By Melissa Sim & Goh Yi Han

SOME employers of foreign workers say they are grappling with a problem of job-hopping China workers.

Three out of five employers contacted by The Straits Times said they had workers who got themselves released from their contracts by claiming they had not been paid.

The workers then went home, only to return to Singapore soon after to work for other companies.

The employers interviewed said that China workers were more likely than other foreigners to try to end their work contracts early in order to take up new job offers.

'Some of my workers have seen their ex-colleagues on the streets here barely a month after they settled their claims with us and went back to China,' said a contractor who did not want to be named.

Job-hopping by work permit holders is frowned on by the Manpower Ministry (MOM), which said last Friday that 'workers should not breach their contractual obligations and then turn to MOM in a bid to overturn those obligations, claim extra monies from their employer and job-hop to another employer in Singapore'.

The employers accused other companies here of poaching their workers brazenly, with offers of bigger pay.

For example, some offer to pay $8 per hour, twice what the workers earn, said one contractor. China workers tend to earn slightly over $1,000 a month, including overtime.

Some companies' poaching efforts are said to include going to workers' dormitories to distribute flyers advertising better pay or work conditions.

The director of one company claimed that more than 20 of her workers were poached last year.

Employers said work permit holders who want to break their contracts without facing penalties cry foul by claiming that they have not been paid their wages.

Industry players said some companies start paying new workers only three months after they begin work. So a worker who starts work in January will receive his first month's pay only in April.

Some companies claim they do this because of cash-flow issues, or coping with the logistics of working out overtime and incentive payments.

But it is an offence under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act not to pay salaries on time and employers can be fined up to $5,000 and jailed for up to six months for breaches.

More than 50 companies have been hauled up by the MOM's task force, with 13 employers convicted this year alone of not paying salaries to their workers.

One company involved in the construction of the Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort, Xuyi Building Engineering, has had 25 workers turning to MOM between March and May, complaining that they had not been paid on time.

All but two have settled with the company and returned to China.

Mr Li Ai Dong, 41, and Mr Xu Yuecheng, 36, are taking their complaints to MOM's labour court. Both told The Straits Times they had no new jobs lined up.

A spokesman for the advocacy group for foreign workers, Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (Home), said employers who do not want to lose their workers should treat them fairly and pay them on time.

MOM advised employers to ensure that their employment terms, benefits and obligations are clearly stated in work contracts so both parties understand their respective commitments.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.