Covid-19: MOM orders 3 workplaces to shut due to inadequate safety management, asking all staff to return to office

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on Wednesday (June 3) said that it has asked three workplaces here to cease operations after they were found to have inadequate safe management measures to minimise the risk of Covid-19 transmissions.

In a Facebook post, MOM said that the employers' breaches include instructing all employees to return to the office instead of making provisions for them to continue working from home.

Another 14 other companies were issued composition fines for breaching the safety requirements.

MOM said that it had inspected more than 200 workplaces as of 5pm on Wednesday to carry out the island-wide enforcement operations to ensure that businesses implemented the measures as they resumed operations.

These included ensuring that workers did not socialise with one another or congregate, including during meals or breaks.

Last Friday, MOM said that government agencies such as the Building and Construction Authority and Enterprise Singapore would step up enforcement and act against errant employers. 

The ministry said that it would ask employers for an explanation should it receive complaints that workers had been asked to return to the workplace despite being able to work from home.

“If the employers are unable to provide a reasonable explanation, we will have to take enforcement action accordingly to protect the employees,” MOM said.

It also urged employers and workers to take the safety measures seriously, “so that we can protect our workplaces and one another”. 

Mr Silas Sng, the divisional director of occupational safety and health division at MOM, said: “It is understandable that some employers may be eager to bring their employees back to work in the office after two months of circuit breaker.

“However, we would like to remind employers that working from home must remain the default working arrangement for employees who are able to do so.”