For Filipinos working here in Singapore who employ domestic workers, the term Foreign Worker Levy would be very familiar. It's part of their monthly bills so they must know. For OFWs who don't need a househelp, it's just another term that passes their head. And like them, I don't really bother what that really means. But when this topic was brought up in a recent beer session by some fellows who are complaining with the price of the levy, I began to ask myself. So what exactly this levy is? What is it for? Who are the beneficiaries of the levy?
A search in various Singapore government sites and some help from Google has defined "Foreign Worker Levy" as some kind of pricing mechanism to control the number of foreign workers (including foreign maids) in Singapore. It's main purpose is to curve the demand for foreign workers flocking to Singapore including domestic workers. For others, it is simply a tax, a big one at that, for hiring foreign workers.




