2 employment agencies charged for bringing in underage maids
Both firms prosecuted under the Employment Agencies Act for underage-related offences
Two employment agencies were charged yesterday with bringing in underage maids as young as 13 to work in Singapore.
They are Casa Employment Specialist and Vista Employment Services - specifically Khor Siew Tiang, 35, its sole proprietor.
This is the first time such agencies have been prosecuted under the Employment Agencies Act for underage-related offences.
Court documents show each faces one charge of breaching the conditions of the agency licence last year when two maids brought in from Myanmar did not meet the minimum age requirement of 23.
Naw Hla San and Htet Htet Phyo Wai were then 13 years old, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said in a statement yesterday.
The duo confessed their real age to the ministry's officers last June and July when they were interviewed, after it was suspected they were underage.
Their work applications were subsequently cancelled, and MOM ordered them to be sent home. The Myanmar Embassy was informed.
In the last three years, the ministry has taken enforcement action against 98 employment agencies for failing to ensure their foreign maids meet the age requirement. The action taken included issuing warnings and imposing demerit points.
Casa and Khor, however, are the first to be charged.
Singapore raised the minimum age for maids from 18 to 23 in 2005. MOM holds employment agencies legally responsible for ensuring the maids they bring in meet requirements.
VERIFY
Its spokesman yesterday reminded such agencies to take extra steps to verify the age of a maid and not just rely on information in her passport.
The agencies were urged to interview a maid about her family, education and work history to ascertain if her declared age is consistent with other information gathered.
They should also assess her age from her physical appearance and mannerisms, the spokesman said.
Foreign maids are notified before they arrive in Singapore of the entry requirements, and this is done via an in-principle approval letter in their native language.
If convicted, Khor could be fined up to $5,000 and jailed a maximum of six months, or both. Casa could be fined up to $5,000.
The suspension of Vista's licence will take effect today, while Casa was told its licence will be suspended with effect from June 7.
If convicted, their licences could be revoked.
Organisations say cases of underage maids on the decline
The Centre for Domestic Employees (CDE) saw six cases involving underage maids in the past two years, with the youngest individual claiming to be 14 years old.
While organisations that work with maids say the number of such cases has been declining, the problem still exists.
This is because employment agencies may not conduct stringent checks, especially when demand peaks, they said.
And with some maids not in possession of key documents like birth certificates, it becomes even more of a challenge to verify their ages.
Mr Shamsul Kamar, the executive director of the CDE, told The New Paper that employment agencies are the first point of contact, and play a critical role in assessing maids who are looking to work in the country.
He said: "Some employment agencies may want to risk flouting the law by bringing in underaged foreign domestic workers due to the demand. In such instances, they would bring in anyone who is willing to work or is in need of income."
But the chairman of the CDE, Yeo Guat Kwang, acknowledged the difficulty that agencies face. "Some employment agencies did share that while they try their best to guard (against hiring underage maids), they do face difficulty verifying their actual ages, as a number of them come from villages where birth certificates are not mandatory," he said.
“The biggest concern is if the individual is a minor and was coerced into working here, because that would constitute human trafficking.Spokesman for Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics
In some instances, the maids themselves may not be familiar with Singaporean laws, so they end up working here without knowing about the minimum age for foreign domestic workers, which is 23.
A spokesman for the non-governmental Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics said: "The biggest concern is if the individual is a minor and was coerced into working here, because that would constitute human trafficking."
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