4 directors, 6 firms charged

[Dodomeki]

Aug 12, 2010
4 directors, 6 firms charged

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Four firms specialising in marine work were also in court. Scaffold Master, Marine Scaffold Master and Master Scaffolds managed to repay 57 Bangladeshi workers the three months' salaries due to them after MOM's intervention. -- ST PHOTO: LAU FOOK KONG

FOUR directors and six firms in the construction and marine sectors were hauled to court on Thursday for failing to pay workers' salaries on time. Fahhrosh Khan Shah Baz, a director of construction firms 88 Builders and 89 builders faces 43 charges.

According to court documents, a total of 94 Bangladeshi workers of the two firms were owed salaries between last Nov and this Feb. Mediation efforts by Ministry of Manpower (MOM) officers bore fruit and the salary arrears were settled. His companies were not charged with violating the Employment Act.

However, this was not the case with Sin Lim Seng Construction and its director Chew Kee Seng. Each faces 22 charges for allegedly owing salaries to eight China nationals for Oct 2008 and July last year. Similarly, U-Hin Engineering and its director Wong Siu Hung are said to have failed to pay the salaries of a Singaporean and two Malaysian workers between Sep 2008 and Jan last year.

Four firms specialising in marine work were also in court. Scaffold Master, Marine Scaffold Master and Master Scaffolds managed to repay 57 Bangladeshi workers the three months' salaries due to them after MOM's intervention. However, the firms have been charged with 162 violations with their director Bala Subramaniam Muniandy facing 57 charges. The last company is Asia Link Marine Industries which has 54 charges for late payment of salaries between Sep and Nov 2008.

 

[lauhumku]

Six companies, four directors charged with not paying workers


Six companies, four directors charged with not paying workers
By Jonathan Peeris and Mustafa Shafawi | Posted: 12 August 2010 1743 hrs
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SINGAPORE : The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has charged six companies and four directors from the construction and marine industries for failure to pay salaries to their workers.

It is part of MOM's continuing efforts to ensure that employers fulfil their legal obligations to their workers. Some of the employers are also facing charges for not paying salaries on time and making unauthorised salary deductions.

Most of the complaints stem from salaries that were owed to workers between September 2008 and February this year. The companies include 88 Builders and 89 Builders, whose directors face 43 charges under the Employment Act.

Another man, Bala Subramaniam s/o Muniandy, who is the director of 3 more companies that have been charged. He faces 57 charges under the Employment Act for complaints made by workers of Scaffold Master & Construction, Marine Scaffold Master and Master Scaffolds.

In another case, eight Chinese construction workers from Sin Lim Seng Construction were owed two months' salary. The workers filed their salary claims with MOM and orders were subsequently made for the company to resolve the arrears.

But the company did not comply with the court orders to repay the workers. The company and its director, Chew Kee Seng, will each be facing 24 charges.

The remaining 2 companies are U-Hin Engineering and Asia Link Marine Industries. It is an offence under the Employment Act for an employer not to pay salary for work done within a week after the salary period, or within three days from the termination of the contract of service.

Under the Employment Act, a first-time offender can be fined up to S$5,000, jailed six months or both. For any subsequent offence, an offender can be fined up to S$10,000, jailed up to a year or both. - CNA /ls