Foreign Employee Dormitories Act 2015 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 2 · Licensing of Foreign Employee Dormitory Operators
7. Licence needed to operate foreign employee dormitory, etc.
Feedback & supportUnless exempted under section 32, a person must not operate any boarding premises as a foreign employee dormitory except under the authority of a valid licence for those premises.
operate
“operate”, in relation to any boarding premises, means managing and maintaining, in the course of a business, the boarding premises (whether self‑owned or under lease) as a foreign employee dormitory, for residents who may or may not be employees of the operator;
Unless exempted under section 32, a proprietor of boarding premises must not use (or permit the use of) the premises as a foreign employee dormitory unless those premises are used as such by a licensed operator holding a valid licence relating to those premises.
proprietor
“proprietor”, in relation to any premises that are leased or are subject to a tenancy or licence to occupy, includes the owner of the premises who is the lessor or grantor of the licence to occupy;
A person who contravenes subsection (1) or (2) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction —
to a fine not exceeding $500,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both; and
in the case of a second or subsequent conviction, to a fine not exceeding $1 million or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 4 years or to both.
It is a defence in proceedings for an offence under subsection (3) for contravening subsection (2) if the proprietor of boarding premises satisfies the court, on a balance of probabilities, that the proprietor did not know, and could not reasonably have been expected to know, that those premises were being used as a foreign employee dormitory otherwise than by the holder of a valid licence relating to those premises.
boarding premises
“boarding premises” means premises (or a complex of premises) that —(a)provide boarders or lodgers with a principal place of residence;(b)may have shared facilities (such as a communal living room, bathroom, laundry or kitchen) or services that are provided to boarders or lodgers, or both; and(c)have rooms (some or all of which may have private kitchen or bathroom facilities) that accommodate one or more boarders or lodgers;
An offence under subsection (1) or (2) is an arrestable offence.
To avoid doubt, nothing in subsection (2) affects the law relating to abetment of offences.