The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has banned 15 companies from hiring new foreign workers for six months after they were caught placing discriminatory job advertisements. The 15, which include 10 employment agencies, were also ordered to put up online apologies for 30 days, said the ministry in a statement on Thursday.

In their ads, the employers had mentioned specific attributes such as age, gender or nationality, but could not provide valid justifications for doing so.

The 10 employment agencies are: Wanco Manpower, RGF HR Agent, Chiu Teng Enterprises, Cayman Management Consultants, Renaissance Management Services, Talent2 Singapore, Singapore Human Resource Consultants, Imag Global Resources, New Channel Manpower International and Ministry of Recruiters. The five companies in the list are: La Fondue, Linny Service and Supplies, IPM Global Solutions, Link-8 Security and Chiu Teng Enterprises.

This is the third case of discriminatory job ads, which the MOM had to act action against this year. Since March, 27 firms have been dealt with.