A logistics company in Singapore has been convicted of falsely declaring that it had considered hiring local candidates fairly, under the enhanced Fair Consideration Framework (FCF).
Ti2 Logistics initially submitted an Employment Pass (EP) application for a foreign candidate it had pre-selected for a position of general manager.
According to court documents, the foreign candidate was a Chinese national by the name of Zhou Jianxin.
When making its EP application, the company stated that it had interviewed a foreigner for the position. However, because this was not in line with the FCF, which requires employers to advertise job openings on MyCareersFuture.sg, the company’s application was rejected by the Ministry of Manpower.
Ti2 Logistics, which is in the shipping industry, is the first company to be prosecuted for making a false declaration on fair-hiring considerations.
The company subsequently posted a job advertisement on Jobs Bank on July 10 last year for the position of a business development manager, in order to get around the MOM’s requirements. Twenty-two local candidates submitted resumes via the portal but Ti2 Logistics neither reviewed nor considered any of them.
The company then re-submitted the EP application for its foreign candidate on July 26 last year. It also falsely declared that two Singaporeans and one foreigner were interviewed for the position and that it had considered all local candidates fairly.
The company’s sole director, Francis Chiang Tin Yui, pleaded guilty on Tuesday (March 10) to one charge under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act. He admitted that he did not interview any Singaporeans, as he had already offered the job to a foreign candidate. He was also unaware of the number of people who responded to the advertisement.
According to an MOM press release, the company was convicted of the charge and fined S$18,000. It has also been barred from hiring any foreign employees for two years. /TISG