Most Discussed Tharman blasts HR in Budget attack on ageism HR leaders have been urged by Deputy PM Tharman Shanmugaratnam to stop their “unstated discrimination” against older workers looking for jobs.
Are you asking illegal interview questions? Have you ever asked a job applicant how old they are? If you have, you might be breaking the law. A leading Singapore employment lawyer looks at which interview questions could land you in hot water.
Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower is investigating Mustafa Centre for alleged employment offences following complaints that HR had been collecting “cashbacks” from staff.
According to MOM, the retail giant is also under probe for other violations under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act, including work pass offences.
Recently, the ministry received several complaints from Mustafa’s employees. One case detailed how the HR department allegedly collected a cut of staff’s monthly salaries after it was deposited into their accounts.
A former senior sales executive at the store’s jewellery department said that he had to give HR between $600 and $1,000 monthly depending on how much he earned in overtime.
He said the HR manager and/or his assistant would approach him monthly for the “cashback” and that “no one knows where the money goes to”.
He claimed that he was not the only worker who was forced to give back part of his salary and had urged his colleagues to report the practice.
The monthly occurrence had only stopped in October 2017 after Mustafa Centre was caught in a legal dispute, reported The Online Citizen.
In addition to kickbacks, Mustafa had also allegedly stopped renewing S-passes in May this year. This affected about 100 foreign workers.
MOM issued special passes to affected workers to remain in Singapore and assist in investigations.
Without elaborating on the extent of the complaints, an MOM spokesperson told The New Paper that investigations are ongoing.
If found guilty of kickback offences, Mustafa Centre can be fined up to $30,000 and/or jailed for up to two years for each charge.
Related stories:
Director jailed for hiring illegal workers
HR warned against inflating employee job titles
Mustafa Centre Now Faces MOM Investigations After Tough Road To Success
Household name Mustafa Centre is being investigated by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) for offenses relating to the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act.
Source
While it’s not clear what the exact offenses are under the Act, they could range from work pass violations to receipt of kickbacks.
Such news is detrimental, especially for a brand that has come so far on humility, hardwork and honesty.
Rags to riches
For the father and son duo who co-founded the store, it’s a classic Singaporean rags-to-riches story.
Back in the day, the Mr Haji Mohamed Mustafa sold tea and bread from a pushcart. That was in the 1950s.
In more recent memory, his son, Mr Mustaq Ahmad, was ranked 37th in Forbes magazine’s list of the 40 richest people in Singapore, with a net worth of $240 million.
Source
From humble pushcart to shopping centre
Success didn’t come easy. They faced multiple setbacks, which they turned into opportunities to expand their business. Or so the story goes.
Mr Mustaq used to help out with his father’s pushcart. At the same time, the enterprising boy ran a handkerchief business next to the pushcart.
It was after seeing the potential in Mr Mustaq’s venture that Mr Mustafa decided to sell clothes, instead of food.
Not long after the shift to garments, the family set up a makeshift store at Campbell Lane to sell ready-made clothes.
But the government soon banned street stalls, and they rented a nearby space for a shop.
Then, high rental prices at Serangoon Plaza prompted Mr Mustaq to decide it was time that the company owned its own building.
In 1995, the now iconic shopping centre along Syed Alwi Road opened.
Fall from grace
Unfortunately, it has come to light that MOM is now investigating the Mustafa Centre for alleged employment offenses.
Source
A spokesman for the Ministry of Manpower confirmed that the company is being investigated. He said,
MOM has received complaints that Mohamed Mustafa and Samsuddin Co may have infringed the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act. Investigations are ongoing.
According to The New Paper, the probe “is not limited to specific violations but covers offences under the entire Act”.
Which means Mustafa could be charged for just about anything — a worrying sign indeed.
Alleged cashbacks by employee
One former employee has already alleged the dubious collection of “cashbacks” by the company.
Mr Abdul Haq, who worked in the jewellery department, revealed that he used to have to return the company $600-1000.
This was after his monthly salary had been transferred to his bank account.
An important lesson
We think it’s a pity that a highly successful company, which overcame many odds in its humbler days, has fallen into this nasty predicament.
Source
We hope this incident serves as a lesson to us all that no organisation is too large to be exempt from the laws of the land.
Featured image from Google Maps and Facebook.
Comments
comments
One of Singapore's most popular Indian-origin owned one-stop shopping complex, Mustafa Centre, is under investigation for alleged employment offences, according to here.
The Mustafa Centre, which is registered as the and Samsuddin Company, is a 24-hour 300,000 products in Singapore's
The iconic store was established by India-born as a 900 square feet shop in Serangoon Road in 1973, and grew to a 40,000 square feet space in in 1985.
The is being investigated following several complaints against it recently, a of the (MOM) said in statement.
"The MOM has received complaints that and Samsuddin Co may have infringed the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act. Investigations are ongoing," the was quoted as saying by 'The New Paper', without elaborating about the nature of complaint.
The probe against the company was not limited to specific violations but covers offences under the entire Act, which include work pass violations and receiving of kickbacks, such as partial return of salaries by the employees to the company, the report said.
Most of the Mustafa's foreign employees are from
A company's former employee had alleged that the human resource (HR) department of the had been collecting "cashbacks" from its employees.
"No one knows where the money goes to," the employee, identified as Abdul Haq Siddique, was quoted as saying by The (TOC).
He claimed that he was not the only worker who had to give back part of his salary, and added that the practice was stopped in October last year after the owner's families got embroiled in a legal dispute.
Siddique and other former store employees also alleged that the had stopped renewing S-passes (Special Pass) in May this year, affecting about 100 foreign employees.
The MOM issues Special Passes to the affected workers so that they can remain in the country to assist in investigations.
The MOM spokesperson, however, declined to comment on Siddique's allegations, citing the ongoing investigations.
Those convicted of kickback offences can be fined up to 30,000 dollar and/or jail term for up to two years on each charge.
The company's managing director, was reportedly ranked 37th in magazine's list of the 40 richest people in in 2011, with a reported worth of USD 240 million.
He was recently in the over a high-stakes lawsuit against him and five others by his family.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Mengawali karier sebagai dosen di Fakultas Ekonomi Universitas Indonesia, Mustafa Kamal pun memilih terjun ke dunia politik bersama PKS. Selama kuliah di Fakultas Sastra Universitas Indonesia, pria kelahiran 14 Desember 1969 ini terlibat dalam organisasi kemahasiswaan. Bakat kepemimpinannya pun telah terlihat.
Terbukti ia pernah dipercaya sebagai Manajer Bursa Koperasi Mahasiswa (1992), Ketua Senat Falkultas Sastra UI (1993-1994), dan Deklarator Kesatuan Aksi Mahasiswa Muslim Indonesia (1998).
Di samping itu, Mustafa mengawali karier profesionalnya sebagai dosen Universitas Indonesia. Ia juga menduduki posisi staf pimpinan di universitas kuning tersebut. Selanjutnya, ia melebarkan karier ke ranah media sebagai Redaktur Pelaksana Tarbawi, dan Pemimpin Redaksi Jurnal Akses.
Mustafa sempat melanjutkan studi Manajemen Pembangunan Sosial untuk menopang kariernya sebagai pengajar di UI dan sejumlah perguruan tinggi. Namun, ia terpaksa tidak melanjutkan pendidikannya karena mendapat permintaan khusus dari Partai Keadilan Sejahtera (PKS) menjadi anggota Komisi Pemilihan Umum (KPU) pada 1999. Mustafa adalah salah satu anggota KPU termuda dengan usia 29 tahun pada saat awal pembentukan KPU di masa Era Reformasi setelah tumbangnya rezim Soeharto sekaligus mengakhiri kekuasaan Orde Baru.
Selanjutnya, suami Eko Sri Wahyuni Setyawati ini menekuni dunia politik. Sejak 2004, ia telah duduk di Senayan dari Fraksi PKS selama tiga periode. Sempat ditugaskan sebagai Wakil Ketua Komisi II DPR RI, saat menginjak usia 47 tahun ia dipindah tugaskan sebagai anggota Komisi X.
Masih pada usia yang sama, ayah empat anak ini dipercaya sebagai Sekretaris Jenderal PKS menggantikan Taufik Ridho yang meninggalkan untuk periode 2016-2020. (AC/DN) (Photo/Instagram/H.Mustafakamal)
KELUARGA
Istri : Eko Sri Wahyuni Setyawati
Anak : 4 Orang
PENDIDIKAN
SD Ria Persit KCK Jakarta
SMP Negeri 20 Jakarta
SMU Negeri 14 Jakarta
S1 Fakultas Sastra UI (1995)
KARIER
Litbang Studi, Study Klub Sejarah (1991)
Manajer Bursa Koperasi Mahasiswa (1992)
Ketua Senat Falkultas Sastra UI (1993-1994)
Komisi Litbang Sm UI (1994-1995)
Deklarator Kesatuan Aksi Mahasiswa Muslim Indonesia (1998)
Staf Pimpinan dan Dosen PE FEUI
Redaktur Pelaksana Majalah Tarbawi
Advisor di Youth and Student Asia pacific
Pemred Jurnal Akses
Direktur Retas Leadership, LSM Kepemudaan
Dosen Sejarah di Perguruan Islam Al-Hikmah
Staf Pengajar Nurul Fikri
Anggota Komisi Pemilihan Umum (1999-2000)
Anggota DPR-RI-Fraksi PKS (2004-2019)
Wakil Ketua Komisi II DPR RI-Fraksi PKS (2014-2016)
Anggota Komisi X DPR-RI-Fraksi PKS (2016-Sekarang)
Sekjen PKS (2016-2020)
