An F&B Company in Singapore was Fined RM287k for False Salary Declarations

In Singapore, a food and beverage (F&B) company has been fined S$94,500 (RM286,116) for making false salary declarations in applying for Employment Passes (EPs), Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said on 14 January 2019. The company has also been barred from hiring foreign employees.

According to Channel NewsAsia, the investigations revealed that between February 2013 and July 2015, the company falsely declared salary amounts of between S$4,000 and S$4,800 for 20 foreign employees to meet the salary requirement for EPs. However, the foreign employees were paid salaries of between S$1,500 and S$2,200.

This was done to circumvent foreign worker quota rules by hiring foreigners on EPs but paying them less than the declared salaries in the work pass applications, said Singapore’s MOM. EP candidates need to earn at least S$3,600 a month while S Pass candidates need to earn at least S$2,300 a month.

There is no explicit quota on how many EP holders a company can employ in Singapore, but the employment of S Pass holders and Work Permit holders is restricted to 15% and 40% of a company’s total workforce respectively for the services sector.

In the statement, MOM said that the F&B company had “gained an unfair advantage in hiring foreigners at the expense of other firms”. The ministry will continue to take stern action against errant employers to uphold the integrity of work pass controls.  

The company was convicted on 27 December 2018 of seven charges under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act, with 13 other charges being considered for sentencing.

MOM also said that all employers must make accurate, complete and truthful declarations in their work applications. Under Singapore’s Employment of Foreign Manpower Act, those convicted of making false declarations may be fined up to S$20,000 per charge, jailed for up to two years or both.

These offenders will also be barred from employing new foreign workers and renewing their permits of their existing foreign workers.

Is your company hiring? Your next staff is waiting at AJobThing.com post a job today!