Our response: Workers and employers penalised for breaching leave-of-absence

25 February 2020

We refer to Straits Time’s article ‘Coronavirus: More employers and employees caught breaching leave of absence rules’ published on 24 February 2020.

We are encouraged that the employees on leave-of-absence (LOA) who went to work as instructed by their employers were given a warning and did not face harsher punishment. This supports our statement, released on  22nd February, that workers may feel obliged to show up to work in fear of displeasing their employer or losing their jobs. We hope to see more employers honouring the LOA requirements since this outcome.

We would like to reiterate that employers have the responsibility to provide accurate information on government advisories and laws. We would also like to urge our migrant worker friends to know their rights and obligations during this outbreak, and the Ministry of Manpower to continue to be mindful of the information asymmetry and power imbalance between employers and workers.

You can read our full statement here on the impact of Covid-19 measures on worker’s rights here.