Tripartite Standards for Employment of Term Contract Employees

Mr Speaker, the Tripartite Standard for the Employment of Term Contract Employees was launched just two months ago. Since then, well over 400 employers have adopted the Standard, accounting for more than 28,000 or 17% of all resident term contract employees.

Instead of relying on audits, the Standard spells out clearly verifiable actions that employers commit to undertake and relies on employers' self-assessments of their ability to comply. If their employees experience any difficulty arising from non-compliance with the Standard, they can report to The Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP), which will contact the employer to clarify their practices or to change them, so as to meet the Standard.

Our current focus is to increase the number of employers adopting this Standard. We will also consult with our tripartite partners at an appropriate time to review the Standard so as to ensure it remains relevant.

I would like to ask the Second Minister whether there are any review mechanisms that are available to the Ministry to review the standards, in terms of compliance by companies and, at the same time, whether there are any mechanisms to give some sanctions to the companies that fail the standards or have to be removed from the standards because they did not comply.

Mr Speaker, the short answer to the Member's first question is yes. TAFEP is the administrator of this Standard and TAFEP is the one that will reach out to companies. TAFEP is also the party that coordinates positions taken by the Labour Movement, that is, the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), as well as the Singapore National Employers' Federation, to see if there are good opportunities and reasons to adapt the Standard or adjust it based on changing needs.

The Member asked if there are sanctions. We have to understand the reason for having the Tripartite Standard against the backdrop of the other schemes that are in place is to try and promote progressive workplace practices.

Firstly, there are laws. To supplement the laws, there are also tripartite guidelines that the employers are expected to adhere to. Those ensure that employees are able to enjoy basic rights. At the same time, on the other end of the spectrum, which is completely voluntary, we have tripartite advisories. These basically give encouragement to companies on the types of practices that we would like to see more of.

The Standard is somewhere in between. The Standard gives the companies an incentive to sign up. Because by signing up to the Standard, they will be able to demonstrate to the prospective employees or jobseekers in a very visible way what they are committed to do. And so, there is a natural incentive for companies to sign up, provided the Standard is not so onerous and burdensome that it becomes so hard for them to reach. What goes into the Standard has to be very carefully calibrated.

The Tripartite Standard Framework has just been launched, in fact, two months ago, at the same time that we launched the Standard for Term Contract Employees. In just two months, more than 400 companies with about 17% of the resident Term Contract Employees base is not bad. So, we will push for more.

I thank the Second Minister for the reply. Just a quick query. She said that there is self-assessment that is being done by the companies in terms of compliance to the Standard. Would these self-assessments be submitted to the Ministry so that there is a record of the annual self-assessments being done by the companies so that there is a track record that could be used if there are any complaints made by Term Contract Employees?

The intent of self-assessment is to make it easier for the companies. So, we do not want to load them unnecessarily with administrative work. If, however, they have employees who look at what the company has declared and say that, "This is quite different from what they actually practise", then, what we do is to encourage the employees to let TAFEP know. TAFEP will engage the employers and then we can have a conversation with the employers as to whether they are carrying out what they promised to do.