Singapore, Feb 3 (IANS): Singapore's Ministry of Manpower on Monday encouraged migrant workers to "come forward early" and report kickback practices, following a recent case where a contracting company collected illegal fees as a condition for work pass renewals.

"Workers with valid claims will be allowed a change of employment if they wish to continue working in Singapore," the ministry said in a Facebook post.

The ministry highlighted a case involving Lian Cheng Contracting Pte Ltd, where a former operations manager collected kickbacks totaling 396,440 Singapore dollars (about 289,400 US dollars) from 57 migrant workers between 2014 and 2020. These payments were required for their continued employment or work pass renewal, Xinhua news agency reported.

Adrian Quek, Divisional Director at the ministry's Foreign Manpower Management Division, described this as one of the largest kickback cases investigated by the ministry to date.

Singapore relies on a workforce of more than 1.5 million foreign workers as of last June, according to the ministry's latest data.

Last month, Singapore's Ministry of Manpower reported a sharp rise in workplace fatalities in the construction sector, with 15 deaths recorded in the second half of 2024, three times the five fatalities reported in the first half.

The workplace safety and health in the industry is "concerning," the ministry said in a Facebook post.

Many of these incidents resulted from "the lack of basic safety measures or non-compliance with established safety measures," the ministry said, citing "a sense of complacency and a lack of ownership for workplace safety."

In October and November 2024, the ministry conducted over 400 inspections in the construction sector, which resulted in fines exceeding 300,000 Singapore dollars (about 222,000 US dollars) and the issuance of 13 Stop Work Orders.

The ministry had said that it "will not hesitate to take stronger actions against errant companies and individuals" if improvements are not made.