I REFER to the Economic Strategies Committee's recommendations
in last Saturday's Insight report, 'Balancing social discontent and
the bottom line'. The effectiveness of increasing foreign worker
levies - as a measure to contain reliance on foreign workers in the
long run and increase productivity - is questionable.
Businesses will find ways to pass the cost of the levy increase
to foreign workers.
Although there are laws against employers and employment
agencies receiving kickbacks from foreign workers, the difficulty
of overseeing the recruitment of foreign workers makes the practice
prevalent today.
The 'fee' imposed on foreign workers for securing jobs in
Singapore has been increasing over the years. This fee not only
goes into the pockets of unscrupulous recruiters in the countries
of origin of the foreign workers, but is also offered to employers
as incentives to employ workers.
As there is often no paper trail for such transactions,
punishing offenders remains difficult.
Foreign workers who renew their contracts in Singapore are also
charged exorbitant fees by either employment agencies or their
employers. These are deducted from workers' salaries and disguised
as authorised deductions for food, accommodation and other advances
allowed under the Employment Act. These deductions subsidise the
business costs incurred in hiring foreign workers such as the
foreign worker levy and purchase of medical insurance.
Although the Ministry of Manpower has set up recourse channels
for such violations, foreign workers face immense challenges in
seeking redress against errant employers and agents.
As prosecution witnesses for offences committed by employers and
agents, foreign workers are stuck in Singapore for a protracted
period of time with limited access to work. During this period,
such workers face difficulties in meeting basic needs such as
housing, food and health services.
Employers are also given the unilateral right to terminate a
worker's work permit and repatriate him. This power allows
employers to threaten workers who attempt to seek recourse to these
problems.
Businesses who are given access to easily exploited workers find
little motivation to innovate and improve working conditions,
causing jobs in these sectors to remain unattractive to citizen
workers.
While there are no easy answers to the problems highlighted, it
is important to acknowledge the dampening effects of such
exploitation on the pursuit of productivity-driven growth.
Dr Noorashikin Abdul Rahman
Ex-Co, Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2)