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A local cleaning business owner has blasted Foreign Domestic Workers (FDWs) who illegally take up cleaning jobs on their off days and has asked what the authorities are doing to protect legitimate businesses from such workers.

Sekaran Rengiah, who aired these grievances on social media, runs PinkMaids.sg – a local business that provides part-time helpers on 4-hourly sessions for housekeeping and cleaning services on a regular or ad-hoc basis.

Pointing out that FDWs are not the only group of people flouting labour laws, Sekaran said on Facebook that foreigners on social visit, student and dependent passes are “working as part-time/freelance house cleaners without proper approvals or licenses from the relevant authorities.”

According to local laws, foreign employees holding an S-Pass or a work permit are not allowed to moonlight. Those caught flouting such laws will be liable to pay hefty fines or face imprisonment, if convicted.

Asserting that such punitive measures are not enough, Sekaran said that foreigners and FDWs “are practically killing everyone in the house cleaning industry with their cheap rates.”

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Explaining that local businesses cannot afford to offer the rates these foreigners do since they have to grapple with high operating costs, he said:

“These ppl are practically killing everyone in the house cleaning industry with their cheap rates! Legitimate cleaning companies & part-time maid providers can’t match their rates coz they have their operating costs as they need to pay CPF, give Leave benefits & provide insurance & work injury compensation according to the Employment Act, pay for office rental, administration & advertisement charges, transportation, Levy etc etc.”

Sekaran also lamented that many Singaporeans and foreign residents here flock to foreigners who illegally offer cleaning services because of the cheaper rates, without concern for flouting local laws.

Noting the openness with which foreigners and FDWs offer cheap cleaning services to local clients on social media, Sekaran asserted that he feels the authorities are clearly not doing enough to prevent such abuse of local laws and protect legitimate businesses and licensed companies.

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Read his post in full here:

They come here on social visit visas & start working as part-time/freelance house cleaners ! Then there are those who…

Posted by Sekaran Rengiah on Thursday, 7 February 2019

In case you cannot read the above:

“They come here on social visit visas & start working as part-time/freelance house cleaners ! Then there are those who are here on student pass, dependent pass, long term visit pass who are also working as part-time/freelance house cleaners without proper approvals or licenses from the relevant authorities ! Then there’s another group who are on Work Permits here under the Foreign Domestic Worker (FDW) category who goes around doing this on their OFF days !

“I simply don’t understand what kinda actions or enforcements our authorities are taking to prevent such abuse of our system & to protect the legitimate businesses & licensed companies !

“These ppl are practically killing everyone in the house cleaning industry with their cheap rates ! Legitimate cleaning companies & part-time maid providers can’t match their rates coz they have their operating costs as they need to pay CPF, give Leave benefits & provide insurance & work injury compensation according to the Employment Act, pay for office rental, administration & advertisement charges, transportation, Levy etc etc.

“Many cheapskate Singaporeans & foreign residents here are flocking to these ppl for their cheap rates ! They are not bothered abt flouting the labor laws here. One could see in social media how openly these 2 grps of ppl transacts ! This shows that the authorities are not doing enough & that the punishment meted out for flouting such laws are not deterrence enough !”