Employer fined $12,000 for defaulting on maid's salary

SINGAPORE - Razalee Bin Rasdi, 51, was convicted in court yesterday of failing to pay salaries amounting to $7,450.40 to his foreign domestic worker (FDW), as required under the Work Permit Conditions.

Razalee also did not maintain a proper salary payment record to document the monthly salaries paid to his FDW.

He was further convicted of illegal employment, as he continued to employ his FDW after the Work Permit was revoked by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) due to levy default.

A statement released today by MOM said that Razalee faced 23 charges under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act (EFMA) and was fined a total of $21,000 (in default 105 days' imprisonment) for the offences. He was also barred from hiring FDWs.

These are the 23 charges:

- Six charges for non-payment of salary (Fine $2,000 per charge)

- One charge for failure to maintain a proper salary record (Fine $1,000)

- One charge for illegal employment against the accused (Fine $8,000)

- The remaining 15 charges were taken into consideration for the purpose of sentencing

MOM said that employers convicted of not paying their FDWs' salaries promptly (at least once every month) will face a fine of up to $10,000 and/or imprisonment of up to 12 months.

In addition, employing foreigners without valid work passes is an illegal employment offence. Offenders can be fined between $5,000 and $30,000, and/or be imprisoned for up to 12 months.

minlee@sph.com.sg