|
 |
|
Source:
www.mom.gov.sg |
|
(I) Revocation of Employment Agency Licence for Grand
Pacific Manpower Consultancy Pte Ltd |
|
(II) New Employment Agency Rules |
|
|
The Ministry for Manpower has revoked the
employment agency (EA) licence and forfeited the $20,000 security bond
of Grand Pacific Manpower Consultancy Pte Ltd for its repeated breaches
of the Ministry¡¯s employment agency regulations. |
|
The EA had failed to provide acceptable
housing for FDWs under its charge by housing them in the kitchen and
backyard of a house. |
|
In a separate incident, the EA also withheld
the passports of FDWs placed by them. Finally, the EA had failed to
repatriate an FDW upon the revocation of the in-principle approval of
her work permit within the Ministry¡¯s stipulated deadline of 14 days. |
|
The Ministry takes contraventions of the
Employment Agency Act and its subsidiary rules, regulations and
licensing conditions very seriously. |
|
The Ministry will not hesitate to revoke the
licences of EAs whose practices undermine the integrity of the workpass
framework or compromise the welfare of foreign domestic workers. |
|
From January 2004 to date, the Ministry has
revoked the licence of one other EA and also not renewed the licenses of a
further 10 EAs. There are about 500 FDW-placing EAs in the industry. |
|
The Ministry has also introduced a new piece
of subsidiary legislation under the Employment Agency Act, namely the
Employment Agencies (Composition of Offences) Rules 2005, and amended
the Employment Agency Rules with the Employment Agency (Amendment) Rules
2005. |
|
Under the Employment Agencies (Composition
of Offences) Rules 2005, offences under the EA Act and Rules may
henceforth be compounded by the Commissioner or any officer authorized
by him. The composition amount is $2,000 or half the maximum fine
prescribed for the offence, whichever is lower. |
|
This new regulation affords MOM greater
flexibility to penalize EAs which breach the provisions of the EA Act
and Regulations. |
|
Under the Employment Agency (Amendment)
Rules 2005, any EA licensee who collects any deposit or fee from any
person after he or she has received notice in writing of the
Commissioner¡¯s intent to revoke his or her EA licence, commits an
offence and is liable for prosecution. |
|
This protects customers from unscrupulous
EAs who may continue to collect deposits despite impending closure due
to licence revocation. |
|
Source:
www.mom.gov.sg Press Release 22 Dec
2005 |
|
 |
|
Important
Notice |
|
Our FrontPage
Editions are a historical record of our Web site and reflect
the changing of the times, and also of our Web site through
time. We do not and will not update the links and stories on
these FrontPages even if they have become obsolete. |
|
FrontPage Edition: Sun 1 Jan 2006
All rights reserved
