S'pore companies must ensure Employment Pass applicants' qualifications authentic: MOM
From Sep 1, Companies in Singapore must verify educational qualifications of Employment Pass applicants from Sep. 1, 2023.
Employers who wish to hire foreigners on EP will be required to ensure that candidates' academic qualifications are authentic.
The EP allows foreign professionals, managers and executives to work in Singapore. Candidates need to earn at least S$5,000 a month.
Employers must also demonstrate that they have fairly considered all jobseekers.
Minister for Manpower and Second Minister for Trade and Industry Tan See Leng said in his speech on Mar. 1 during the Committee of Supply (COS) debates that the requirement is to “safeguard against gaming by submitting fraudulent educational qualifications”.
Employers who wish to score points under Criterion Two on “Qualifications” will be required to submit verification proof for qualifications declared on the EP application.
In 2021, 15 work pass holders were investigated by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) for potentially submitting fake university degrees.
Done via COMPASS points system
This will be enforced through the new points-based Complementarity Assessment Framework (COMPASS) which will be applied to incoming EP applications from September 2023.
This was announced in MOM's COS debate in 2022 and the ministry has been progressively releasing details on the framework's foundational criteria.
The COMPASS framework will also apply to renewal EP applications from September 2024.
Under the COMPASS framework, applicants can score up to 20 points on the "Qualifications" criterion (Criterion Two).
To ensure the qualifications submitted are authentic and to prevent the submission of fraudulent qualifications, employers are required to verify candidates’ educational qualifications declared in their EP application to score points under the criterion.
More details will be made available on the MOM website when the framework is rolled out.
Mandatory verification will "safeguard against gaming by submitting fraudulent educational qualifications", he said during his ministry’s Committee of Supply debate.
Last October, a man was sentenced to seven weeks' jail after making false statements in his declaration for an EP. His EP was approved based on the false statements that were made in February 2019.
In 2021, MOM investigated 23 foreigners who had declared qualifications from Manav Bharti University in India. Two people were jailed for submitting false qualifications in their work pass applications, while 19 were permanently barred from working in Singapore.
The probe in Singapore began after MOM was alerted that India's government was investigating the university for selling fake degrees.
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