Around 400 migrant workers, mostly from India and Bangladesh, have accused two Singapore-registered companies of not paying their wages. According to reports from The Straits Times, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on Monday took up complaints from the first 100 workers and began an investigation against KPA Engineering and SK Industries. On Tuesday, another group of 100 migrant workers from India and Bangladesh alerted authorities about unpaid wages and housing arrangements, as reported by The Straits Times. The affected workers said they have not been able to contact the man for a few weeks, with the business director having two registered addresses, one home in a private estate near Bukit Timah leased to a foreign national for about eight months.
The directors of both KPA Engineering and related firm SK Industries, believed to be non-Singaporeans, could not be reached for comments. As reported by The Straits Times, the firms share a common director linked to five other firms providing air-conditioning, plumbing and building services. KPA Engineering was established in 2014 and currently has another active director, while the common director set up SK Industries in 2023 and in 2025 registered three companies with the business registry in one day, each with him as the sole director. The man then set up a separate firm in 2019 by himself, and another in 2020 that lists three former directors.
The Migrant Workers' Centre (MWC), an NGO working on fair employment practices and migrant worker well-being, met more than 300 affected workers from the two companies and offered help. According to The Straits Times, Michael Lim, director of Migrant Workers Segment of the National Trade Union Congress, confirmed that MWC has been providing meals for the affected workers. The NGO, which provided transport for the workers to return to their dorms from the MOM office in Bendemeer on June 22, has been providing meals for the affected workers. Meanwhile, Ethan Guo, executive director of Transient Workers Count Too, said several workers from KPA Engineering had reached out to the non-profit organization a week ago, advising them to lodge salary claims with the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM).
Creditors have been trying to contact one of the directors for several weeks over claims of unpaid loans, according to a Singapore daily. As reported by The Straits Times, food caterers have also stopped supplying meals to the workers a few days ago, citing that they have not been paid. One supplier is owed around $4,000, with affected workers, many housed at Tuas View Dormitory, initially having access to food provided by an external caterer hired by their employers. Prashant Somosundram, deputy director of the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics, noted that workers may not fully understand the claims process and may lack the language ability and documents needed to pursue their claims confidently. He pointed out that migrant workers often have very limited options to recover unpaid salaries from bankrupt employers.
According to reports from The Straits Times, MOM and the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM) are looking into workers' complaints regarding unpaid wages and housing arrangements. The alliance said affected workers are allowed to seek new employment while their complaints are being addressed. Workers are usually issued with a Special Pass, which allows them to legally remain in Singapore to resolve issues like salary disputes and employment transfers. However, Ethan Guo warned that while affected workers can transfer to new employers, they may have to pay fees to employment agencies, with the standard fee being two months' salary for a two-year contract. He noted that employers usually persuade workers to wait, sometimes making small payments along the way, while workers are reluctant to make complaints for fear of losing their jobs since employers have the ability to cancel work permits and repatriate them at any time.
