Workers Paying Kickbacks To Employers: More Needs To Be Done

11 December 2016

HOME is encouraged that action has been taken against the employer, who profiteered and exploited vulnerable low wage migrant workers (“Boss fined $60K, banned from hiring foreign workers” (The Straits Times, Nov 23). However, such convictions are rare and HOME believes they represent only the tip of the iceberg. In the past year, approximately 100 workers approached HOME with claims that their employers had demanded kickbacks, usually for work permit renewals. The amounts demanded are usually between $1,000 to $5,000. This is on top of hefty recruitment fees that the workers have already paid before coming to Singapore to work, of which employers also take a cut.

 A common complaint from employers, especially small and medium-sized companies, is that foreign worker levies, which can range between $300 to $1,000 per worker per month, are an “unnecessary cost” to their business. The government’s justification for imposing levies is that it is meant to regulate the demand for migrant workers, an over-reliance on which will affect Singapore’s productivity. HOME believes that the current quotas and dependency ceiling ratios should adequately regulate the demand, without this additional levy. 

For employers, foreign workers present a more viable option compared to local workers, given their willingness to accept lower wages and less favourable conditions. Many will employ foreign workers and pass on the “unnecessary costs” to them by way of kickbacks. 

As most instances of kickbacks are verbal, there is usually no paper trail. This makes it difficult for foreign workers to seek redress as they are unable to present strong evidence of any monies paid to their employers. A portion of the exorbitant recruitment fees that workers in their countries of origin pay also goes to employers as kickbacks. There is a need to have more oversight and laws to root out such practices and prosecute employers accordingly. While it is important that we bring errant employers to justice, it is just as important to consider how some of our policies could drive employers to adopt unethical practices.