SINGAPORE, February 4 ------ Singapore's Ministry of Manpower encouraged migrant workers in the Southeast Asian city-state to "come forward early" and report kickback practices, following a recent case where a contracting company collected illegal fees as a condition for work pass renewals. "Workers with valid claims will be allowed a change of employment if they wish to continue working in Singapore," the ministry wrote in a Facebook post.
It highlighted a case involving Lian Cheng Contracting Pte Ltd, where a former operations manager collected kickbacks totaling SG$396,440 (about $289,400) from 57 migrant workers between 2014 and 2020. These payments were required for their continued employment or work pass renewal.
Adrian Quek, divisional director at the ministry's Foreign Manpower Management Division, called the case one of the largest of its kind that the ministry has investigated so far. Singapore relies on a workforce of more than 1.5 million foreign workers as of last June, according to the ministry's latest data.
Source: manilatimes.net
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