Some 1,600 migrant worker dormitories in Singapore will be placed under an expanded Foreign Employee Dormitories Act (FEDA) from 1 April 2023, up from the current 53.
The 1,600 dormitories house 439,000 beds in total.
The expansion of FEDA covers dormitories that house seven or more beds. Currently, only dormitories that house 1,000 or more beds are covered.
The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said this move would raise the dormitories’ operating standards and give the ministry regulatory levers to impose requirements to manage disease outbreaks.
All migrant worker dormitories are subjected to various requirements, covering fire safety, living conditions, sanitary, and public health requirements.
Larger dormitories with 1,000 beds or more, currently licensed under FEDA, are subjected to additional public health and safety requirements, including providing recreation and commercial facilities for their residents.
Dormitories with seven to 999 beds will soon be subjected to new requirements such as reporting requirements, traffic management, and contingency plans for public health outbreaks.
Migrant Workers’ Centre Executive Director Bernard Menon said that although there was legislation on requirements previously, they are not applied uniformly across all dormitories. He added that this prevented the levelling up of housing standards for migrant workers.
He said: “Since the enactment, we have advocated for FEDA to cover all dormitories. A unified baseline of standards consistent throughout the dorms in Singapore is critical to raising standards.”
Senior Minister of State for Manpower Dr Koh Poh Koon said: “Bringing all dormitories with seven beds or more under the expanded FEDA will strengthen our regulatory levers to raise living standards and implement pandemic management plans for migrant workers’ health and well-being.
“This is a significant step forward in our multi-year roadmap to transform our workers’ living environments for greater resilience and liveability.”
A set of essential living requirements will be applied to all dormitories. Dormitories licensed under FEDA will fall under four licence classes depending on their size. Larger dormitories will be subject to more stringent requirements on dormitory management, resident welfare, safety, and health.
Existing dormitories with 1,000 beds or more can continue to operate as usual as they are already licenced under FEDA.
New dormitories intending to begin operations on or after 1 April 2023 must apply for a full FEDA licence, valid for three years.
Existing dormitories with seven to 999 beds and new dormitories that intend to begin operations before 1 April 2023 must apply for a provisional FEDA licence from January 2023, valid for up to two years.
MOM will organise briefings for the dormitory operators, conduct checks, and support dormitory operators to meet the FEDA requirements.
