*This article was updated on 19 March 2020
The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) announced on 19 March 2020 that employers who wish to apply for the temporary housing support can do so from 1 April-30 June 2020.
MOM added that applications should only be submitted after the affected workers have completed their stay in the short-term housing.
In a statement regarding the assistance rendered to workers affected by the Malaysia lockdown, the ministry said: "MOM reminds employers that if they do not need their Malaysian workers at this time, they should make arrangements for them to return to Malaysia. If they do need their Malaysian workers they must, despite the short notice and sudden circumstances, provide proper accommodation for them. We are glad to see that by and large, the vast majority of employers have succeeded in doing that for the vast majority of their Malaysian workers."
MOM will provide employers with Malaysian workers affected by the Malaysian lockdown with $50 a night per worker, for 14 nights.
The amount will go towards helping employers offset the cost of accommodation for the affected workers.
Manpower Minister Josephine Teo made the announcement at a Multi-Ministry Taskforce press conference on 17 March 2020.
Malaysian workers still in the peninsula from 18 March 2020 are not allowed to leave the country, as announced by Malaysia’s government on 16 March 2020.
“Many of these workers are hired by companies that provide essential services, such as healthcare, security, cleaning, transportation, waste management and logistics companies. We want to ensure that their businesses are not severely disrupted. This is why we have been working with tripartite partners to support the affected companies,” said Mrs Teo.
On the same day, MOM issued an advisory on housing options employers can consider for affected workers.
These include encouraging employees to stay with relatives, friends or colleagues in Singapore, putting affected workers up in hotels, dormitories or renting places for their workers.
“Whatever the arrangements, we appreciate that businesses have had to respond very quickly and incurred some additional costs as a result,” added Mrs Teo.
Mrs Teo also said that most employers were able to find accommodation for affected workers. However, there were a few hundred that approached MOM for assistance.
She assured employers that Singapore has enough capacity to accommodate the affected workers.
“I’m confident that all of their needs can be met. It may take a little bit of time because we have to match them [to proper accommodations]. But I think, in the few short hours that we’ve had to work on this, we have actually been able to match more than 10,000.
“So I’m confident that by the end of the day, any of the affected workers that need to stay in Singapore will be able to find suitable accommodation. So, that much is done,” said Mrs Teo, adding that MOM will monitor the impact the Malaysian travel restrictions have on businesses.
