Assisted living firm Red Crowns Senior Living fined for illegal employment practices

SINGAPORE: Red Crowns Senior Living has been fined after the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) found that the company had engaged in illegal employment practices.

The assisted co-living agency illegally hired and deployed migrant domestic workers to provide caregiving services, allowing it to circumvent its foreign manpower quota and pay lower levy rates, the ministry told CNA on Monday (Apr 1). 

Red Crowns had also placed legal responsibilities on their elderly clients, who employed migrant domestic workers but did not have control over their work and welfare, MOM added.

"The company and its directors have been issued composition fines for offences under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act," the ministry said, without mentioning the exact amount fined.

A composition fine can be used to settle an offence that has been compounded, which means that no further action will be taken against the offender. The Employment of Foreign Manpower Act states that offences under the Act can be compounded by accepting a sum not exceeding S$5,000 (US$3,700) or half of the maximum fine for the offence, whichever is lower.

According to MOM's website, the penalty for contravening any condition of a work pass or contravening any regulatory condition of a work pass is S$10,000.

MOM said that Red Crowns has since corrected its operating model while continuing to care for existing clients, and is now part of a government pilot project to explore new models of care for Singapore's ageing population. 

Under the Shared Stay-in Senior Care Services Sandbox, the migrant domestic workers who served as caregivers have been converted to work permit holders directly hired by Red Crowns, MOM said. The legal responsibilities for these workers now fall on the company rather than its clients. 

"As part of the Sandbox, participating companies are supported through foreign manpower quota concessions," an MOM spokesperson told CNA.

The assisted living company is subjected to levy rates of between S$300 and S$800 per work permit holder, similar to that of any other services company.

Red Crowns' founder Joshua Goh previously told CNA that it could not hire staff under the S Pass or work permit because it does not have enough staff who are citizens or permanent residents. 

"For example, at the moment, there are 60 over caregivers among our 33 homes. They are all foreigners, but we don't have so many Singaporean staff to hire so many of them," he said last year.

MOM said Red Crowns' participation in the Sandbox will depend on whether it complies with prevailing regulations. The company remains liable for the offences committed under its previous illegal operating model.

CNA has contacted Red Crowns for comment.

In June last year, MOM said it was investigating Red Crowns and had "serious concerns" about the firm's operating model. 

Red Crowns operates facilities where a group of seniors can live in a public flat or private condominium together with a live-in caregiver.

Red Crowns' senior clients were the registered employers of migrant domestic workers who cared for them, but the company controlled the workers' key employment terms and deployment.

This subjected the elderly clients to unnecessary risks, MOM had said.

Employers of migrant domestic workers are responsible for the workers' food, safety, medical care, job scope, accommodation and more.

Red Crowns' clients would be held legally responsible if the migrant domestic workers sustained work-related injuries, failed to receive timely salary payments or were not provided sufficient rest.

MOM had said that some of the employers were unaware of their liabilities.

"The government is supportive of private sector innovation of shared caregiving models that offer options for the elderly to age in the community," said the ministry.

"However, these models must comply with the law. Businesses cannot take it upon themselves to push the boundaries and break the law in the name of innovation."

Editor's note: This article has been updated to reflect the potential size of fines which could be paid under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act and not the Employment of Foreign Workers Act as originally stated.