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Cleaner being investigated by Ministry of Manpower

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nakatago
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Post by nakatago » Fri, 22 Aug 2014 12:18 pm

Wd40 wrote:What a coincidence, Lynx the other day you brought up this the other thread about hiring part time maids being illegal :) We both agreed its illegal. I just hope OP's plea of ignorance will save him.

Also its pretty interesting that people are asking OP not to got o MoM, sounds very counter intuitive.

Especially so if OP is an EP holder, his EP is at stake here.
Only one person suggested not to go; me and others suggested getting more information to evaluate if going or not.
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Post by the lynx » Fri, 22 Aug 2014 12:45 pm

Wd40 wrote:What a coincidence, Lynx the other day you brought up this the other thread about hiring part time maids being illegal :) We both agreed its illegal. I just hope OP's plea of ignorance will save him.

Also its pretty interesting that people are asking OP not to got o MoM, sounds very counter intuitive.

Especially so if OP is an EP holder, his EP is at stake here.
Yup, hiring other people's domestic helper on part-time basis is illegal, whether it is a common/acceptable practice or not. Hiring a local part-time maid is legal though.

(Just avoiding a potential verbal gymnastics)

:twisted:

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Post by martincymru » Fri, 22 Aug 2014 2:21 pm

Wd40,

Your comment refers: "Especially so if OP is an EP holder, his EP is at stake here".

No disrespect but can you refer me to the document(s) that concludes that an EP will have his EP cancelled and by extrapolation all others will be let off. Your wording implies this.

To others - the OP is guilty yet most of you suggest trolling along to MoM to happily admit the fact, provide all evidence, implicate his friends etc etc..

Even a call to MoM is unlikely to help, it could make it worse unless of course the OP chooses his words very carefully.

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Post by Wd40 » Fri, 22 Aug 2014 2:41 pm

martincymru wrote:Wd40,

Your comment refers: "Especially so if OP is an EP holder, his EP is at stake here".

No disrespect but can you refer me to the document(s) that concludes that an EP will have his EP cancelled and by extrapolation all others will be let off. Your wording implies this.

To others - the OP is guilty yet most of you suggest trolling along to MoM to happily admit the fact, provide all evidence, implicate his friends etc etc..

Even a call to MoM is unlikely to help, it could make it worse unless of course the OP chooses his words very carefully.
Not saying others will be let off, but others may be warned, fined or punished is some other way, but they cannot be banished out of the country.

In case of the little india riots, if you remember 28 were charged, while 53 others were just repatriated. What if there was a local among those 53, what kind of punishment he would have got, instead of repatriation, who knows?

EDIT: found this link:

http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum ... 49&t=61749
the house owner employing the part-time services of the filipino / Indonesian / or other country 'part-time' maids is also liable to be fined up to S$15,000 by MOM
So the answer to your question is if a local does it, he pays fine. If an EP holder does it, he pays fine and then loses his EP also and may never be allowed to return back.

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Re: Cleaner being investigated by Ministry of Manpower

Post by taxico » Fri, 22 Aug 2014 6:03 pm

Beeroclock wrote:
taxico wrote:
Jennycleaner wrote:I need advice. My cleaner of 2 years suddenly quit.
I just got a call from ministry of manpower to come to their office to discuss her.
Am I in trouble?
She is a freelance phillipino cleaner who has been cleaning 5 of my friends condos for the last 3 years. I don't know her work visa status, I never asked because she was recommended.
Do I need a lawyer?
why don't you ask if you are legally required to talk to them, and to provide documentation stating so before you go anywhere.

you can also first ask over the phone if you are in any trouble... they can sometimes be quite candid about it (especially since it is unlikely you're being prosecuted).

make your decision after you've got your answers. i do not recommend stepping into MOM until you know what you're dealing with...
Why is that taxico? I'd have thought its best to cooperate with these govt folks especially if you're potentially in the wrong, even if it was through ignorance.
i think martin has the main reason why and i have to concur with his final statement. going MAY cause oneself to be in REAL trouble. if there are no legal reasons to compel the OP to go, why go?

the use of "illegal cleaners" isn't really a major crime on a scale of things, and i (personally) really doubt the OP is in any sort of trouble...

i've been in such situations before - the last of which was not with MOM but with CAD. i was under the impression, seeing i could not implicate someone else by speaking extremely carefully and reservedly, i was left to stew for (quite) a bit just to make sure i left with a "lesson learned".

if i were to let slip something in my statement, i might have really gotten myself or others into trouble.

after consulting with someone later, i realized that i need not have gone through that long ordeal if i just had not turned up...

to be clear, i am not saying the OP must not step foot into MOM at all cost, but rather clarify what his/her options and obligations are before deciding whether or not to do so.

remember: the local system is one that is used to people doing as they're told...
Aut viam ad caelum inveniam aut faciam

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Post by ecureilx » Fri, 22 Aug 2014 6:35 pm

martincymru wrote:Wd40,

Your comment refers: "Especially so if OP is an EP holder, his EP is at stake here".

No disrespect but can you refer me to the document(s) that concludes that an EP will have his EP cancelled and by extrapolation all others will be let off. Your wording implies this.

To others - the OP is guilty yet most of you suggest trolling along to MoM to happily admit the fact, provide all evidence, implicate his friends etc etc..
.
in Singapore ignorance of the law is not an easy excuse

years ago when I got a sim card for someone who couldn't get time to buy A SIM card, and this person apparently gave it to some other person when leaving SG because there was some value left ... and dunno what happened After that.

my EP renewal was rejected despite a few appeals (those days you can appeal a few times) before an IO asked to meet him.

I was sweating in Mom for a whole day and had to produce proof (luckily I had a copy of the 1st person's pass), before I was warned to not do it ...then my EP was approved

employing an illegal worker is serious crime

as I mentioned maid's own employers who let them wash dishes in the boss' coffee shop or just 'sit' in the boss' grocery store have been fined and banned from employing fdw

for OP, while I am not trying to scare him, I am just reminding that its not a simple offense like littering or getting a parking fine.


PS, now I don't buy anybody SIM cards, buy plane tickets ... unless I know them enough or they are related to me. its not hard to get any visitor to get the SIM themselves ...

And when they leave unless they returned it to me I call and de activate it (you can do it with Singtel)

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Post by Wd40 » Fri, 22 Aug 2014 7:34 pm

I wonder what that person did with your SIM card. If he did something very serious, the police should have come looking for you. If he didn't do anything serious, I wonder what he might have done that, they just put a flag on your profile to not renew your EP :?

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Post by ecureilx » Sat, 23 Aug 2014 12:15 am

Wd40 wrote:I wonder what that person did with your SIM card. If he did something very serious, the police should have come looking for you. If he didn't do anything serious, I wonder what he might have done that, they just put a flag on your profile to not renew your EP :?
I believe the person they were looking for wasn't resembling me...

this being Singapore they never told me he or she did to make my life miserable atleast for a while

btw, I had to beg some people I knew here and there to get my record cleaned (I hope I did clean it ... )

I still have my passport that had more than 6 SVP extensions from Mom while appealing

nowadays no extension of SVP is allowed, if EP renewal is rejected!!!!

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Re: Cleaner being investigated by Ministry of Manpower

Post by Beeroclock » Sat, 23 Aug 2014 10:51 am

taxico wrote: i think martin has the main reason why and i have to concur with his final statement. going MAY cause oneself to be in REAL trouble. if there are no legal reasons to compel the OP to go, why go?

the use of "illegal cleaners" isn't really a major crime on a scale of things, and i (personally) really doubt the OP is in any sort of trouble...

i've been in such situations before - the last of which was not with MOM but with CAD. i was under the impression, seeing i could not implicate someone else by speaking extremely carefully and reservedly, i was left to stew for (quite) a bit just to make sure i left with a "lesson learned".

if i were to let slip something in my statement, i might have really gotten myself or others into trouble.

after consulting with someone later, i realized that i need not have gone through that long ordeal if i just had not turned up...

to be clear, i am not saying the OP must not step foot into MOM at all cost, but rather clarify what his/her options and obligations are before deciding whether or not to do so.

remember: the local system is one that is used to people doing as they're told...
Can understand the point. Still if it's me I'd be inclined to cooperate. The way I see it there's two possibilities 1) plead ignorance and/or negligence in checking IC card, 2) you knowingly broke the law and got caught. I would think cooperative/forthcoming behavior is more consistent with 1).

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