SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on Thursday (Oct 4) prosecuted SRC Recruitment and one of its Employment Agency (EA) employees, Erleena Mohd Ali, for "insensitive advertising" of foreign domestic workers (FDWs).

SRC and Mdm Erleena face a combined 243 charges for an array of wrongdoing, which includes placing the advertisements and failing to ensure that the agency's name and licence number were reflected in the advertisements.



In a press release, MOM said the advertisements that were placed between Sep 1 and Sep 17 this year on online marketplace Carousell had "cast the FDWs in an undignified light".

MOM first alerted the public to the postings on Sep 14, saying that it had been made aware of cases of maids being "marketed inappropriately" on Carousell.

Carousell user "maid.recruitment" had posted listings showing several domestic workers from Indonesia, along with their names and ages.

Carousell later responded to say that it had detected around 50 listings and removed them.



SRC and Mdm Erleena each face 49 counts of advertising FDWs in a manner akin to a commodity, as well as another 50 counts of failing to ensure that SRC's name and licence number were reflected in the advertisements, said the ministry.

SRC also faces four charges for incomplete authorisation forms to be signed by employer for authorising work pass transactions, four counts of not administering FDW safety agreements and 37 counts of failing to issue itemised receipts to FDWs.

If found guilty, they may be fined up to S$5,000, jailed a maximum of six months or both.

SRC's licence has been suspended, while Mdm Erleena, who was responsible for uploading the advertisements, has been deregistered as an EA personnel, the ministry added.

"MOM expects all EAs to exercise sensitivity when marketing their services, and exercising their duty of care towards their clients, including FDWs," the ministry said, adding that there are guidelines on responsible advertising, which are well-publicised, including on the MOM website.