Outcome of Cases of Workplaces Breaching Safe Distancing Measures and Concerns of Effects of Whistle-blowing on Jobs and Businesses

Mr Yip Hon Weng asked the Minister for Manpower (a) in the recent Phase Two (Heightened Alert) period, how many reports have been received concerning employers and workplaces breaching safe distancing measures; (b) how have these cases been dealt with; (c) how does the Ministry take into consideration employees’ concerns about losing employment and causing the business to be shuttered if they whistle-blow; and (d) how does the Ministry address employers’ concerns with the goal to create a safe and pandemic-proof workplace.

Since the start of Phase Two (Heightened Alert) on 16 May 2021, MOM has received over 3,500 reports concerning Safe Management Measures at workplaces. Some of the reports were misunderstandings that were resolved following clarifications with the complainants. For example, there were cases of employers and employees misinterpreting the work-from-home requirement to mean that no employees could return to the workplace, when employees whose work is of a nature that cannot be performed from home are allowed to do so.

For the rest, MOM takes a balanced and calibrated approach. Our goal is not to find fault with employers, or to penalise them unnecessarily. Doing so will put further stress on the business and may even affect the livelihood of the employees. Most instances of non-compliance are minor, such as employees improperly wearing masks, or employers not enforcing the use of workplace SafeEntry check-ins. In such cases, MOM will advise the companies to rectify shortcomings. In a small minority of cases (66 of the reports received), MOM imposed a composition fine. These include cases where safe distancing was not observed at the workplace and where employees were back at the workplace at their employer’s instruction, even though their work could be done from home.

In our inspections, the identities of all informants are kept confidential. Employers therefore do not know if the visit is part of MOM’s routine inspections or arises from a whistle-blowing report.