Proposed workplace fairness law ‘strikes the right balance for now’: Tan See Leng
Bill is shaped by feedback from employers and employees, as well as other countries’ experiences
SINGAPORE’S government is confident that its proposed workplace fairness legislation – more than three years in the making – “strikes the right balance for now”, said Minister for Manpower Tan See Leng in Parliament on Tuesday (Jan 7).
“At the end of the day, employers must fundamentally be able to hire employees based on the skills and attributes that support their business needs,” said Dr Tan, opening the debate on the Workplace Fairness Bill.
“What we want to achieve is to ensure that jobseekers and employees are evaluated fairly based on those skills and attributes.”
The government took the time to consult and study other countries’ experiences “instead of rushing to introduce and implement the Bill”, so as to maintain Singapore’s “hard-earned harmony”, he added.
Plans for the law were announced in 2021, with a tripartite committee’s recommendations accepted by the government in August 2023.
Laws are not quite comparable across jurisdictions as national contexts differ, noted Dr Tan. Well-meaning protections can also inadvertently hurt workers if employers become reluctant to hire certain groups, or protracted litigation ensues.
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Tuesday’s Bill is the first of two that form the proposed Workplace Fairness Legislation (WFL). It covers the substantive rights and obligations under the WFL. The second Bill will lay out how private employment claims can be made for workplace discrimination.
If both are passed, the government intends to implement the WFL in 2026 or 2027.
Proposed protections
The proposed law will ban adverse employment decisions based on five categories of protected characteristics: age; nationality; sex, marital status, pregnancy and caregiving responsibilities; race, religion and language; and disability and mental health condition.
This applies to all employment stages, including hiring, appraisal, promotion, training and dismissal. Exemptions will be made for genuine occupational requirements.
Singapore’s ageing population and economic headwinds mean that a “complementary foreign workforce” remains important; but for Singaporeans to benefit, discrimination must be prevented, said Dr Tan.
The protections intend to ensure the fair treatment of locals, while tackling issues such as the under-representation of women in certain fields.
The proposed law also requires employers to have internal grievance-handling processes, and protects employees against retaliation.
Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh said that the Workers’ Party supports the Bill, but noted several issues and sought clarification.
For instance, it may be hard to prove discrimination, he said. He asked for examples of similar complaints handled by the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices, to “help workers appreciate the evidentiary threshold that has to be overcome”.
Different tools
Dr Tan also addressed why the proposed law does not cover discrimination against more characteristics, nor indirect discrimination where “an apparently neutral action... disadvantages people with a protected characteristic”.
Singapore decided on the five protected characteristics for policy reasons, such as supporting older workers and reaffirming racial and religious harmony, said Dr Tan. Meanwhile, laws against indirect discrimination can “create uncertainty and litigiousness”.
The Bill thus starts “on a more scoped and surer footing... while remaining open to future updates to the list of protected characteristics”.
It is not the only tool to tackle workplace discrimination, he added. Rather, it complements the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices, which still cover other forms of workplace discrimination.
“Internationally, this approach of having a law to cover certain protected characteristics with a more flexible tool to cover all other characteristics is quite unique,” said Dr Tan.
Companies with fewer than 25 employees will initially be exempt, to give them time to build capabilities. This will be reviewed after five years, Dr Tan said.
Labour MP Patrick Tay called for all employers to eventually be subject to the law. While smaller companies can be given more time to comply, “companies should not be exonerated from such responsibilities by virtue of size indefinitely”, he said.
Mediation and punishment
Employees can also make private claims, under the second Bill in the proposed WFL. The government is studying how to empower the Employment Claims Tribunals to hear workplace discrimination claims, too.
As for the “small number of errant employers” that flout the rules, enforcement action will vary with the severity of the breach. This ranges from directions to attend educational workshops or administrative financial penalties, to bringing offenders to court for heavier civil penalties.
Singh asked if the names and circumstances of errant companies will be revealed. This is “not to encourage a name-and-shame culture”, but for education and to nudge employers to take workplace discrimination very seriously, he said.
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