Government's Plans to Prevent Racial Discrimination at Workplaces

Mr Zaqy Mohamad asked the Minister for Manpower (a) what measures does the Ministry have to respond to and investigate complaints of racial or religious discrimination at the workplace and in employers' hiring policies; (b) what powers does the Ministry have in enforcing such practices and under what circumstances will the Ministry enforce its powers; (c) over the past five years, what are the trends of complaints from workers over discrimination and hiring practices; (d) how can the Ministry get more employers to embrace and adopt the values of diversity and inclusiveness in their employment policies; and (e) what is the level of awareness among workers of TAFEP's role in handling discrimination at the workplace and how can this awareness be improved.

Mr Zainal Sapari asked the Minister for Manpower (a) between 2011 and 2015, what is the number of complaints that the Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices (TAFEP) has received on alleged discriminatory practices in the workplace; (b) what is the trend of alleged discriminatory practices by individuals, companies or employers which are based on race and religion; (c) what are the actions taken by TAFEP or the Ministry against companies where the discriminatory practices have been proven to have taken place; and (d) whether TAFEP is vested with sufficient authority to mediate or resolve discriminatory practices that are reported.

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) takes a serious view of any form of workplace discrimination. We expect all employers to adopt the principles of fair and merit-based employment, in line with the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices. In a survey conducted by MOM in 2014, two in three firms reported that they implemented fair employment practices. The majority of those who did not were planning to do so.

To tackle complaints about workplace discrimination, MOM works with our tripartite partners through the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP). TAFEP, as the advocate and champion for fair employment practices, plays an active role in looking into such complaints and refers cases to MOM for investigation where warranted.

Between 2011 and 2015, MOM and TAFEP received on average of about 400 complaints of alleged discriminatory workplace practices each year. Less than 10%, or about 30, of these relate to race or religion. Most of them were about unfair hiring practices, including posting discriminatory job advertisements and asking inappropriate questions during job interviews. The remaining concerned in-employment issues, such as poor grievance handling and lack of sensitivity in communicating company policies and practices.

Prior to 2014, TAFEP took an advisory approach in counselling employers who were involved in such complaints. They have all heeded TAFEP's advice. Even so, we have taken stronger actions to deter workplace discrimination. Since then, 10 employers have received warnings for race- or religion-related discrimination, and another 12 employers have had their Work Pass privileges curtailed.

While this twin approach of advisory and deterrence has been reasonably effective, we can certainly do more. MOM and our tripartite partners recognise that the key to eliminating discrimination is to spread this fair and inclusive message to all workplaces. TAFEP will step up its public education campaign to make people more conscious and sensitive in embracing diversity in a multiracial workforce. TAFEP will also ramp up training for HR practitioners to ensure recruitment and selection are based on the principles of fair and merit-based hiring, and publicise best practices in this area.

Mdm Speaker, Singapore is a multiracial and meritocratic society. We should not condone discrimination of any form, including race and religion, in the workplace. We can succeed in eliminating workplace discrimination when everybody plays a part.

I thank the Minister of State. It is very heartening to know that TAFEP and MOM take a very serious approach to this. However, we still hear of some feedback of discriminatory practices when it comes to hiring. I did not quite catch the answer to my Parliamentary Question about the percentages of companies that are inclusive or diverse in their racial make-up.

My second question is whether TAFEP will do a detailed study on the racial make-up and overall inclusivity of companies as well as Statutory Boards, mainly to focus on good practices that these companies or Statutory Boards may have.

Third, are there plans to enhance recognition or award schemes that positively affirm employers, companies or Statutory Boards that are inclusive and racially diverse in their employment?

I thank the Member for the questions. Let me just repeat the survey results. In the survey done by MOM in 2014, two in three firms reported that they implemented fair employment practices. The majority of those which did not, which is the one-third, were planning to do so. That survey was done in 2014.

With reference to the Member's question about doing the survey again, we do that every four years. The last one that we did was in 2014, so the next one that we will be doing will be in 2018.

As for recognising firms with good practices, TAFEP recognises employers that have good practices in creating an inclusive and diverse workforce through its Exemplary Employer Award. We are looking at six areas, mainly, age, race, gender, family responsibilities, religion and disabilities. This award celebrates the achievements of outstanding organisations that have implemented good practices in these areas and fair and progressive inclusive employment practices. TAFEP hopes to inspire many more firms to do so. Thirtytwo organisations have received this award so far since it was implemented in 2010.

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I note in the reply that MOM is coming up with enforcement measures to curtail Work Pass applications for foreign manpower. How effective has this measure been in terms of setting the right tone among employers and for them to adhere to non-discriminatory practices? In cases and conversations, we also often hear from employees or jobseekers on how employers tend to favour or discriminate against certain race profiles and so forth. Based on the findings that the Minister of State mentioned earlier on, are they mostly minority Singaporeans in this case, and how do we bridge that perception between employers and jobseekers, for example, because employers will also say they cannot find suitable Singaporeans or people of a certain race?

Last question, in terms of hiring practices, one fallout I can see, if you hit them too hard, is that there could be pre-emptive filtering, which means that even before they get to the hiring or interview table, they get filtered. How does MOM plan to look at these practices?

So far, we may investigate a certain case and after the investigation, we have issued warnings. Depending on the severity of the case, we have curtailed their Work Pass privileges as well. That, itself, has been effective because when we curtailed their Work Passes, over a specific period, it has an outcome. So far, all the companies have heeded and there were no repeat cases. It is a very positive outcome after we implemented some of the penalties.

In terms of bridging the perception, MOM and our tripartite partners recognise that to eliminate discrimination, we need to spread the fair and inclusive employment practices message far, wide and deep.

We will also continue to step up the public education awareness. Although the numbers remain stable, we know that, sometimes, you cannot eliminate all such cases. We have to continue to drive hard, drive the message out clearly. So, we are going to step up on public education. We are going to make people more aware and conscious, especially between the employers and employees.

As for the recruitment practices, so far, individuals who know of such discrimination have approached TAFEP and informed us, and we would then start the investigation.

On strengthening recruitment and hiring practices, TAFEP usually advises the companies to implement best HR practices and make sure there is compliance. Not only that, we are going to step up training for HR practitioners to ensure recruitment and selection are based on the principles of fair and merit-based hiring, and also publicise and share these best practices across all sectors.

I have one supplementary question. For those companies that MOM has given warnings to, how do you ensure compliance?

In the process of investigation, we make sure that the companies rectify all their practices, especially to make sure that the non-compliance issues are rectified and they comply with the fair employment practices. Thereafter, TAFEP will share with and advise or counsel the employers on some of the good HR practices to make sure that it is done and all is complied with. We check back on them to make sure they comply. So far, there have been no repeat cases. We are glad that, so far, all companies have heeded our advice.

Thank you, Mdm Speaker, just two supplementary questions for the Minister of State. Firstly, the Minister of State referred to a survey of companies in relation to non-discriminatory and fair employment practices. Does the Ministry intend to conduct a survey of employees and job applicants because, surely, that would be a more accurate way of determining if there are really discriminatory practices that are prevalent, rather than asking the employers, but to also regularly survey the employees? That is the first question.

The second question is on the enforcement powers. Does the Government feel that there are sufficient enforcement powers because, if an employer is recalcitrant in the face of a warning, the Minister of State mentioned that the Ministry can curtail the Work Pass or threaten to curtail the Work Pass. But what about companies that do not depend on Work Passes, which have an entirely domestic workforce? That threat may not be useful to get them to comply. Is the Ministry satisfied that the current enforcement powers are sufficient to deal with such cases? Even if such cases have not occurred now, they may occur in the future.

I agree. For the survey that we intend to conduct in the next session – the previous survey was done in 2014, so the next one is in 2018 – our intent is, of course, to survey both sides – employer and employee side – in order to get a better view about the sensing on the ground, so we will take that into consideration.

As for whether there is enough enforcement that is effective, if you look at the numbers so far, there are about 400 complaints of all sorts of discrimination, not just race and religion. Race and religion make up about 10%. Between 2011 and 2015, on average, they made up about 400 of all the complaints. In 2015, that year itself, which is the latest survey, about 300. So, the numbers remain stable in terms of discrimination complaints of all sorts, which is, maybe, say, six areas, and a very small minority, about 10%, is on race and religion issues.

We feel that with this stability – not that we can eliminate all the discrimination – the current practice of a multi-pronged approach – in terms of imposing the penalties of curtailing Work Passes, as well as TAFEP's counselling and advisory work with the companies and following up closely with the companies – has been effective. Especially when we look at the outcome, all the companies heeded the advice and there were no repeated cases. We will continue to monitor closely whether there are any such needs to increase the enforcement. As of now, we feel that the current multi-pronged practice has been effective.

A further supplementary question for the Minister of State regarding TAFEP's enforcement measures and what the Government can do to promote fair employment practices. Would the Minister of State consider making it a requirement for participating in Government tenders or public sector tenders, that the company applying has a clean record with TAFEP and subscribes to fair employment practices?

For fair employment practices under the Code of Conduct, we need a tripartite agreement. So, we will take the Member's suggestion back for a tripartite discussion and look at some of the alignments before considering that to be part of the condition for tenders.