Background
A recent survey by the Ministry of Manpower (“MOM”) found job applicants who experienced discrimination during their job search had fallen from 43% in 2018 to 25% in 2021. However, there was still cause for concern amongst employers and jobseekers alike in Singapore.
The Tripartite Committee on Workplace Fairness (“Committee”) was formed in July 2021 to review options on improving workplace fairness.
The Committee released its interim report on 13 February 2023 containing its recommendations for Workplace Fairness Legislation (“WFL”).
The Committee recommends retaining the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices (“TGFEP”), which sets out the principle of fair treatment for jobseekers and employees based on merit.
The WFL will cover forms of discrimination or practices not covered under the TGFEP.
Under the WFL, the Committee’s recommendations cover issues such as:
- Prohibiting common and familiar forms of discrimination;
- Strengthening protection for employees who suffer discrimination;
- Giving discriminated employees the means to pursue suitable remedies;
- Mediation as the preferred way to resolve issues of discrimination; and
- If Mediation is unsuccessful, workers can proceed to the Employment Claims Tribunals (“ECT”) for remedies.
The recommendations also include establishing various regulatory levers in the form of sanctions or penalties, enabling the MOM to take appropriate enforcement action.
The Committee’s Recommendations
The Committee has come up with 20 recommendations spread over 4 areas.
These 4 areas are:
- Strengthening protections against workplace discrimination;
- Provisions to support business/organisational needs and national objectives;
- Processes for resolving grievances and disputes while preserving workplace harmony; and
- Ensuring fair outcomes through redress for victims of workplace discrimination and more appropriate penalties for breaches.
A brief summary of some of the key recommendations is set out below:
- Prohibit workplace discrimination based on certain characteristics, including but not limited to age, nationality, sex, race, language, religion, disability, or mental or physical status (“protected characteristic”).
- The WFL should cover all stages of employment, namely
- pre-employment (e.g. recruitment);
- in-employment (e.g. promotion, performance appraisal, training selection); and
- end-employment (e.g. dismissal) stages
Currently, legislation only covers the end-employment stage.
- Job advertisements which show a preference based on a protected characteristic should not be allowed.
- Protection for whistleblowers (i.e. those who complain about workplace discrimination) should be provided.
- Employers can consider a protected characteristic in employment decisions if it is a genuine and reasonable job requirement.
- In special cases, employers should be allowed to favour persons with disabilities and seniors (55 years and above) over other groups when hiring, even if another candidate may be equally or more qualified.
- Employers should have a complaints or feedback arrangement in place for workers complaining of discrimination.
- Where there are complaints of discrimination, parties should proceed to mediation. If mediation fails, parties can proceed to the ECT to resolve issues or seek a remedy.
- Encourage parties to explore non-monetary remedies, such as reinstatement of an employment offer or providing an apology letter, if possible.
- The WFL should provide for a wider range of penalties for employers who practice discrimination. Examples of such penalties are financial penalties (e.g. fines), preventing or stopping various workpasses being issued by the MOM or corrective work orders for offenders.
Currently, the feedback stage on the recommendations for the WFL has ended.
Based on feedback received, it is expected that the WFL will proceed to the Bill stage for hearing in Parliament sometime in 2024, before being passed as law.