Channel NewsAsia, 18 February 2008
SINGAPORE : The employer of a foreign domestic worker has been convicted for not paying her salary in time.
Zubaidah Sanluan was fined S$4,500 and barred from employing another maid.
A subordinate court on February 11 found Zubaidah guilty of failing to pay salary arrears of S$19,398 to her foreign domestic worker, and of making a false declaration to the Controller of Work Permits.
The Manpower Ministry said its investigations in April last year showed the maid had not been paid her monthly salary since she started work in January 2001.
Further checks revealed that Zubaidah had falsely declared to paying the maid's salaries when renewing her Work Permit in January 2007.
The six years and two months worth of salary were eventually paid, with the ministry's intervention.
Under the Employment for Foreign Manpower Act, it is an offence for employers to not pay their maid within seven days of their salary period.
If found guilty, they can be fined a maximum of S$5,000 and jailed up to six months. They will also be barred from employing another foreign maid.
The ministry said three people have been convicted for such offences since 2007. It also said it helped recover more than $270,000 in unpaid salaries for 276 foreign domestic workers last year. - CNA /ls
