2006 Sept - Oct
A Word from Braema
Dear Members,
It has been a while since we last chatted and much has taken place on this cause and for TWC2.
Globally migrant worker issues were discussed at Ministerial level at the UN last month. TWC2 notes that Singapore was represented by no less than the Minister for Manpower, Mr Ng Eng Hen. Much of the discussion focused on protection of migrant workers.
Locally the major event where migrant workers are concerned has been the release of our research findings. We still have a long way to go in asking for some consistency and standardization in terms of agency fees, replacement fees, debts, deductions and minimum wages. The research has shown that it is important for us to keep advocating for the following: a 50 per cent cap on placement fee being charged to the migrant workers; that wages are Giro-ed into bank accounts of migrant workers; and that we really need to get the details in the contract to be firmed up and standardized in reality!
For TWC2 the important event is that we have moved to a bigger and better premise on the same floor at just a slightly higher rental. This is good news as we are saving on renting training and meeting rooms for our bigger events. We are also currently recruiting staff to help us with the Direct Service and with the Office. I also need to share with you that we have lost the services of our office manager, Ms Amy Fatah who had to return home suddenly. We thank Amy for all her hard work for IMD 2005 and for helping to set up office for the society.
The next big thing for TWC2 is the IMD 06 and we need to form a task force to plan this much smaller scale event this year. The helpline too will be up and running by then to be launched on the same day of Dec 17th.
I have appealed before for members to be part of the society. I apologise if we have not invested enough in getting our membership going. The one thing I have also learned is that many among you might be willing to help but have no idea how to get involved. I would just like to say that we have openings for short term projects like the IMD 06 and for something more long-term as in being part of an information team. Do let us know if either area interests you ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) and we will get you started from that point on.
In another effort to get acquainted we have organized a Members’ 3-D event - Drop-in; Dine and Drink. This will be held on 3rd December at the office. Please block the date and we will meet each other soon.
It is what members and exco members do that keeps the work moving as everything comes from some sweat, blood, tears and money. And though Septfest became a non-entity this year we appreciate the work of Russell and Dana in trying to give it a meaningful buzz through an art project that we hope to resurrect in due course. And once again it is Art and Civil society that came together as Mr Jimmy Ong’s painting fetched us some good cash. We thank Russell for taking care of this whole project for almost a year!
So please be one of us - do the small things and the big things with us to make the difference that we desire to see.
Take care
With best wishes,
Braema
Dear Members,
It has been a while since we last chatted and much has taken place on this cause and for TWC2.
Globally migrant worker issues were discussed at Ministerial level at the UN last month. TWC2 notes that Singapore was represented by no less than the Minister for Manpower, Mr Ng Eng Hen. Much of the discussion focused on protection of migrant workers.
Locally the major event where migrant workers are concerned has been the release of our research findings. We still have a long way to go in asking for some consistency and standardization in terms of agency fees, replacement fees, debts, deductions and minimum wages. The research has shown that it is important for us to keep advocating for the following: a 50 per cent cap on placement fee being charged to the migrant workers; that wages are Giro-ed into bank accounts of migrant workers; and that we really need to get the details in the contract to be firmed up and standardized in reality!
For TWC2 the important event is that we have moved to a bigger and better premise on the same floor at just a slightly higher rental. This is good news as we are saving on renting training and meeting rooms for our bigger events. We are also currently recruiting staff to help us with the Direct Service and with the Office. I also need to share with you that we have lost the services of our office manager, Ms Amy Fatah who had to return home suddenly. We thank Amy for all her hard work for IMD 2005 and for helping to set up office for the society.
The next big thing for TWC2 is the IMD 06 and we need to form a task force to plan this much smaller scale event this year. The helpline too will be up and running by then to be launched on the same day of Dec 17th.
I have appealed before for members to be part of the society. I apologise if we have not invested enough in getting our membership going. The one thing I have also learned is that many among you might be willing to help but have no idea how to get involved. I would just like to say that we have openings for short term projects like the IMD 06 and for something more long-term as in being part of an information team. Do let us know if either area interests you ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) and we will get you started from that point on.
In another effort to get acquainted we have organized a Members’ 3-D event - Drop-in; Dine and Drink. This will be held on 3rd December at the office. Please block the date and we will meet each other soon.
It is what members and exco members do that keeps the work moving as everything comes from some sweat, blood, tears and money. And though Septfest became a non-entity this year we appreciate the work of Russell and Dana in trying to give it a meaningful buzz through an art project that we hope to resurrect in due course. And once again it is Art and Civil society that came together as Mr Jimmy Ong’s painting fetched us some good cash. We thank Russell for taking care of this whole project for almost a year!
So please be one of us - do the small things and the big things with us to make the difference that we desire to see.
Take care
With best wishes,
Braema
Bank Accounts for Foreign Domestic Workers
'To ensure prompt salary payment, FDWs can ask for their salaries to be paid into their bank accounts in Singapore. Effective 1 November 2006, MOM will introduce this as a new work permit condition for employers to comply. This is a useful option as bank transaction records of salary payment will be of benefit to both employers and their FDWs especially in the event of any salary dispute. This new work permit condition will also apply to employers of non-domestic foreign workers. FDWs who have been paid promptly by their employers can choose to keep their current arrangements.' (From Ministry of Manpower press release, 2 October 2006)
At the beginning of October, the Ministry of Manpower announced a series of new measures concerning foreign domestic workers in Singapore. As from 1st November, the MOM will randomly interview selected foreign domestic workers working in Singapore for the first time. The interviews will take place during their early months of employment and are intended to provide a check on how they are getting on. Although the press release describes the interviews in terms of the workers’ adjustment to their work environment in Singapore, they should certainly be one tool for countering abusive behaviour by employers.
Another measure that will come into effect at the same time is that employment agencies will have to make available the employment history of the domestic workers to prospective employers. While no specific details will be provided, alert employers may see whether a worker has changed jobs frequently or only stayed with a previous employer for a very short time. It should be expected that they may then wish to ask the agency or the worker more questions about the worker’s record before deciding whether they wish to take her on. This makes it desirable that the agency should make the effort to obtain information on why a worker left her previous employers. It would be unfair if a family decided not to take on a worker because she had changed employers before, and they thought that this was a sign of her unreliability, when in fact, she had left previous employers because she was mistreated or not paid, or her employers moved to another country, for example.
The MOM press release also announced that a new guidebook on the standards for management of foreign domestic workers will be sent to employers in December, and that, this October, it will launch a newsletter for foreign domestic workers that will appear every six months and give useful information on their rights and responsibilities.
Each of these measures is positive in improving the position of foreign domestic workers and giving a fairer deal to both employers and workers.
The other measure announced in the same press release concerned the payment of salaries into bank accounts. As the text makes clear, while other measures in the press release concern the position of domestic workers, this one also applies to other foreign workers, such as men in the construction industry.
This too, should have a positive impact, in TWC2’s view. When a worker has a bank account, it offers one way of helping to monitor the proper payment of the salary due from the employer. There should be a record of when money goes in and out and how much money is paid in by the employer. This can be very useful if a dispute arises between an employer and a worker about an alleged non-payment, under payment or late payment of salary: the bank used by the worker should have an accurate record of all transactions.
In supporting the view that it is advantageous for foreign workers to have bank accounts, TWC2 has consistently added a qualification. As the society’s president, Braema Mathi, told ‘Today’:
“It is very important that the bank books be kept by the maids. And if the bank can help to send the money directly back to their family’s bank accounts, it would be even better.” (Loh Chee Kong, ‘Maids get ‘bank guarantee’, Today, 3rd October 2006)
This point was urged upon employers in ‘Mutual Respect’, TWC2’s handbook for employers, published at the beginning of 2005. The worker’s earnings belong to the worker: s/he has the right to control the account in which they are deposited.
Problems
In response to the MOM’s press release, a number of people interviewed by the newspapers or writing in raised practical problems that they saw in the bank account provision (Letters by Joseph Wong, Evelyn Goh and Murali Sharma in ‘Today’, 4th October, were very well considered). TWC2 has heard similar comments.
These included:
TWC2 will monitor the implementation of this measure. We ask members to help us by relating their own experiences with this.
It did not escape the notice of some observers that this measure was announced a few weeks after TWC2 released ‘Debt, Delays and Deductions: Wage Issues Faced by Domestic Workers in Singapore’ at the forum it held on 18th September. The study, based on a survey conducted earlier in the year by TWC2 researchers, highlighted the problems of indebtedness of workers at the start of their employment, late payment and non-payment of salaries, and unreasonable deductions from salaries by employers.
Artist’s Generosity Helps TWC2
A charcoal on paper work by Singaporean artist, Jimmy Ong, was sold at Sotheby’s auction on 22nd October for $7000 and the proceeds (that is, the amount minus the auction house’s commission) will come to TWC2’s funds. Ong generously donated the picture for auction earlier this year.
In September, he donated $2,4000, the proceeds of the sale of four smaller works, to TWC2. We are very grateful to him for his support.
'To ensure prompt salary payment, FDWs can ask for their salaries to be paid into their bank accounts in Singapore. Effective 1 November 2006, MOM will introduce this as a new work permit condition for employers to comply. This is a useful option as bank transaction records of salary payment will be of benefit to both employers and their FDWs especially in the event of any salary dispute. This new work permit condition will also apply to employers of non-domestic foreign workers. FDWs who have been paid promptly by their employers can choose to keep their current arrangements.' (From Ministry of Manpower press release, 2 October 2006)
At the beginning of October, the Ministry of Manpower announced a series of new measures concerning foreign domestic workers in Singapore. As from 1st November, the MOM will randomly interview selected foreign domestic workers working in Singapore for the first time. The interviews will take place during their early months of employment and are intended to provide a check on how they are getting on. Although the press release describes the interviews in terms of the workers’ adjustment to their work environment in Singapore, they should certainly be one tool for countering abusive behaviour by employers.
Another measure that will come into effect at the same time is that employment agencies will have to make available the employment history of the domestic workers to prospective employers. While no specific details will be provided, alert employers may see whether a worker has changed jobs frequently or only stayed with a previous employer for a very short time. It should be expected that they may then wish to ask the agency or the worker more questions about the worker’s record before deciding whether they wish to take her on. This makes it desirable that the agency should make the effort to obtain information on why a worker left her previous employers. It would be unfair if a family decided not to take on a worker because she had changed employers before, and they thought that this was a sign of her unreliability, when in fact, she had left previous employers because she was mistreated or not paid, or her employers moved to another country, for example.
The MOM press release also announced that a new guidebook on the standards for management of foreign domestic workers will be sent to employers in December, and that, this October, it will launch a newsletter for foreign domestic workers that will appear every six months and give useful information on their rights and responsibilities.
Each of these measures is positive in improving the position of foreign domestic workers and giving a fairer deal to both employers and workers.
The other measure announced in the same press release concerned the payment of salaries into bank accounts. As the text makes clear, while other measures in the press release concern the position of domestic workers, this one also applies to other foreign workers, such as men in the construction industry.
This too, should have a positive impact, in TWC2’s view. When a worker has a bank account, it offers one way of helping to monitor the proper payment of the salary due from the employer. There should be a record of when money goes in and out and how much money is paid in by the employer. This can be very useful if a dispute arises between an employer and a worker about an alleged non-payment, under payment or late payment of salary: the bank used by the worker should have an accurate record of all transactions.
In supporting the view that it is advantageous for foreign workers to have bank accounts, TWC2 has consistently added a qualification. As the society’s president, Braema Mathi, told ‘Today’:
“It is very important that the bank books be kept by the maids. And if the bank can help to send the money directly back to their family’s bank accounts, it would be even better.” (Loh Chee Kong, ‘Maids get ‘bank guarantee’, Today, 3rd October 2006)
This point was urged upon employers in ‘Mutual Respect’, TWC2’s handbook for employers, published at the beginning of 2005. The worker’s earnings belong to the worker: s/he has the right to control the account in which they are deposited.
Problems
In response to the MOM’s press release, a number of people interviewed by the newspapers or writing in raised practical problems that they saw in the bank account provision (Letters by Joseph Wong, Evelyn Goh and Murali Sharma in ‘Today’, 4th October, were very well considered). TWC2 has heard similar comments.
These included:
- Many workers are not used to having bank accounts and they are not confident about opening and controlling them. They prefer to receive money in their hands, and then they feel sure that they have control over it.
- The minimum amount of money needed to open an account at a Singapore bank is $500. This is a serious problem for workers who generally arrive in Singapore with a burden of debt that can eat up their salaries for six months and more. After they have paid all of this off, many will feel that they must send as much as they can back to their families: how can they afford to accumulate over $500 in a bank account?
- Foreign workers are bound to be unhappy about bank charges: everyone else complains about them, after all! In their case, the charges represent a bigger cut out of their incomes. Minimum balance fees start at $2.00 a month, which a domestic worker on as little as $250 a month, working a 15 hour day, seven days a week, is likely to see as a waste of four hours’ work.
- Access to the bank account: workers need to be able to reach banks and ATM machines easily.
- Unscrupulous employers could still cheat the worker out of money, by demanding that she take money out and pay it to them for ‘telephone charges’ or some other dubious expense.
- This surely requires an approach over time and at many levels. Workers could be briefed on opening and using a bank account in their countries of origin during training and receive more information from the MOM, their embassies or agents when they come to Singapore. Employers should be urged to be helpful in this: those who do want to be fair to their employees should have no difficulty in taking a helpful attitude.
- While the amount of money each worker may bank is comparatively small, the potential significance of some 300,000-plus low waged foreign workers putting in a known sum of money at reliably regular intervals ought to be clear to the government and the banks. A waiver of the $500 minimum needed to open an account, perhaps in return for a commitment to maintain an account at that bank for a minimum of a specified period, could be a way to tackle this problem.
- A fee waiver for all workers paid below a certain amount each month would be one way to go. Banks would generally be unhappy about this, but if the MOM backs up its new requirement by urging such a measure on the banks, it might happen. Another possibility, less favourable to the workers, would be for banks to agree to a fee holiday: they might allow foreign workers to have an account for a first year with no charges, and after that, they would have to pay the standard amounts. This would allow time for the workers to get rid of their initial debts and save a little.
- The opening of the bank account should come out of consultation between employer and the worker; it should become clear which bank represents the best option. The question of easy access to ATMs is less of a problem for workers who have regular days off and can incorporate a stop at an ATM into their time out.
- The unscrupulous seem to be endlessly inventive, but every check introduced, every measure that protects the worker from arbitrary conduct by the employer, is a step forward.
TWC2 will monitor the implementation of this measure. We ask members to help us by relating their own experiences with this.
It did not escape the notice of some observers that this measure was announced a few weeks after TWC2 released ‘Debt, Delays and Deductions: Wage Issues Faced by Domestic Workers in Singapore’ at the forum it held on 18th September. The study, based on a survey conducted earlier in the year by TWC2 researchers, highlighted the problems of indebtedness of workers at the start of their employment, late payment and non-payment of salaries, and unreasonable deductions from salaries by employers.
Artist’s Generosity Helps TWC2
A charcoal on paper work by Singaporean artist, Jimmy Ong, was sold at Sotheby’s auction on 22nd October for $7000 and the proceeds (that is, the amount minus the auction house’s commission) will come to TWC2’s funds. Ong generously donated the picture for auction earlier this year.
In September, he donated $2,4000, the proceeds of the sale of four smaller works, to TWC2. We are very grateful to him for his support.