Foreign Employee Dormitories (Boarding Premises Not Treated as Foreign Employee Dormitory) Order 2023

No. S 174

Foreign Employee Dormitories Act 2015

Foreign Employee Dormitories
(Boarding Premises Not Treated as
Foreign Employee Dormitory) Order 2023

In exercise of the powers conferred by section 3(2)(j) of the Foreign Employee Dormitories Act 2015, the Minister for Manpower makes the following Order:

Citation and commencement

1.  This Order is the Foreign Employee Dormitories (Boarding Premises Not Treated as Foreign Employee Dormitory) Order 2023 and comes into operation on 1 April 2023.

Definitions

2.  In this Order —

“consular premises” has the meaning given by the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations;

“mission premises”, in relation to a diplomatic mission, means the “premises of the mission” as defined in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations;

“place of worship” means any place —

(a) that is consecrated or dedicated generally or specifically, or is associated with or regularly used, for the conduct of religious services (such as a mosque, surau, temple, church, cathedral, chapel, sanctuary or synagogue); and

(b) the use of which as a place of worship is not a breach of planning control under the Planning Act 1998,

but excludes any place that is the ordinary place of residence of any individual, ordinarily used for commercial, educational, recreational or industrial purposes or that is part of the common property of any subdivided building used (in whole or part) for residential, commercial, educational, recreational or industrial purposes;

“religious organisation” means —

(a) any company or other body corporate incorporated under the Companies Act 1967 or any other written law for the purpose of promoting any religion, religious worship or dealing with religious affairs or practising, conducting, teaching or propagating any religious belief; or

(b) any body of persons registered as a society under the Societies Act 1966, whose object is the promotion of any religion, religious worship or the practice, conduct, teaching or propagating of any religious belief;

“religious service” means a ceremony or rite, or an observance or a worship, sermon or service, based wholly on a religious belief, religious practice or religious affiliation;

“Vienna Convention on Consular Relations” and “Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations” have the meanings given by section 2 of the Diplomatic and Consular Relations Act 2005.

Boarding premises within or adjoining place of worship not foreign employee dormitory

3.  For the purposes of section 3(2)(j) of the Act, any boarding premises within the premises of or adjoining or on the grounds of a place of worship in Singapore of a religious organisation that is only occupied by residents who are —

(a) employees of the religious organisation; or

(b) engaged or hired by the religious organisation to provide services to or for the religious organisation, which may or may not be performed at the place of worship,

is not a foreign employee dormitory under the Act.

Boarding premises in mission premises or consular premises not foreign employee dormitory

4.  For the purposes of section 3(2)(j) of the Act, any boarding premises within any mission premises or consular premises in Singapore is not a foreign employee dormitory under the Act.

Made on 31 March 2023.

CHIA DER JIUN

Permanent Secretary
(Development),
Ministry of Manpower,
Singapore.

[HQ/Legis/FEDA1_Apr2023; AG/LEGIS/SL/111B/2020/5 Vol. 1]

(To be presented to Parliament under section 3(5) of the Foreign Employee Dormitories Act 2015).