claimants received full-payment of their monies. The remainder received partial payment or no payment due to financial troubles faced by their employers. “MOM takes this seriously and our empathy goes to the workers because they worked hard for the money,” he said.
By the end of the year, an Employment Claims Tribunal will be set up for workers who are earning more than S$4,500 and who are not covered under the Employment Act. “For those workers who are not covered under the Employment Act, when they face a problem of non-payment of salaries today, they will have to take civil action which can be costly,” Mr Lim said. He added that MOM will be working with tripartite partners to enhance protection measures for workers, in order to reduce the number of cases where the employers are not able to make any payment due to financial difficulties.
