Woman fined for assisting unlicensed agent with work pass applications
AsiaOne
Tuesday, Mar 12, 2013
SINGAPORE - The owner of an employment agency has become the first person to be convicted of making work pass applications on behalf of an unlicensed agency.
Tay Lian Huay, a 56-year-old Singaporean and the sole proprietor of Sunlight Employment Agency, was found guilty uner the revised Employment Agencies Act (EAA) which came into effect in April 2011.
On Tuesday, Tay pleaded guilty to one charge of making a work pass application on behalf of De Luna Noriza Dancel (Noriza). Another 15 charges were also taken into consideration.
Tay was fined $30,000 in default to one month's imprisonment.
Noriza had approached Tay for help in submitting 16 work pass applications from August 25, 2011 to October 27, 2011 using Tay's access to the Ministry of Manpower's (MOM) work pass application system.
Tay was paid $200 for every successful application made and $30 for every unsuccessful application.
Noriza has already been charged for operating as an EA without a licence. She was fined $50,000 in default to 20 days' imprisonment on January 31, 2012.
Advisory from MOM
Under the EAA, it is an offence for any EA personnel of a licensee to submit a work pass application to the Controller of Work Passes on behalf of any person who has not obtained an EA licence. Those convicted face a fine not exceeding $80,000 or a jail term not exceeding two years or to both.
In addition, the errant EA will have its licence revoked. An EA which has its licence revoked will also be barred fromh operating an EA in future.
MOM advises all EA personnel to comply with the EAA and to abide by the Employment Agency Licensing Conditions. EAs should not allow unlicensed EAs to thrive by submitting work pass applications on their behalf to MOM, since access to the work pass application systems is only granted to EAs that are licensed.
EAs should carry out their EA activities legally and responsibly.
Members of the public are also advised to use only MOM-licensed EAs for their employment needs. To protect their interests, they are encouraged to verify whether EAs are licensed through the EA Directory on the MOM website at www.mom.gov.sg/eadirectory.
Members of the public who are aware of any individuals or EAs that are operating without a valid licence should contact MOM at Tel: (65) 6438 5122 or email [email protected].
All information will be kept strictly confidential.
