Agency slapped with SG$78k fine for Carousell ads on foreign domestic workers

Employment agency SRC Recruitment has been slapped with SG$78,000 fine by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) for insensitive advertising of foreign domestic workers (FDWs) on Carousell after being prosecuted back in October 2018. It was also served with a notice of license revocation.According to a press release by the ministry, SRC’s advertisements of 49 FDWs between 1 and 17 September 2018 likened them to commodities. This happened despite several employment agency alerts by MOM in July 2014, November 2016 and February 2018 on responsible advertising.Commissioner for employment agencies Kevin Teoh said that MOM does not condone any offensive and insensitive advertising methods that portray FDWs in a negative light. He added, “We remind all employment agencies of the need to uphold professional standards when discharging their duties. MOM will not hesitate to take stern enforcement actions, including license revocation, against errant employment agencies.”The employment agency was fined $48,000 after pleading guilty on 26 March 2019 to 16 charges for breach of EA Licence Conditions by advertising FDWs insensitively, and casting them in an undignified light. A further $30,000 fine was issued for another 29 proceeded charges on Employment Agencies Act (EAA) offences. The press release from MOM did not elaborate further on the 29 charges.The breach of any EA Licence Condition is an offence under the EAA. If convicted, offenders may be fined up to $5,000, or jailed up to six months, or to both per charge.The advertisements were posted under a Carousell account named “maid.recruitment.” On the listings, which have been taken down, domestic workers are tagged with a price and marked as “sold” after being hired. The company was also being charged for not displaying its full name and licence number on its posts.