Why raising FT levy won't work...

[makapaaa]

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Coffeeshop Chit Chat - Why raising FT levy won't work...</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right>

Subscribe </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"> </TD><TD><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead vAlign=top><TD class=msgF width="1%" noWrap align=right>From: </TD><TD class=msgFname width="68%" noWrap>kojakbt89 <NOBR></NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate width="30%" noWrap align=right>Feb-4 7:19 pm </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT height=20 width="1%" noWrap align=right>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname width="68%" noWrap>ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 6) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft rowSpan=4 width="1%"> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>28189.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>Feb 5, 2010

Why raising foreign worker levy won't work

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THE Economic Strategies Committee's proposal to increase foreign worker levies is likely to raise the financial burden on employers and workers without reducing our reliance on foreign labour to grow the economy.
Most migrant workers are in lowly paid jobs. One obstacle to improvement is that their pay is significantly lower than their cost of hire to employers.
Law-abiding employers provide accommodation, insure workers, look after their health, pay for a policy that will cover the bond and pay a levy that ranges from $265 a month for a maid to $470 a month for a construction worker.
The lowest-paid maids may actually receive wages smaller than their employers' levy payments.
Many employers argue against paying their workers more by pointing to these other expenses, particularly the levy, as the cost of the workers to them, regardless of how much the workers themselves see of the money employers pay out.
A levy increase will likely lead to a rise in cases of employers trying to deduct money from workers' wages on dubious pretexts and will certainly increase resistance to improving pay rates for workers.
Unless the levy increase is punitive, it is unlikely to discourage the employment of foreign workers, but will just be an increased tax on foreign labour employment.
In reality, the levy has become a tax increase.
Even so, how many Singaporeans will feel incentivised to accept the hours and conditions that prevail in sectors of high migrant labour employment at the wages likely to be on offer?
A better route is to work towards abolishing the levy and raising the pay of migrant workers, which would narrow the gap between local and foreign workers.
This means setting minimum pay conditions which is a way to give foreign workers significant pay increases at a bearable cost to employers.
The workers will feel more fairly rewarded and pay levels in some sectors might start to look a little more appealing to Singaporean workers.
John Gee
President
Transient Workers Count Too

</TD></TR><TR><TD> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msgleft width="1%"> </TD><TD class=msgopt width="24%" noWrap> Options</TD><TD class=msgrde width="50%" noWrap align=middle> Reply</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

 

[iamtalkinglah]

Raise financial burden on employers
–Yes.

Raise financial burden on workers
– No.

Without reducing our reliance on foreign labour to grow the economy
– No. Companies forced to be more innovative and productive.

Why quote maid as example? – Because it hits white collar workers but let’s not be selfish towards the blue collar workers. Therefore no more blanket levy.


A levy increase will likely lead to a rise in cases of employers trying to deduct money from workers' wages on dubious pretexts and will certainly increase resistance to improving pay rates for workers.
– Why is it the topic is always about foreigners? How about the welfare of the $800/month Singaporean wage earners?


Even so, how many Singaporeans will feel incentivised to accept the hours and conditions that prevail in sectors of high migrant labour employment at the wages likely to be on offer?
– That’s why now we have the TAFEP. Help foreigners too?
Ya la, foreigners unfair adv over Singaporeans. See below.


A better route is to work towards abolishing the levy and raising the pay of migrant workers, which would narrow the gap between local and foreign workers. – Agree


This means setting minimum pay conditions which is a way to give foreign workers significant pay increases at a bearable cost to employers.
The workers will feel more fairly rewarded and pay levels in some sectors might start to look a little more appealing to Singaporean workers.

– I don’t agree, again all about foreigners. Foreigners will always have an unfair advantage over Singaporean e.g. serve NS, family here, cost of feeding family is high, need time to spend with family, and as the example given above, employers provide accommodation to them while Singaporean have to pay for this rent with the depressed salary!

 

[eatshitndie]

sg needs an educated, skilled, innovative, talented workforce, and if she needs to augment her lackluster natives with some of these gems, it's not a bad idea. the ft policy is not a total washout. it has its merits.

the problem lies with its execution. every minister in the cabinet, in order to please the supreme master, goes way out into left field to recruit all riff raffs from the known universe to make the numbers. the problem with these highly paid morons is that they are surrounded by well paid yesmen, and they in turn surround themselves with more morons. when a mighty strategy is passed down the ranks to the bottomfeeders, the lowly grunts get to do all the leg work, and the quality of execution is less than stellar. compound this with a total lack of accurate feedback and the lack of desire of morons at the top to listen closely and timely to where the action really takes place. the result is worse than shitty - sg is flooded with less than mediocre riff raffs posing as geniuses. more morons beget more morons. this happens in every failing big corporation.