1,600 foreign worker dormitories to be licensed under single law to raise standards, contain disease outbreaks

SINGAPORE: Foreign worker dormitories with fewer than 1,000 beds will soon be licensed under a single regulatory framework that will allow authorities to raise their operating standards and impose additional requirements to manage disease outbreaks.

Such requirements include standing up additional isolation facility capacity and putting in place additional infection prevention and control measures, such as using personal protection equipment and increasing the frequency of cleaning.

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) announced on Tuesday (Sep 6) that it will expand the coverage of the Foreign Employee Dormitories Act (FEDA) from Apr 1 next year to include dormitories with seven or more beds. 

Currently, all dormitories are subjected to various requirements across different legislation, covering areas such as fire safety, living conditions, sanitary and public health requirements.

Only dormitories with 1,000 beds or more are licensed under FEDA, and are subject to additional requirements for public health and safety, as well as providing recreation and commercial facilities for residents.

In 2020, tens of thousands of migrant workers living in dormitories contracted COVID-19. Last year, MOM announced that it would review FEDA to expand its coverage.

With the change, the number of dormitories licensed under FEDA will increase from 53 to 1,600, covering a total of 439,000 beds.

FOUR LICENCE CLASSES

Dormitories will fall under four licence classes depending on their size, with a set of essential living requirements such as minimum space per resident, maximum room occupancy, cleanliness and ventilation to be applied to all classes.

Dormitories with seven beds to 999 beds will be subject to new requirements in the areas such as reporting requirements, traffic management, and contingency plans for public health outbreaks.

Larger dormitories will also be subject to more stringent requirements on dormitory management, resident welfare and health and safety.

Those with 1,000 beds or more will not see any change in requirements as they are already licensed under FEDA. 

Senior Minister of State for Manpower Koh Poh Koon said on Tuesday that having different licence classes ensures that the requirements can be met by dormitories of different sizes.

Noting that smaller dormitories might have fewer resources, Dr Koh said MOM will work closely with stakeholders on the progressive implementation of FEDA over the next two years to minimise any disruption to dormitory operations.

In response to questions about why FEDA will only apply to dormitories with seven beds or more, MOM said this is aligned to the current occupancy cap of up to six unrelated people for public and private housing.

It added that all dormitories with six or fewer residents are run by employers, who are regulated by the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act. That Act sets out requirements to protect the well-being of workers, among other things.

Dormitory Association of Singapore Limited (DASL) council member Eugene Aw said factory-converted dormitories are likely to feel the biggest impact from the expansion of FEDA.

“The challenge and what a lot of owner-operators are concerned (about) at this point in time is the potential increase in costs,” he said, adding that this is mainly administration costs.

“However, after discussions with relevant government authorities, we are of the view that it is manageable and the expansion of FEDA at this point in time pertains mainly to a lot of improvements in terms of management.”

DASL said it will support the industry in adjusting to the new requirements through active engagements and training programmes.

It added that it is working closely with MOM to curate a training programme on compliance requirements and dormitory management best practices.