The following article was published in the Straits Times on 18 July 2007.
Maid levy relief for disabled: Applications to open earlier
Straits Times, 18 July 2007
FAMILIES with disabled members seeking a concession on the foreign maid levy can now apply for it earlier.
Instead of waiting till Nov 1, they can do it from Sept 15, said Community Development, Youth and Sports Minister Vivian Balakrishnan.
At the moment, only families with young children and elderly folk aged 65 and older receive the $95 concession, which reduces their levy from $265 a month to $170.
It was announced in February that the concession will also be given to the disabled who need help in daily activities such as bathing and eating.
In his written reply on Monday, Dr Balakrishnan did not explain why the application date was pushed forward.
He was giving an update on efforts to help the disabled to Ms Denise Phua (Jalan Besar GRC) and Dr Fatimah Lateef (Marine Parade GRC).
He also said that 10 companies have pledged to employ 41 people with disabilities since changes were introduced to a government fund on May 1.
Nineteen of them are already at work.
The Open Door Fund can now, among other things, give companies subsidies of up to $100,000 a project, when they redesign their jobs or workplaces to make them more disabled-friendly.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Thursday, June 7, 2007
MOM slaps demerit points on 39 job agencies
The following article was published by the Straits Times on 7 June 2006.
MOM slaps demerit points on 39 job agencies
By T. Rajan
Straits Times, 7 June 2006
Most flouted rule against bringing in foreign workers below 23 years old
JUST four months into a new system to help employers tell good from bad foreign-worker employment agencies, some 39 have already chalked up demerit points.
Most of these agencies appear to have flouted the rule against bringing in workers younger than the legal employment age of 23.
Two agencies have been slapped with nine demerit points each for bringing in underage maids and for filling in false or wrong information in their official documents.
They are Jolly Agency at the Singapore Shopping Centre and JA Manpower in Sim Lim Tower.
They stand to lose their licences if they fall afoul of the rules one more time and accumulate a total of 12 demerit points within a year. That is when the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) will revoke an agency's licence or bar its renewal.
Of the remaining 37 agencies, six have received six demerit points each while 31 have accumulated three demerit points each.
But Mr Yeo Guat Kwang, president of the Consumer Association of Singapore (Case), which accredits employment agencies, told The Straits Times yesterday that the initial spike in errant agencies should not set off alarm bells. He said the demerit system, introduced in February, was still new and some agencies might not be clear about how it worked.
'The 39 agencies which received demerit points are a small fraction of the almost 400 agencies that operate here. But we will have to monitor the situation,' he said.
The MOM launched the demerit points system in February this year to penalise employment agencies which flout licensing conditions and laws governing the employment of foreign workers.
The MOM said that the offences included helping foreign workers engage in illegal employment, providing false information in applications and sending female foreign workers to work in 'immoral places'.
Most of the 12 employment agencies interviewed said they had been slapped with demerit points for bringing in underage foreign domestic workers. They claimed they did so unknowingly.
A staff of Jolly Agency, which was penalised with nine demerit points, said the passports, birth certificates and airline tickets of foreign domestic workers, issued in Indonesia, all stated they were 23 years old and above.
Other agencies also said the demerit system was too harsh as it penalised them for innocent mistakes, such as getting details on application forms wrong.
But Madam Leong Seet Mui, 35, who employs a foreign maid, disagreed.
'I don't think the system is too strict. In fact, I think the rules governing these agencies are too lax,'' she said.
She welcomed the demerit points system.
Mr Yeo, who also chairs the Government Parliamentary Committee for Manpower, said the system 'sends out a clear message to all players in the industry that they will have to take the necessary measures if they want to stay in business'.
The list of 39 agencies and the demerit points issued to them can be viewed at MOM's website at
www.mom.gov.sg/FMMD/EADirectory .
MOM slaps demerit points on 39 job agencies
By T. Rajan
Straits Times, 7 June 2006
Most flouted rule against bringing in foreign workers below 23 years old
JUST four months into a new system to help employers tell good from bad foreign-worker employment agencies, some 39 have already chalked up demerit points.
Most of these agencies appear to have flouted the rule against bringing in workers younger than the legal employment age of 23.
Two agencies have been slapped with nine demerit points each for bringing in underage maids and for filling in false or wrong information in their official documents.
They are Jolly Agency at the Singapore Shopping Centre and JA Manpower in Sim Lim Tower.
They stand to lose their licences if they fall afoul of the rules one more time and accumulate a total of 12 demerit points within a year. That is when the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) will revoke an agency's licence or bar its renewal.
Of the remaining 37 agencies, six have received six demerit points each while 31 have accumulated three demerit points each.
But Mr Yeo Guat Kwang, president of the Consumer Association of Singapore (Case), which accredits employment agencies, told The Straits Times yesterday that the initial spike in errant agencies should not set off alarm bells. He said the demerit system, introduced in February, was still new and some agencies might not be clear about how it worked.
'The 39 agencies which received demerit points are a small fraction of the almost 400 agencies that operate here. But we will have to monitor the situation,' he said.
The MOM launched the demerit points system in February this year to penalise employment agencies which flout licensing conditions and laws governing the employment of foreign workers.
The MOM said that the offences included helping foreign workers engage in illegal employment, providing false information in applications and sending female foreign workers to work in 'immoral places'.
Most of the 12 employment agencies interviewed said they had been slapped with demerit points for bringing in underage foreign domestic workers. They claimed they did so unknowingly.
A staff of Jolly Agency, which was penalised with nine demerit points, said the passports, birth certificates and airline tickets of foreign domestic workers, issued in Indonesia, all stated they were 23 years old and above.
Other agencies also said the demerit system was too harsh as it penalised them for innocent mistakes, such as getting details on application forms wrong.
But Madam Leong Seet Mui, 35, who employs a foreign maid, disagreed.
'I don't think the system is too strict. In fact, I think the rules governing these agencies are too lax,'' she said.
She welcomed the demerit points system.
Mr Yeo, who also chairs the Government Parliamentary Committee for Manpower, said the system 'sends out a clear message to all players in the industry that they will have to take the necessary measures if they want to stay in business'.
The list of 39 agencies and the demerit points issued to them can be viewed at MOM's website at
www.mom.gov.sg/FMMD/EADirectory .
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