The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) should be commended for taking action against Zhong Jiang (Singapore) International for failing to pay its workers’ salaries on time.
In our experience assisting migrant Chinese construction workers, it is a widespread practice to withhold and delay payment of wages as collateral for “good behaviour” and to discourage workers from terminating their contracts early.
Non-government organisations working with migrant workers have noted some of these problems within the construction industry for many years. Therefore, the MOM should step up enforcement checks and prosecute these employers accordingly.
A few issues in the MOM’s statements regarding two of Zhong Jiang’s workers need to be clarified.
It was mentioned that the workers’ housing conditions at Fishery Port Road were found to be satisfactory after the MOM’s inspections in December. However, the inspection took place one week after the workers’ protest.
The employer would possibly have cleaned up the place and corrected any irregularities, especially when the protest received widespread media attention. To conclude that the workers’ claims were baseless in this regard may be inaccurate.
The MOM had requested the two men to return with documents to substantiate their claim that they were owed salary. This may not be realistic.
Based on our interviews with the workers, they were not issued salary slips or time cards, nor did they sign any contracts. It was not possible for them to prove that they had not been paid.
In our experience, many employers do not issue such documents to their migrant employees.
While the in-principle approval letter given to workers stipulates their basic wage, employers who wish to deceive workers may under-declare their salaries. The workers would then be unable to lodge claims for overtime pay or those that depend on the value of the basic pay for their calculations.
The weak bargaining power of low-wage workers is exacerbated by the employer’s right to unilaterally cancel their work permits.
When employers resort to manipulative tactics to underpay workers and deprive them of their due, they should be taken to task for their scant regard of our labour laws.
Jolovan Wham
*Article first appeared on TodayOnline Forums