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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Hard for workers to just pack up and go
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>MPs highlight plight of debt-laden foreigners who must leave if they cannot find jobs here </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Melissa Sim
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Mr Hawazi says that there are caps on the amount that workers and bosses can be charged for placement.
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->FOR foreign workers who have to go home after spending just a few months in Singapore, their problems do not end here.
In Parliament last Friday, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Manpower and Health Hawazi Daipi said that when projects are cancelled or delayed, employers should 'terminate the workers' contracts and facilitate their repatriation' after resolving all employment issues.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>Not all employment agents are bona fide
WHEN employers seek foreign workers, they probably go through one of the 2,000 licensed employment agents here.
These licensed agents get a cut of $3,000 to $5,000 of the fees paid to recruiters in the home country.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>But for these workers, going home means having to face hefty debts. Many have sold land and borrowed money from family, friends or lenders to pay agents up to $10,000 for their passage to Singapore.
Their pay here is usually $17 a day, which works out to about $500 each month, working for 30 days.
Agents said it is not the practice to give these workers their money back if things do not work out.
Mrs Bridget Lew, president of migrant workers advocacy group Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics, said: 'There are no receipts, no contracts, so they can't get anything back.'
Some will try though. A Bangladeshi worker for marine company Gates Offshore, who wished to be known only as Mr Kaiyum, said he came to Singapore four months ago and was not given work.
The company is being investigated for failing to pay workers' salaries. Earlier last month, it paid the arrears, and the workers were given the choice of returning home or staying here to look for alternative employment.
Mr Kaiyum, 30, said he does not want to go home unless he can get back his agent's fee of $9,500. But his agent in Singapore has not returned his calls.
Only one agent told The Straits Times he would refund part of his fee if the worker turned out to be unsuitable for the job.
To help foreign workers deal with premature termination of their contracts, MP Halimah Yacob suggested in a letter to The Straits Times last month that compensation clauses should be worked into them. She also suggested that the Manpower Ministry (MOM) could allow companies, in special cases, to deploy workers to other sectors so that they would 'have the chance to recover the costs that they had incurred in order to work in Singapore'.
Last Friday, during the Budget debate, MPs also flagged the plight of debt-laden foreign workers.
Ms Denise Phua said that dictating the range of fees charged by recruiters would shrink the hefty loans borne by the foreign worker. She added that Taiwan had crafted 'relevant legislation on this matter'.
She said the Government should 'permit only authorised good quality recruitment companies to recruit labour from abroad for local companies'.
Mr Hawazi replied that there are caps on the amount that workers and employers can be charged for placement.
According to MOM, under the Employment Agency Rules, registration fees for an employment agency should not be more than $5, and its commission from the worker, not more than 10 per cent of the worker's first month's earnings.
But reality is very different.
Another Gates Offshore worker Tuful Aslam, 38, who is trying to land another employer, said there was no way for him to repay his debts as he has used up all his savings.
'I borrowed from friends and from a money lender. If I go home now, I will die,' said the father of three.
[email protected] <!-- end of for each --><!-- Current Ratings : start --><SCRIPT language=javascript> addRatingPortion() </SCRIPT>
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>MPs highlight plight of debt-laden foreigners who must leave if they cannot find jobs here </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Melissa Sim
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
Mr Hawazi says that there are caps on the amount that workers and bosses can be charged for placement.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->FOR foreign workers who have to go home after spending just a few months in Singapore, their problems do not end here.
In Parliament last Friday, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Manpower and Health Hawazi Daipi said that when projects are cancelled or delayed, employers should 'terminate the workers' contracts and facilitate their repatriation' after resolving all employment issues.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>Not all employment agents are bona fide
WHEN employers seek foreign workers, they probably go through one of the 2,000 licensed employment agents here.
These licensed agents get a cut of $3,000 to $5,000 of the fees paid to recruiters in the home country.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>But for these workers, going home means having to face hefty debts. Many have sold land and borrowed money from family, friends or lenders to pay agents up to $10,000 for their passage to Singapore.
Their pay here is usually $17 a day, which works out to about $500 each month, working for 30 days.
Agents said it is not the practice to give these workers their money back if things do not work out.
Mrs Bridget Lew, president of migrant workers advocacy group Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics, said: 'There are no receipts, no contracts, so they can't get anything back.'
Some will try though. A Bangladeshi worker for marine company Gates Offshore, who wished to be known only as Mr Kaiyum, said he came to Singapore four months ago and was not given work.
The company is being investigated for failing to pay workers' salaries. Earlier last month, it paid the arrears, and the workers were given the choice of returning home or staying here to look for alternative employment.
Mr Kaiyum, 30, said he does not want to go home unless he can get back his agent's fee of $9,500. But his agent in Singapore has not returned his calls.
Only one agent told The Straits Times he would refund part of his fee if the worker turned out to be unsuitable for the job.
To help foreign workers deal with premature termination of their contracts, MP Halimah Yacob suggested in a letter to The Straits Times last month that compensation clauses should be worked into them. She also suggested that the Manpower Ministry (MOM) could allow companies, in special cases, to deploy workers to other sectors so that they would 'have the chance to recover the costs that they had incurred in order to work in Singapore'.
Last Friday, during the Budget debate, MPs also flagged the plight of debt-laden foreign workers.
Ms Denise Phua said that dictating the range of fees charged by recruiters would shrink the hefty loans borne by the foreign worker. She added that Taiwan had crafted 'relevant legislation on this matter'.
She said the Government should 'permit only authorised good quality recruitment companies to recruit labour from abroad for local companies'.
Mr Hawazi replied that there are caps on the amount that workers and employers can be charged for placement.
According to MOM, under the Employment Agency Rules, registration fees for an employment agency should not be more than $5, and its commission from the worker, not more than 10 per cent of the worker's first month's earnings.
But reality is very different.
Another Gates Offshore worker Tuful Aslam, 38, who is trying to land another employer, said there was no way for him to repay his debts as he has used up all his savings.
'I borrowed from friends and from a money lender. If I go home now, I will die,' said the father of three.
[email protected] <!-- end of for each --><!-- Current Ratings : start --><SCRIPT language=javascript> addRatingPortion() </SCRIPT>
