Employment Agency That ‘Sold’ Maids on Carousell Faces 243 Charges

2018-10-05 , 2:56 pm

The world’s a strange place. Why do I say that?

Well, just look at Carousell.

Primarily an online marketplace for the buying and selling of new and secondhand goods, the platform has also seen its fair share of ‘oddities’, ranging from…

…cheating husbands…

…a Yishun flat…

…and for some reason, foreign helpers.

Yes, my fair ladies and gentlemen, the world’s a strange place.

Yet strange as it is, it seems that there are still laws in place, laws that the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is keen to stamp its authority on.

And what better way to teach a lesson, than the old, classic way itself:

The charging cane?

243

A recruitment agency and one of its staff members are facing a potential total of 243 charges, for “insensitive advertising of foreign domestic workers (FDWs)” on online marketplace Carousell.

The adverts were reportedly placed between 1 and 17 September, and according to the MOM, in “a manner akin to a commodity”.

The Employee Agency (EA) personnel in question, Erleena Mohd Ali, 41, was apparently responsible for the uploading of advertisements online. She, alongside SRC Recruitment, has been accused of casting the FDWs in an “undignified light”.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the charges that constitute the aforementioned 243:

Both she and SRC face 49 charges each for insensitive advertising of FDWs.
Both of them face 50 counts for “failing to ensure that SRC’s name and license number are reflected in the advertisements”.
SRC Recruitment faces four charges for incomplete authorisation forms for work pass transactions, four charges for not applying FDW safety agreements and 37 charges for their failure to issue itemised receipts to the FDWs. (this one has nothing to do with the Carousell listings)

If found guilty, MOM has expressed that they might be fined up to $5,000, or jailed up to six months, or both.

What’s the situation now?

At present time, SRC’s license has been suspended, while Erleena has been de-registered as an EA personnel.

“MOM expects all EAs to exercise sensitivity when marketing their services, and exercising their duty of care towards their clients, including FDWs. There are established guidelines on responsible advertising which are well publicised, including on the MOM website, and which EAs are expected to adhere to,” said the ministry.

So yes, folks. Just a heads up in case you ever want to, you know, market your foreign worker.

Carousell

As a wise old man once said:

“There’s a time and place for everything!”

So folks, Carousell might be a pretty popular marketplace for buyers and sellers alike, but please…

Keep all your human objects off it.

And that includes the post with the cheating husband too. As bastardly as the act of ‘cheating’ is, Carousell-ing him is still not the most ideal way to throw him into the spotlight. I mean, instead of throwing him into…

Why not just throw him under?

Employment Agency That ‘Sold’ Maids on Carousell Faces 243 Charges

243

What’s the situation now?

Carousell

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