E-Guide To The Employment of Foreign Manpower

Vincent Gabriel

Description

The Singapore economy has undergone drastic changes. There is less and less of the traditional activities. A simple example is that Singapore has lost its place as the No. 1 port, yet Singapore remains a shipping and maritime hub.

Europeans find Singapore a convenient connection to the fast growing business opportunities of China and India and now Burma (also called Myanmar).

India and Burma represent the new frontier opportunities — What China was two decades ago of underpriced assets and a labour force willing to put in the effort.

Amidst this background the Singaporean worker Gen X vintage is rewarded according to his/her performance. The old cap on wages has been jettisoned. The gap between the average high performer who earns $50,00 and the cleaner who earns $850 is too great to be acceptable.

Drastic steps are being taken to bring the definition of low wage to be not less than a $1,000 a month. Creative steps are being undertaken by the government, the labour movement and employees to train and to do whatever is needed to bring up and maintain that wage level.

This means that foreigners on work permits should not be brought in, as they tend to cause wages to fall unless these foreigners earn at least $1,300 a month.

The relationship between foreigners on work passes and Singaporean workers (at these entry levels) is a love-hate relationship. On the one hand Singapore love to have "maids" (FDWs), marine contractors, labourers, healthcare workers, but on the other hand the 'S' pass holders, the EP holders, who compete with tertiary-educated Singaporean at entry levels the relationship is not so receptive. Young graduates must be given
a chance to enter the workforce.

This book explains the employment regulations of hiring foreign manpower in Singapore and teaches how you the employer can comply with the Singapore labour laws.

Sujets

• Entrepreneuriat
• Business
• Economics
• Entrepreneurship
• Employabilité, métiers et formations

Informations

• Publié par: eBookIt.com
• Date de parution: 14 juillet 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9789810798093
• Langue: English

Extrait

E-GUIDE: EMPLOYMENT OF FOREIGN MANPOWER
Vincent A. Gabriel
2014
Published And Distributed By Rank Books www.rankbooks.com
ISBN 978-981-07-9809-3 Copyright © 2014 Vincent Gabriel
Typeset and Cover Design: All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means – graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or information retrieval systems – without written permission of the copyright holder.
Condition of Sale This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the copyright holder’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
Disclaimer The author disclaim all liability and responsibility for loss caused to any person by any act or omission to act directly or indirectly as a result of material contained in this book.
Printed in Singapore
Preface
The Employee Environment
From 2013 onwards the employee environment has taken a different complexion and it may be a good idea for us to separate and summarise the main elements:

•      The baby boomers are now the largest segments of the retirees
•      Gen X are now at their top of their careers
•      Gen Y are making themselves felt
•      There are a large numbers of foreign workers from work permit holders to those who have got their PR status
The economy has undergone drastic changes. There is less and less of the traditional activities. A simple example is that Singapore has lost its place as the No. 1 port, yet Singapore remains a shipping and maritime hub.
The services sector has become the biggest employer and in the last decade a huge retraining exercise has enabled more employees to be skilled enough to get good service jobs. Even the nature of services has changed. At one time Japanese tourists were the most catered for. Today the visitors are from China. They value the fact that they can comfortably move about in the city of Mandarin speakers, with a variety of Chinese food, a huge array of branded continental haute culture, crime-free streets and convenient connections.
Europeans find Singapore a convenient connection to the fast growing business opportunities of China and India and now Burma (also called Myanmar).
India and Burma represent the new frontier opportunities – What China was two decades ago of underpriced assets and a labour force willing to put in the effort.
Amidst, this background the Singaporean worker Gen X vintage is rewarded according to his/her performance. The old cap on wages has been jettisoned. The gap between the average high performer who earns $50,00 and the cleaner who earns $850 is too great to be acceptable.
Drastic steps are being taken to bring the definition of low wage to be not less than a $1,000 a month. Creative steps are being undertaken by the government, the labour movement and employees to train and to do whatever is needed to bring up and maintain that wage level.
This means that foreigners on work permits should not be brought in, as they tend to cause wages to fall unless these foreigners earn at least $1,300 a month.
The relationship between foreigners on work passes and Singaporean workers (at these entry levels) is a love-hate relationship. On the one hand Singapore love to have “maids” (FDWs), marine contractors, labourers, healthcare workers, but on the other hand the ‘S’ pass holders, the EP holders, who compete with tertiary-educated Singaporean at entry levels the relationship is not so receptive. Young graduates must be given a chance to enter the workforce.
These are the men and women who will be the captains of industry, commerce, trade, the leaders in the civil service and the political leaders. We must give them the work experience needed to guide the economy and the country.
Gen Y has proved to be a new type of worker, less likely to do things simply for the sake of doing things. Rather they expect to be told why they have to do something. They are not the docile, mindless worker, often read of in labour relations literature. If properly led, they are creative and able to assume leadership.
So put simply this is the employee environment of Singapore – a first world economy in transition against the huge competition of cheap labour in China, Burma and India.
I bid you welcome, and I hope that this E-guide: Employment of Foreign Manpower helps you to achieve your work objectives and help you find living and working in Singapore a pleasant experience.
About the author
Vincent A. Gabriel has written E-guide: The Employment Act after completing two print editions of the Employment Act. He has completed two print editions of an Employment Manual. He lectures on the employment of foreign workers and the laws related to Human Resource matters.
Professional Qualifications and Memberships

•      Advanced Certificate in Training and Assessment (ACTA) through STADA
•      Certificate in Urban Education (Chinese University, HK)
•      Certificate in Non-Formal Education (University of the Philippines, Los Banos)
•      B S c (Econs) Hons University of London External Degree
•      TTC Certificate in Education with Distinction in Comparative Education

Writing Awards

•      2007 Raffles Hotel’s 120th Anniversary essay “What Raffles Hotel Means To You”
•      1999 Swatch / New paper – Sounds of the new millennium
•      1990 – Cartier / Signature Journalism contest – Honourable mention
•      1989 Joint 1st prize for essay on “1992 – The European Administrative Manager” organized by the IAM in conjunction with the John Simon Lecture (London)
•      1986 Joint 1st prize in the International Essay contest and Symposium on “Productivity Through Better Labour – Management Relation” representing Singapore at the Asian Productivity Organisation 25th Anniversary meeting at Pattaya.
•      1985 2nd Prize in the Open section of the National Banking and Finance Essay Competition.
•      1984 Gold medal “1st in the world in English” awarded by the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry
It is my pleasure to be able to serve you and share with you the experience gained.
Table of Content
1      Overview of the Employment of Foreign Manpower
2      Who are the Foreign Workers
3      Employer’s Responsibility towards Foreign Workers
4      Foreign Workers and Other Laws
5      The Foreign Worker Levy
6      Enforcement of the Foreign Worker Act
7      Illegal Practices involving Foreign Workers
8      Overview of Changes to the Employment Act in 2014
9      Trends in the Future of Foreign Manpower
UNIT 1
Overview of the Employment of Foreign Manpower
Synopsis

•      Context of Foreign Manpower currently
Introduction
Singapore has enjoyed full employment for a longtime simple because:
•      The schools churn out young people with the basic literary and numeracy skills.
•      The polytechnics and the institutes turn out young people with the basic skills needed by industry, commerce and the services sector.
•      Skills are kept relevant by re-skilling and re-training programmes. In many instances workers can enjoy a training allowance while they undertake training.
•      Housewives, whose children have grown up, can opt to rejoin the work force through a series of “back-to-work” schemes.
•      Ex-offenders, who wish to, are retrained with skills and placed with employers willing to mentor them.

•      The working age has been extended to 62 years so that the skills, experience, values and attitudes of the older worker are not lost.
Finally all these schemes have, over time, pushed skill and wage levels up and the economy displays certain sectors that are still short of labour.
These sectors include:

•      the construction sector
•      the sectors deemed: Dangerous
                                    Dirty
                     lacking in Dignity
     the inability to attract enough able bodied local workers
•      the domestic sector
•      the cutting edge sector in manufacturing commerce, creative services and in the new services
Context of the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act.
The context is shown in Figure 1.1. The employment opportunities cross and the explanation that follows:

Fig 1.1 THE EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES N.B. The numbers 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 refer to sectors of the economy.
Sector One
Senior positions of the people that manage the economy and the community.
Sector Two
These employees face competition from foreigners. So the Fair Consideration Framework is meant to give both the Singaporean and the foreigner a rational and a clear evaluation.
Section Three
There are skill shortages in some areas as noted in Case Study 1.2.
Sector Four
This is the sector described as Foreign talent. As the economy powers ahead to new “hubs” of growth, Foreign talent is needed. In Unit 9 there is mention of data scientists who are skilled to mine data.
Sector Five
Employers, sometimes, feel that foreign labour gives them more certainty over the future of their businesses.
Sector Six
Shortages and gaps in the labour force occur because of opportunity. Locals take up better paying jobs leaving gaps in the work process.
Sector Seven
Much will be said about this sector as employers, the trade unions and the government try to get more locals involved.
The areas of dissatisfaction between local and foreign job applicants occur between Sectors 5 and 2.
To keep the process of selection logical the Fair Consideration Framework has been introduced and will become operational in April 2014.
The provisions are as follows:

•      All jobs that pay between $3,000 and $12,000 must be open to both locals and foreigners and all parties must be allowed to apply. Thus that job opening must be advertised in the Wor