Solicitud directa (CEACR) - Adopción: 2025, Publicación: 114ª reunión CIT (2026)

Convenio sobre la inspección del trabajo, 1947 (núm. 81) - Singapur (Ratificación : 1965)

Article 3(2) of the Convention. Additional functions entrusted to labour inspectors. In reply to the Committee’s previous request, the Government indicates that (i) in recent years, the Ministry of Manpower (MoM) has leveraged data analytics to more swiftly and accurately detect anomalies and fraud in employment patterns; (ii) between 2019 and 2023, an average of 180 migrant workers each year were found to have engaged in illegal employment; (iii) while MoM does not publish data that is further disaggregated, the MoM ensured that these migrant workers were accorded the legal protections that they were entitled to under the law; (iv) migrant workers whose entry and stay in Singapore is legal, but are working illegally for an employer are entitled to protection under the Work Injury Compensation Act. In addition, migrant workers who are working for an employer but who work illegally through no fault of their own (e.g. work pass expires during course of employment) are also protected under the Employment Act. The Committee also notes that the Committee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination expressed concerns over the lack of labour protection of migrant workers, who remain vulnerable to abuse and exploitation (CERD/C/SGP/CO/1, February 2022, para. 23). The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the actions undertaken by labour inspectors in relation to the enforcement of statutory rights of migrant workers found to be in an irregular situation in the course of inspections. In particular, the Committee requests the Government to strengthen its efforts in providing information on the number of cases in which workers found to be in an irregular situation have been granted their due rights, such as the payment of outstanding wages, social security benefits, or the conclusion of an employment contract, including cases where the workers in question have left the country or are liable to expulsion.

Articles 4, 6 and 7. Supervision and control of the central authority. Recruitment and qualifications of labour inspectors. In reply to the Committee’s previous request, the Government indicates that the inspectors from the Auxiliary Enforcement Agency (AEA) are appointed under Section 7 of the Workplace Safety and Health Act (WSHA) as authorised officers to carry out Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) inspections. Under Section 8 of the WSHA, authorised officers appointed under Section 7 are deemed to be public servants within the meaning of the Penal Code (Cap. 224). As a third party engaged by MoM to carry out WSH inspections, the AEA inspectors are autonomous in terms of managing their daily inspection operations but guided by the service delivery and enforcement guidelines, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and inspection lists provided by MoM. The Operations Management Branch within the Occupational Safety and Health Inspectorate Department in the Occupational Safety and Health Division of the MoM is the central supervising authority over the AEA, which lay out the SOPs and key performance indicators for the AEA and ensures that these outcomes are met via regular audits. The Committee takes note of this information, which addresses its previous request.

Articles 12(1) and 15(c). Inspections without previous notice. Duty of confidentiality in relation to complaints. In reply to the Committee’s previous request, the Government indicates that inspections are primarily planned and announced. This includes approximately 5,000 inspections annually under the WorkRight initiative (which ensures compliance with the Employment Act and Central Provident Fund Act), and, for the first half of 2024, more than 3,000 inspections to ensure compliance under the WSHA. The Government indicates that unannounced inspections under section 103(1)(aa) of the Employment Act are done in relation to suspected breaches arising from complaints and that these inspections are much smaller in number compared to the announced inspections and that figures are not publicly available. The Committee recalls the importance of undertaking a sufficient number of inspections that are unannounced to ensure that when inspections are conducted as a result of a complaint without prior notice, the fact of the complaint is kept confidential. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the number of announced inspections and to transmit information on unannounced inspections conducted as a result of a complaint, and on the outcome of such inspections. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures adopted in order to ensure that inspectors treat as absolutely confidential the source of any complaint bringing to their notice a defect or breach of legal provisions and give no intimation to the employer or his representative that a visit of inspection was made in consequence of the receipt of such a complaint.