Investigations have been launched into the allegedly shady employment practices conducted within Mustafa Centre.
Several former workers of the retail giant have gone on record with The Online Citizen to claim that their ex-employers had ordered them to return part of their salaries back to the company. It’s part of a “cash back” practice that has no determined reason or benefit, said Abdul Haq Siddique, a former Senior Sales Executive at Mustafa Centre’s jewelry department.
This is how it allegedly worked, according to the TOC report.
When the foreign workers receive their salary, the company’s human resourced department would order them to return a portion of their salaries as a form of “cash back”.
The amount to be returned to the HR manager or his assistant ranged between $600 to $1000 for Abdul.
Apparently, only the salaries of the family members of Mustafa Centre owners are exempted from the “cash back” practice.
The practice only stopped in October 2017 after a bitter legal suit erupted within the Mustafa family.
“No one knows where the money goes to,” Abdul told TOC.
The former Mustafa Centre workers are now speaking out after the management suddenly stated that S-Pass employees will no longer have their passes renewed.
“On 28 May this year, the S-Pass holders working for the Mustafa company were told that their passes will not be renewed, as their manpower costs for S-Pass holders have increased due to the cessation of cash back collections.”
According to Abdul, roughly 100 S-Pass employees at Mustafa Centre are facing the same situation.
MOM launches investigations
MOM has confirmed to The New Paper that Mohamed Mustafa & Samsuddin Company Pte Ltd — the firm that owns Mustafa Centre — is currently being investigated in the wake of several complaints lodged against it. The probe on the company involves infringements to the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act.
Though their work permits have expired, TOC reported that Abdul and other former employees of Mustafa Centre have been granted Special Passes to assist in MOM’s investigations.
The troubles with MOM would no doubt add to the distress currently being faced by Mustafa Centre founder Mustaq Ahmad, whose family is being sued by his step-siblings for alleged oppressive conduct, TNP reported.
Investigations have been launched into the allegedly shady employment practices conducted within Mustafa Centre.
Several former workers of the retail giant have gone on record with The Online Citizen to claim that their ex-employers had ordered them to return part of their salaries back to the company. It’s part of a “cash back” practice that has no determined reason or benefit, said Abdul Haq Siddique, a former Senior Sales Executive at Mustafa Centre’s jewelry department.
This is how it allegedly worked, according to the TOC report.
When the foreign workers receive their salary, the company’s human resourced department would order them to return a portion of their salaries as a form of “cash back”.
The amount to be returned to the HR manager or his assistant ranged between $600 to $1000 for Abdul.
Apparently, only the salaries of the family members of Mustafa Centre owners are exempted from the “cash back” practice.
The practice only stopped in October 2017 after a bitter legal suit erupted within the Mustafa family.
“No one knows where the money goes to,” Abdul told TOC.
The former Mustafa Centre workers are now speaking out after the management suddenly stated that S-Pass employees will no longer have their passes renewed.
“On 28 May this year, the S-Pass holders working for the Mustafa company were told that their passes will not be renewed, as their manpower costs for S-Pass holders have increased due to the cessation of cash back collections.”
According to Abdul, roughly 100 S-Pass employees at Mustafa Centre are facing the same situation.
MOM launches investigations
MOM has confirmed to The New Paper that Mohamed Mustafa & Samsuddin Company Pte Ltd — the firm that owns Mustafa Centre — is currently being investigated in the wake of several complaints lodged against it. The probe on the company involves infringements to the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act.
Though their work permits have expired, TOC reported that Abdul and other former employees of Mustafa Centre have been granted Special Passes to assist in MOM’s investigations.
The troubles with MOM would no doubt add to the distress currently being faced by Mustafa Centre founder Mustaq Ahmad, whose family is being sued by his step-siblings for alleged oppressive conduct, TNP reported.
The post Mustafa Centre hit by MOM probe after ex-employees accuse HR department of unfair treatment appeared first on Coconuts.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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