MOM investigating assisted senior living agency Red Crowns for potential offences in hiring migrant domestic workers

While RCSL’s elderly clients were the registered employers of the MDWs, RCSL retained control of the MDWs’ key employment terms and deployment, thus subjecting the clients to unnecessary risks.

Singapore's Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is currently investigating Red Crowns Senior Living (RCSL) and its personnel for potential offences under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act.

RCSL is a provider of an assisted co-living model, where the elderly may reside in units that consist of up to four elderlies and two live-in caregivers. 

In a post on Tuesday (13 June 2023), MOM expressed serious concerns about the provider's operating model, noting that it could compromise the interests of its elderly clients and the wellbeing of these caregivers, who are migrant domestic workers (MDWs).

Under the law, the employer of an MDW is responsible for the MDW’s food, safety, medical care, job scope, accommodation, and rest arrangements. While RCSL’s elderly clients were the registered employers of the MDWs, RCSL retained control of the MDWs’ key employment terms and deployment. This subjected the elderly clients to unnecessary risks — should the MDWs have sustained a work-related injury, failed to receive timely salary payment(s), or were not provided sufficient rest or accommodation, the elderly would be held legally responsible. However, some of the employers had indicated that they were unaware of these liabilities, according to MOM.

The Ministry shared that it will be reaching out directly to RCSL’s elderly clients and their family members to provide assistance. 

Thank you for reading our story! Please leave us a comment if you enjoy our content — take our 2023 Readers' Survey here.

Lead image / Shutterstock