Placement Quotas for Employment Agencies of Foreign Domestic Workers

36 Ms Anthea Ong asked the Minister for Manpower (a) whether the Ministry sets quotas for employment agencies of foreign domestic workers to meet in terms of the number of domestic workers placed; (b) if so, whether this quota is applicable to all employment agencies or only those under Advance Placement Scheme; (c) what is the purpose of this quota; (d) how is the quota determined; and (e) what are the consequences of failure to meet the quota.

Mrs Josephine Teo: The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) does not set a quota on the number of foreign domestic workers (FDWs) to be placed by employment agencies (EAs). EAs which apply for and are approved by MOM to participate in the Advance Placement Scheme (APS) are however, encouraged to commit to bringing in 20 or more FDWs each month. This is to ensure a meaningful pool of FDWs whom employers with urgent caregiving needs can select from.

The Ministry regularly monitors the placement volume of APS EAs. To date, no EA has been penalised for not keeping to its commitment. An EA, which makes the effort but is not able to bring in a steady and regular pool of APS FDWs, may still stay in the scheme. Only EAs that consistently fail to place any APS FDWs are dropped from the scheme.