We received a letter from an unfortunate Singaporean who was dismissed from her job at a Japanese company without any notice or benefits. The company let her go to replace her with a new batch of foreign workers despite having worked there for the past 2 years. The company also told her that it was not obliged to render any employment benefits under "special" agreements negotiated by the company's Japanese Embassy in Singapore, as such, she was not given any medical, dental and leave benefits for the past 2 years of her work.
Does the Ministry of Manpower know about such "special" agreements between Singapore and foreign countries? How many Singaporeans have suffered under these "special" arrangements?
Read her full letter below.
Dear Ms -------,
I am writing to inform you about my unfair dismissal due to the absence of an independent Union to represent Workers' interests as well as MOM infrequent audit checks on companies operating here.
I was gainfully employed as a production operator at Tanesei Trading Pte Ltd for the past 2 years but was dismissed last Wednesday without any notice or benefits to make way for a new batch of foreign workers ready to come here.
When I approached the HR, I was informed that the company was merely responsible for contributing our CPF and was not obliged to render any employment contract under "special" agreements negotiated by the company's Japanese Embassy before the company began operations here.
Hence, I was not only without any medical, dental and leave benefits for the last 2 years but also missed out on the 13th month bonus which the company also said the bonus was revoked by parliament close to a decade ago.
In view of this, I hope the government will look into some of the blatant practices and breaches by lots of companies here.
Yours faithfully,
Ms B.M. Lim
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