Singapore legislation
Section 5
Section 5
Prohibition of employment of foreign employee without work pass
(1)
A person must not employ a foreign employee unless the foreign employee has a valid work pass.
(2)
A foreign employee must not be in the employment of an employer without a valid work pass.
(3)
A person must not employ a foreign employee otherwise than in accordance with the conditions of the foreign employee’s work pass.
(4)
In any proceedings for an offence under subsection (1), it is not a defence for a defendant to prove that the defendant did not know that the employee was a foreigner unless the defendant further proves that the defendant had exercised due diligence to ascertain the nationality of the employee.
(5)
For the purpose of subsection (4), a defendant is not to be deemed to have exercised due diligence unless the defendant had checked the passport, document of identity or other travel document of the employee.
(6)
Any person who contravenes subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall —
be liable on conviction to a fine of at least $5,000 and not more than $30,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both; and
on a second or subsequent conviction —
in the case of an individual — be punished with a fine of at least $10,000 and not more than $30,000 and with imprisonment for a term of not less than one month and not more than 12 months; or
in any other case — be punished with a fine of at least $20,000 and not more than $60,000.
(7)
Any person who contravenes subsection (2) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $20,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both.
(8)
Any person who contravenes subsection (3) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000.
(9)
For the purposes of this section —
to avoid doubt, where a person has been convicted of an offence under subsection (6), and the person has on a previous occasion been convicted for contravening section 5(1) of the Employment of Foreign Workers Act (Cap. 91A, 1997 Revised Edition) in force immediately before 1 July 2007, the firstmentioned conviction shall be considered a second or subsequent conviction under subsection (6); and
all convictions against the same person for the contravention of subsection (1) at one and the same trial shall be deemed to be one conviction.