Challenges Faced By Workers Pursuing Salary Claims

A version of this letter was sent to TODAY and published on 9 July 2011.

Your article 'Disgruntled worker charged with trespass' highlights some of the problems faced by migrant workers pursuing salary claims. Workers seen by HOME often lodge complaints about their employers not paying them on time, making arbitrary deductions to their salaries and not paying them in accordance with Singapore's labour laws. Instead of resolving work place conflicts in a professional manner, such employers may assault their workers or penalise them by suspending them from work. Workers who lodge complaints and attempt to bargain for better treatment may also be unfairly dismissed by their employers. In such a situation, the workers have little choice but to be repatriated.   

When workers lodge complaints at the Ministry of Manpower, they may have to wait several weeks before a resolution with the employer is reached. During this period, the employer may deny him meals and accommodation, and deliberately not show up for mediations arranged by the Ministry of Manpower to delay the resolution of the claim. What adds to the worker's frustration is when employers refuse to comply with Singapore's labour standards standards during mediations. When mediation fails, a worker's complaint is brought before a labour court. Several months may pass before a judgment order is issued. The worker is disallowed from work during this period, leaving him bereft of income.  These issues are documented in a research report we wrote with Transient Workers Count Too entitled Justice Delayed, Justice Denied: the experiences of migrant workers in Singapore.

This incident shows that much more needs to be done to ensure that migrant workers receive adequate social support and have effective mechanisms of redress for their problems. Stronger enforcement action should also be taken against employers who blatantly flout Singapore's labour laws. When workers are adequately protected, they will be less inclined to resort to drastic actions to resolve their problems.