Number of Employment Disputes before Written Employment Contracts were Mandated in April 2016

Mr Abdul Samad asked the Minister for Manpower (a) since 2016, whether there is an increasing trend in the number of employment disputes involving employees employed before 1 April 2016 with their employers where there is no written employment contract; and (b) whether Key Employment Terms (KETs) specified in the Employment Act can be mandated for all workers employed by companies before 1 April 2016 to protect all parties should there be any workplace grievance or dispute pertaining to the employment contract.

The requirement for employers to provide Key Employment Terms (KETs) to all employees was introduced on 1 April 2016. The tripartite partners had considered mandating KETs for employees hired prior to 1 April 2016 but decided against it after taking into consideration the administrative burden on employers, especially the SMEs. Furthermore, most employees would eventually be covered under the requirement for employers to provide KETs when they change employer or when their contracts are renewed after 1 April 2016.

The vast majority of disputes handled by the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM) are not related to the lack of clarity regarding contractual issues but involve non-payment of salary or for overtime work. In addition, for our lower-wage workers, MOM carries out WorkRight inspections, to check on compliance, including the issuing of KETs. It has, likewise, not observed any disputes arising from failure to provide KETs to persons employed before 1 April 2016.

Notwithstanding that the legal requirement for KETs does not cover employees hired before 1 April 2016, the tripartite partners continue to strongly encourage employers to issue KETs to such employees. MOM will also review this exclusion at the next review of the Employment Act.