Employers with at least 10 staff must notify MOM of all retrenchments from Nov 1

EMPLOYERS with at least 10 staff will have to notify the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) of all layoffs from Nov 1, regardless of the number of employees affected, the ministry said on Tuesday.

Currently, employers are only required to notify the authorities when they retrench five or more people within a six-month period.

"We want to help workers who may be retrenched - to intervene earlier, to help them pivot to a new job, to provide career counselling," said Senior Minister of State for Manpower Koh Poh Koon.

He was speaking to reporters virtually following a visit to Workforce Singapore Careers Connect at Our Tampines Hub.

Asked why the ministry decided to make the change now, Dr Koh said industry transformation even prior to the Covid-19 pandemic have resulted in companies restructuring their workforce.

"Going forward, as industry continues to transform, there will be an impact on job redesign and business model change. Therefore, there will be some degree of change within the workforce construct within each and every company," Dr Koh said.

"Covid-19, of course, has created additional impact in the midst of all these transformative disruptive technology changes that affect the global economy," he added.

According to MOM's advance estimates for the second quarter, retrenchments rose to 2,500 from 2,270 in Q1, due to a "modest uptick" in layoffs in the manufacturing and construction sectors.

The ministry had said the majority of retrenchments were due to business restructuring or a downturn in certain industries.

While there have been many job seekers looking at transitting to new sectors during the pandemic, Dr Koh said one group of job seekers that are especially concerning are those who have been retrenched.

"This is not just a matter of having a financial burden imposed on them, but they go through a lot of stress. It also puts their whole family actually in a lot of stress because of the financial difficulties they may encounter," Dr Koh said.

"Part of the way to help them better is not just to get better data but to go upstream, to be notified earlier of when they may be at risk of retrenchment, so that we can institute the measures that can help them."

He said the main aim is to help as many workers as possible without imposing an additional burden on the companies.

With the change, employers no longer need to track cumulative retrenchments over a six-month period.

Dr Koh said companies have given feedback that it has been challenging to track when they retrench their fifth worker in the timeframe, which is a moving one.

He also said he strongly encourages companies with fewer than 10 workers to do the same, even though it is not mandatory as the authorities do not want to place extra burden on small companies.

Member of Parliament Patrick Tay, who is also the National Trades Union Congress assistant secretary-general, said the update will allow the unions to extend prompt support to affected workers.

"We will work closely with tripartite partners and other relevant agencies, tapping on NTUC Job Security Council and the relevant Company Training Committees, to support workers in the areas of employment facilitation, upskilling and reskilling where required," he said in a Facebook post.

He added: "That said, we urge companies to save jobs, protect the Singaporean core especially, and only retrench as a last resort. We can work together to upskill workers pre-emptively, minimising retrenchments when businesses are not doing well."

Employers must file the notification within five working days after they provide the notice of retrenchment to the affected staff. This can be done at www.mom.gov.sg/notify-retrenchment.

Those who do not comply may have to pay administrative penalties of up to S$2,000.

The mandatory retrenchment notification was introduced in January 2017 to support affected employees through workshops, employment facilitation and career coaching, among other ways.

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