Period Of Employment For Some Unskilled Foreign Workers To Be Extended Effective July

SINGAPORE, March 27 (Bernama) -- The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) of Singapore will extend the maximum period of employment (POE) for unskilled work permit holders (WPHs) from non-traditional sources (NTS) and China from the current six years to 10 years for all sectors. In a statement, MOM said this would give greater flexibility for businesses to optimise their foreign manpower, within the dependency ratio ceiling (DRC) limits. The ministry said the move was in response to calls by some members of Parliament during the recent Budget debate and feedback from industries during MOM’s regular industry engagements. MOM will also consider allowing businesses greater flexibility in the deployment of their existing foreign workers across job duties within the same firm, to boost efficiency and productivity. A pilot run will be carried out later this year for the hotel industry. If successful, this can be later extended to other service industries. MOM will be working closely with its tripartite partners to set the criteria and conditions for this pilot run and aims to implement the programme by the second half of this year. The ministry said the extension of the maximum POE for unskilled WPHs from NTS and China will not lead to an increase in WPHs in Singapore as businesses were still required to keep within their sectoral DRCs. This measure does not impact WPHs from Malaysia and North Asian sources and foreign domestic workers as they do not face a POE restriction and can work up to age 60. Previously, MOM has been strict on the occupational roles of foreign workers, that is, deployment to a different job function within a firm is prohibited. In its dialogues with the industry, business chambers and associations, MOM said there had been requests to allow more flexibility for this. Sectors, such as the hotel and F&B industries, can utilise their staff for other functions when they have the capacity to do so, which will be a meaningful boost to efficiency. -- BERNAMA