MOM & CPF Board to boost enforcement inspections

SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board will increase their joint enforcement inspections on employers by ten-fold from this November.

The increase from 500 to 5,000 inspections a year is meant to improve compliance with the CPF Act and Employment Act so that employees may enjoy their basic employment rights.

This is particularly so with more vulnerable groups like low-wage workers.

Areas of focus include payment of CPF contributions, on-time payment of salary, provision of paid annual and medical leave, and working-hour requirements.

Greater attention will also be placed on industries where the number of cases of non-compliance with the CPF Act and the Employment Act tend to be higher.

These include the food and beverage, retail, security and cleaning industries.

In a joint statement on Thursday, MOM and CPF Board say they will complement enforcement with education.

Through the "I Know My Employment Rights, I Do It Right" campaign, workers will be educated about their employers' obligations towards them.

Employers will also be educated about their responsibilities.

Tapping the power of the community to multiply the effect of the campaign, a hotline and an email address will also be advertised.

Workers and the public can report non-compliance of the CPF Act and Employment Act through the hotline or the email address.

In the Manpower Blog, Acting Minister for Manpower Tan Chuan-Jin commented on why enforcement and education on the ground about employment rights is necessary.

He noted that while most employers are responsible, there are some who continue to flout the law, hoping to benefit from short-term gains. This created the need to step up enforcement.

He said it is also crucial for workers to understand that going along with their employers to forgo their CPF contributions is to their disadvantage, as they would be missing out on government subsidies such as Workfare.

Mr Tan commented that even as efforts are made to increase the wages of low-income workers, inclusive growth is not just about money.

A progressive workplace and fair work practices ensure that employers are responsible and employees, particularly low-wage workers, are not shortchanged, he said.

Relief after $180,000 bill worry

SINGAPORE - When her daughter-in-law gave birth to quadruplets last month, she worried about how the family was going to pay the staggering medical bills ($180,000 and counting) incurred as a result of the births.

But there is some relief after the Ministry of Health (MOH) made an exception and allowed Madam Lily Lim, 52, and her husband to use their Medisave savings to help pay their grandchildren's bills.

Madam Lim's daughter-in-law, Ms Jennifer Pan, 28 (pictured), gave birth by caesarean section at Gleneagles Hospital last month to what is believed to be Singapore's first set of quadruplets since 2008.

Ms Pan,an assistant treasury manager at acommodities trading company here, had taken fertility medication, but did not undergo in-vitro fertilisation, The Straits Times reported.

Janessa, Joelle, Jovianne and Kingsley (the only boy) were born on July 19.

In a letter to The Straits Times forum, published last Wednesday, Madam Lim said: "Having quadruplets was a joyous occasion, but it was marred by the financial hole it created."

She said the hospital bill totalled some $180,000 and explained that the babies were born premature and have to stay in the hospital for almost two months in the intensive care unit (ICU).

The ICU charges alone were reported as $1,000 for each baby a day.

The bills also include an estimated $25,000 for Ms Pan's month-long hospital stay and an obstetrician fee of $23,000.

Madam Lim added: "My husband and I wanted to help them by dipping into our Medisave account, but the Central Provident Fund blocked it with the reply that grandchildren could not use their grandparents' Medisave."

Unique circumstances

Madam Lim is the founder of a confinement nanny agency.

She and her husband have about $90,000 in their Medisave savings, Chinese newspaper Shin Min Daily News reported. The babies' father, Mr Phua Jiun Wei, 28, runs the agency.

In response to media queries, an MOH spokesman said it has "agreed to allow the grandparents to use their Medisave to help with the bills, considering their family's unique circumstances".

The spokesman said parents can use their Medisave to pay for their child's hospitalisation expenses.

But as elderly persons tend to incur more medical expenses than younger persons, grandparents cannot use their Medisave to help pay for their grandchildren's medical bills.

This is to ensure that the grandparents themselves have sufficient Medisave savings for their own hospitalisation needs, especially after retirement.

The spokesman said: "In circumstances such as in Madam Lim's case, where the grandparents have requested for their Medisave to be used, we will assess such requests on a case-by-case basis.

"We understand that the family has also appealed to Gleneagles Hospital for assistance for the babies' hospital and doctor charges."

The spokesman said that all hospitals are required to provide financial advice to their patients regarding their treatment.

"Patients are encouraged to choose a care setting most appropriate to their financial situation.

"In the restructured hospitals, Singaporeans can receive subsidies of up to 80 per cent of their total bill, and can also be assisted by Medifund or other hospital assistance schemes if they still face difficulties in settling their bill."

Ministry in touch with family

MOH understands the concerns faced by Madam Lim and her family, and has been in touch with them, the spokesman said.

When contacted, Madam Lim declined comment.

Dr Lam Pin Min, chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Health, told The New Paper that he was glad to know that MOH has exercised flexibility according to the special circumstance in this particular case.

"I do understand the anxiety caused in cases where hospitalisation bills can be hefty and the helplessness in relieving the financial burden although there are significant amounts in the Medisave accounts," he said.

"The restriction on the use of Medisave needs to be reviewed regularly to commensurate with the medical needs of Singaporeans.

"However, we need to exercise caution as a too rapid liberalisation may result in premature depletion of members' Medisave savings," he said.

Quadruplets cost family more than $180k in hospital fees

The quadruplets born on July 19 are still in hospital, and their estimated hospital bill is around $180,000. Their grandparents are frustrated over the large sum, which is still increasing, as the babies have been warded for about 30 days and have not been discharged.

Madam Lily Lim, 52, told Shin Min Daily News that the babies were born premature and had to be warded in the neonatal intensive care unit, which costs $1,000 a day for each baby.

The current bill is around $135,000, as the babies have been warded for 28 days as of August 15. The eldest child Janessa Phua is 1.8kg, and Madam Lim says she is likely to be discharged next week.

However the other three - Joelle, Jovianne and Kingsley - might have to stay in hospital for a few more weeks. Madam Lim estimates the bill to hit $180,000 when her grandchildren are finally discharged.

She lamented that while the government encourages having more births, her family is unable to bear the high costs of having quadruplets.

Madam Lim said the family considered using the Child Development Account to pay the bills, but they found out that the money cannot be used for this hospital bill.

The paper understands that Madam Lim has filed applications with the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board and Ministry of Health to request to use both her husband's and her CPF accounts to help ease the financial burdens of her son and daughter-in-law.

As of yesterday, Madam Lim has not received a reply.

She says that with their combined CPF of about $90,000, they would be able to pay for half the fees.

A spokesman from the Ministry of Health told the paper that they have contacted Madam Lim and Gleneagles Hospital to enquire about the details to evaluate the case.

The family has paid her daughter-in-law's medical bill of over $40,000. Madam Lim said that they had appealed to the hospital and received a discount of $1,500.

Others have questioned the Phuas' decision in choosing a private hospital over a government one, as the latter would be a much cheaper option.

Madam Lim told Shin Min Daily News on Thursday that the family chose Gleneagles, because they felt that delivering quadruplets would be risky. Also, a Chinese practitioner recommended the hospital when her son and daughter-in-law were trying to conceive.

When the paper contacted National University Hospital and Singapore General Hospital, both spokespersons said the hospitals have adequate resources to manage multiple births.