• MP Leon Perera asked whether some employers have repatriated their injured migrant workers against their will in the last five years
• Mr Zaqy Mohamad said injured workers must be certified medically fit to fly before they can be repatriated
• Employers are not allowed to repatriate workers who have to remain in Singapore in order to process their work injury or salary claims

SINGAPORE — Between 2016 and 2020, there were 63 cases of employers who did not pay for the medical bills of their injured migrant workers, Mr Zaqy Mohamad said in Parliament on Monday (March 8). 

The Minister of State for Manpower said that among these cases, the vast majority of the employers eventually paid the fees, while the remaining few individuals were prosecuted by the authorities under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act.

He was responding to a question by Mr Leon Perera, Workers’ Party Member of Parliament, who asked whether some employers have repatriated their injured migrant workers against their will in the last five years because they did not want to bear the high healthcare costs that they might incur.

Mr Perera also asked the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) how many complaints it has received in the past five years about employers who have failed to produce a letter of guarantee for migrant workers seeking healthcare, and if the authorities have taken any action against such errant employers.  

In his reply, Mr Zaqy said that employers have to pay for their migrant workers’ medical expenses incurred in Singapore, and injured workers must be certified medically fit to fly before they can be repatriated.

Employers are also not allowed to repatriate workers who have to remain in Singapore in order to process their work injury or salary claims.

“This prevents workers with serious injuries from being repatriated before they are treated,” Mr Zaqy said. 

He pointed out that under the laws here, employers must buy medical insurance for their migrant workers, which provides coverage of S$15,000 a year. This typically covers 95 per cent of hospital bills arising from mild work injuries.

Most employers also buy work injury insurance coverage of at least S$45,000 for an accident, and this covers about 95 per cent of work injury bills. 

Still, Mr Zaqy said that the authorities are reviewing medical insurance coverage to help the workers better manage large, unexpected medical expenses and give both employers and workers greater peace of mind, stressing that migrant workers will not be denied treatment should they go to the hospital for serious and emergency medical cases. 

Dr Tan See Leng, Second Minister of Manpower, told Parliament that for the remaining 5 per cent of medical cases not covered by insurance, MOM and the Ministry of Health have a special fund that is used to ensure that no one is denied the care that is needed.

In the past five years, MOM has taken action against two employers for illegally repatriating workers, Mr Zaqy said. 

In response to Mr Perera’s question on the steps being taken to educate migrant workers here about the laws and entitlements relating to their healthcare needs, Mr Zaqy said that the ministry educates new migrant workers about their employment rights and protections under Singapore law.

This is being done through the ministry’s settle-in-programme, which informs migrant workers on their entitlements to insurance coverage, healthcare access and work injury compensation in the workers’ native languages.

MOM has also produced a guide for migrant workers on how to seek medical help. The guide, which is in the workers’ native languages, contains the relevant contact information of representatives from the ministry as well as the various migrant non-governmental organisations, he added.