Singapore workers file 61 age-discrimination complaints annually in last two years, led by retail, admin sectors
The second Workplace Fairness Bill, to be tabled by end-2025, with the Act expected to take effect in 2026 or 2027
[SINGAPORE] An average of 61 age-discrimination complaints were lodged annually in 2023 and 2024, with the most cases coming from three sectors – administrative and support services, wholesale and retail trade, and accommodation and food services.
Annual fair-employment practice reports have shown no upward trend over the past five years, with age-discrimination complaints averaging at 77 cases a year from 2018 to 2022, said Senior Minister of State for Manpower Koh Poh Koon in Parliament on Friday (Sep 26).
He was responding to a parliamentary question from Tampines MP Charlene Chen on the number and types of complaints received by the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (Tafep).
He added that the government plans to table the second Workplace Fairness Bill in Parliament by the end of the year, with the Workplace Fairness Act expected to take effect in 2026 or 2027 if passed.
Beyond formal complaints, Tafep partners Workforce Singapore to proactively review job advertisements on national job portal MyCareersFuture to detect potentially discriminatory postings, said Dr Koh.
In 2023 and 2024, Tafep identified an annual average of 90 job advertisements containing words or phrases that were potentially discriminatory based on age.
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“Tafep has engaged the employers that posted these job advertisements to make the necessary amendments to ensure alignment with the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices,” said Dr Koh. The agency also provides employers with resources, including guides and clinics, to help companies build merit-based workplaces.
Asked if the government takes a proactive approach to dealing with such cases, Dr Koh said many complaints stem from poorly chosen words in job advertisements rather than deliberate discrimination by employers.
“Oftentimes, when complaints surface, it may not necessarily be that employers are actually trying to discriminate against a particular age group, but sometimes, the choice of words and phrasing they use in applications is probably not well considered enough, and that can create misunderstanding and that impression,” he said.
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“With an educational approach, we hope this will actually prevent more such occurrences from taking place.”
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