Firm fined $18k for false declaration in work pass application

The first firm to be prosecuted for making a false declaration on a work pass application under the enhanced Fair Consideration Framework (FCF) has been fined $18,000.

Ti2 Logistics sole director Francis Chiang Tin Yui pleaded guilty in the State Courts to one charge under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act, the Manpower Ministry (MOM) said yesterday.

The company had falsely declared in its work pass application that it had considered local candidates fairly before deciding to hire a foreigner who in fact had been pre-selected for a position.

In addition to the $18,000 fine, MOM has barred the company from hiring foreign employees for 24 months, and revoked the pre-selected employee's work pass with immediate effect.

On June 26 last year, Ti2 Logistics submitted an Employment Pass (EP) application for Zhou Jianxin, a pre-selected foreign candidate for a general manager position.

The firm indicated in the application that it had interviewed one foreigner for the position.

The EP application was rejected by the ministry as Ti2 Logistics failed to comply with the FCF requirements, which mandate that companies must practise fair hiring considerations, including advertising the position on the national jobs bank MyCareersFuture.sg.

Ti2 Logistics posted an advertisement on it for a business development manager role on July 10 last year to circumvent the FCF requirement, MOM said.

Investigations found that 22 local candidates responded to the advertisement by submitting their resumes to Ti2 Logistics via the portal, but the company did not review and consider any of the local candidates.

The company later re-submitted the EP application for the pre-selected foreign candidate on July 26.

In the work pass application, the company falsely declared it had interviewed two Singaporeans and one foreigner for the position, and considered local candidates fairly.

Ms Christine Loh, director of employment standards enforcement of MOM's labour relations and workplaces division, said that Ti2 Logistics' conviction is a strong reminder to employers that the ministry does not tolerate any form of workplace discrimination.

"We will continue to be vigilant on discriminatory employers, and take stern action against those who try to circumvent our fair hiring requirements," she said.

The FCF was updated in January this year with stiffer penalties to deter workplace discrimination.

These include the prosecution of employers and key personnel for making false declarations on fair consideration, and a longer debarment duration for companies, which prohibits them from applying for new work passes or renewing existing EPs.

Employers are required to make accurate, complete and truthful declarations in their work pass applications, and those who fail to do so can be fined up to $20,000, jailed up to two years, or both, for each charge of false declaration.