ASSOCIATION OF LICENSED RECRUITMENT AGENCIES FOR SINGAPORE (ALRAS) Press Statement September 2, 2013 Moratorium on deployment of household service workers to Singapore A big group of recruitment agencies will stage a moratorium on deployment of household service workers to Singapore beginning today, September 2. Members of the Association of Licensed Recruitment Agencies for Singapore (ALRAS) announce that they will not deploy household service workers until the Singapore agencies stop the practice of collecting placement fees from them. “The hiring system must be changed to protect our household service workers. We say no to placement fee collections that are done through deducting from the monthly salaries of the workers”, said Lucita Sermonia, president of ALRAS. The moratorium was the culmination of the yearlong effort of ALRAS to reform the system in the recruitment and placement of household service workers to Singapore. In August last year, ALRAS embarked on a goodwill mission to Singapore to improve the terms of employment of household service workers by raising the monthly salary to the level of POEA-mandated US$ 400.00, and by doing away with placement fees. Sermonia said that the increase in monthly salary was easily achieved, confirming the observation that Singapore employers can afford and are willing to pay for the services required by their households. But collection of placement fees has remained a problem as many Singapore agencies refuse to discard the practice. “We are telling our counterparts in Singapore of the need to adhere to the Philippine laws and rules on overseas employment which prohibit the collection of placement fees from household service workers. And we are calling on other Philippine agencies outside ALRAS to stop patronizing such agencies in Singapore or face the consequence of cancellation of their licenses”, declared Sermonia. Sermonia clarified that the moratorium is a private sector initiative but ALRAS is appealing for the proactive actions of concerned government agencies to prevent the illegal deployment and trafficking of Singapore bound household service workers who are made to pose as tourists by unscrupulous recruiters. She added that the moratorium will be lifted and deployment resumed as soon as 75% of the Philippine deploying agencies and their counterpart in Singapore have agreed to the new terms of no placement fee collections. “For sure, the household service workers who want to work in Singapore will course their applications to the agencies that do not charge them placement fees. Ultimately, the agencies violating the rules will be the biggest losers as they will be ease out of the market”, Sermonia said.
Posted on: Sun, 01 Sep 2013 23:44:32 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015