Manufacturing businesses, like all other businesses, must comply with the general laws and regulations relating to the hiring of foreign workers. For details, please refer to our Hiring & Training section.

Work Permits
Workmen’s Compensation

• Manufacturing businesses must comply with specific requirements and regulations set by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) when hiring foreign workers.
  
  
• Businesses can only hire workers from MOM-approved countries like Malaysia and the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and are required to pay a foreign worker levy.
  
  
• MOM also imposes a quota on the number of foreign workers that manufacturing businesses are allowed to employ. Called the Dependency Ceiling (DC), this measure allows companies to employ foreign workers on Work Permits up to a certain percentage of the company's total workforce. For the latest DC quota figures, please refer to the MOM website.
  
  
• To find out more about manufacturing-related work permits & requirements, please refer to the MOM Requirements: Manufacturing Sector website.

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Workmen’s Compensation

• From 1 April 2008, the Workmen’s Compensation Act will be replaced with the Workmen’s Compensation (Amendment) Bill. Under the Bill, an employers’ liability can be capped, and employees can receive compensation quickly without having to prove fault.
  
  
• For example, the new Work Injury Compensation Act covers ALL employees, regardless of their level of earnings. This is unlike the old Workmen’s Compensation Act which only covered workers with monthly earnings of S$1,600 and below.
  
  
• To find out more about the laws and regulations regarding workmen’s compensation, please refer to the Workmen's Compensation (Amendment) Bill webpage.
  
  
• For the latest and most updated information on Foreign Workers, please refer to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) website.