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Newly arrived migrant workers in 3 sectors to have shorter SHN stays in hotels under onboarding pilot

SINGAPORE — To streamline the quarantine process of migrant workers arriving from high-risk countries while reducing the risk of Covid-19 transmission, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is piloting a new one-stop migrant worker onboarding programme from March 15, it announced on Wednesday (March 3).

With the pilot programme, migrant workers need only to serve their stay-home notices for a few days at hotels to wait for the results of their Covid-19 tests before proceeding to onboarding centres located in dormitories.

With the pilot programme, migrant workers need only to serve their stay-home notices for a few days at hotels to wait for the results of their Covid-19 tests before proceeding to onboarding centres located in dormitories.

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  • One-stop onboarding centres for newly arrived migrant workers will be at five quick-build dormitories 
  • Instead of two weeks, migrant workers need to spend only around four days in hotel quarantine under the new pilot
  • The move will centralise operations for arriving migrant workers, benefit employers and protect the community from Covid-19 transmission 
  • MOM is also considering expanding the law regulating workers’ dormitories to cover all dorms

 

SINGAPORE — To streamline the quarantine process of migrant workers arriving from high-risk countries while reducing the risk of Covid-19 transmission, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is piloting a new one-stop migrant worker onboarding programme from March 15, it announced on Wednesday (March 3).

The programme will bring greater convenience to employers, and the workers “will be able to start their employment in Singapore on the right footing”, the ministry added. The onboarding centres will effectively reduce the number of days workers spend in quarantine at hotels. 

Speaking during the debate on MOM’s budget, Second Minister for Manpower Tan See Leng said: “Centralising the operations and functions also facilitates faster reaction time and pre-emptive preparation for future pandemics. This benefits employers, workers and the general community in Singapore.”

This will apply to work-permit and S Pass holders working in the construction, marine or process industries, which employ large numbers of migrant workers in Singapore.

At present, migrant workers in these sectors serve a 14-day stay-home notice (SHN) at hotels when they first arrive in Singapore, before they move to a designated facility for an additional week of SHN. 

They will then undergo a medical examination and a settling-in programme with non-governmental organisation Migrant Workers’ Centre (MWC), a one-day orientation programme on Singapore's social norms, their employment rights and obligations, Singapore laws, and where and how to seek assistance.

From March 15, when the new onboarding centres start operations, migrant workers need to serve their SHN for only around four days at hotels to wait for the results of their serology and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) Covid-19 tests. Serology tests detect the presence of antibodies and can show if a person might have been infected with coronavirus in the past. 

The workers would also have done a pre-departure PCR test before arriving in Singapore.

Then, they will proceed to the onboarding centres, within five quick-build dormitories in Punggol, Eunos, Choa Chu Kang and Tengah, to serve the rest of their quarantine period.

During that time at the centre, they will also complete an enhanced medical examination and an expanded settling-in programme with the MWC.

“The enhanced medical examination includes detailed record-taking of medical history as well as screening for chronic diseases for older workers or those with health risk factors,” said MOM. 

“This will enable early identification of health risks and aid effective downstream patient care.”

The expanded settling-in programme will seek to inculcate in the workers appropriate health-seeking behaviour, good hygiene habits, and good dormitory living and worksite practices, the ministry said.

Such a change could bring about cost benefits to employers, who pay all the costs of bringing in new migrant workers. Right now, they pay around S$2,000 per worker for their stay at a dedicated SHN facility as well as for any swab tests that can cost up to S$200 per person, based on prices stated on MOM’s website.

The ministry did not state how much employers will have to pay under the new arrangement being piloted.

Said the MOM: “The (onboarding centre) brings together various entry processes as one efficient, integrated and seamless end-to-end process.

“As the migrant worker onboarding centre is a pilot, we will continually tweak our measures and processes to safeguard public health, and benefit employers and workers.”

Responding to several Members of Parliament, Dr Tan added that MOM was also reviewing the scope of the Foreign Employees Dormitories Act to cover all dormitories regardless of size. The law, which regulates operators of migrant workers’ dormitories, presently covers large dormitories with more than 1,000 beds.

A “holistic review” of the improved standards needed for the next disease outbreak, drawing from the experience of the quick-build dormitories, is also under way, he said. 

These higher standards may result in higher costs for employers and dormitory operators, said Dr Tan.

“Our experience containing Covid-19 in the dorms highlighted the need to strengthen our regulatory levers to enable us to raise and enforce housing standards quickly across various dormitory types and sizes, and introduce new housing standards to make dormitory living more resilient to public health risks.”

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Migrant Workers Covid-19 stay-home notice MOM

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