At Least 200 Bangladeshis Go Unpaid in Singapore

At least 240 migrant workers in Singapore have gone unpaid for the past two to three months, most of them Bangladeshis. The country’s Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has launched an investigation into two companies, Process Maintenance Solutions and Jurong Technical and Construction, over the matter.

MOM announced the investigation in a statement on October 24. Meanwhile, the affected workers are facing severe financial hardship. They are worried about supporting their families back home, repaying loans and securing future employment in Singapore.

Singaporean newspaper The Straits Times has published a report on the issue.

According to the report, Bangladeshi worker Hossain Midul moved to Singapore in July 2025. The 24-year-old earned around $600 a month, including overtime, and sent almost all his earnings home. However, after going unpaid for the past two months, he has been unable to send money to his family.

Mr Midul alleged that his employer cancelled his work permit in early October without explanation, although it was valid until July 2027.

He said he had taken out a bank loan of $9,000 to pay an agent’s fee to secure employment in Singapore. He used nearly half his salary to repay the loan and the rest to support his six-member family in western Pabna district.

“My family is in a very difficult financial situation. I left home to support them. But now I have no job and no salary. I am afraid my family will have to suffer a lot,” he said.

Mr Midul said Process Maintenance Solutions owed him $1,800 in unpaid wages.

Workers at both companies said they had not received their salaries since August. Their work permits have also been cancelled in phases since late September, leaving them uncertain about continuing to work in Singapore and supporting their families back home.

Simon Islam, a 21-year-old worker at Jurong Technical and Construction, said the company owed him around $1,800. However, he no longer expected to receive the full amount.

The report said some workers had paid recruitment agents more than $12,000 in Bangladesh to secure jobs in Singapore’s process sector, which includes specialised industrial work, production and maintenance.

The workers had been promised that their employers would enroll them in courses to obtain certification from Singapore’s Building and Construction Authority (BCA) after one year of employment.

However, of the 15 Process Maintenance Solutions workers interviewed by The Straits Times, only one had been sent for the course.

A 26-year-old worker named Riyag said many workers employed in the process sector on work permits wanted BCA certification to qualify for construction jobs, which generally pay more.

According to an August survey by Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2), construction workers earned an average of $868 a month, including allowances but excluding overtime. The corresponding figure for process-sector workers was $771.

The report said some workers received their outstanding wages in October.

On October 23, around 70 workers from Process Maintenance Solutions met the company’s director, Ruzaidi Masuni, and MOM officials at the Migrant Workers’ Centre (MWC) recreation centre on Soon Lee Road.

During the meeting, Ruzaidi provided documents detailing the working days and overtime hours of workers whose salaries remained unpaid.

One worker said the authorities had told them they would be issued permission to seek jobs with new employers in the process sector. However, they were also informed that the ministry could not directly help resolve issues concerning BCA certification arising from payments made to agents in Bangladesh.

The MWC said it was working with employment agencies to help the workers find suitable jobs and change employers. The organisation is also providing financial assistance and meals to around 90 workers.

The Straits Times investigation found links between the two companies. Workers from both firms live in the same dormitory in the Tuas area. They also said the same Bangladeshi manager had recruited them and assigned them to the same workplace.

Under Singapore’s rules, employers in the process sector can hire five work-permit holders for every locally qualified employee earning at least $1,800 a month.

MOM said investigations into the two companies were ongoing and appropriate action would be taken if violations of the Employment Act were established.

Meanwhile, a person who spoke to The Straits Times at Process Maintenance Solutions’ office claimed that delays in salary payments resulted from irregularities during a change in company ownership. The person said the wage complaints and BCA certification issues had been resolved but denied any connection between the two companies.