Processes in Civil Service to Manage Incidents and Review Policies and Practices of Discrimination by Race, Religion and Gender

Ms Raeesah Khan asked the Prime Minister (a) what are the formal processes in the Civil Service to (i) manage incidents of discrimination along racial, religious, and gender lines (ii) review policies, practices and institutions that result in differential treatment or discrimination by race, religion and gender and (iii) improve the current situation on such issues; and (b) whether the Civil Service will report on such issues on a regular basis to Parliament.

The Public Service has zero tolerance for discriminatory practices along racial, religious and gender lines. There are channels in place for public officers to raise complaints, allegations and grievances on such matters.

All public agencies have an Internal Disclosure Policy which sets out the procedure for the reporting of wrongful practices, including discrimination. An officer who feels that he or she is being discriminated against in the workplace can report such incidents. Apart from making such reports internally within their own departments or agencies, officers can escalate these cases to their Permanent Secretaries. Serious offences are reported by Ministries to the Public Service Division and Public Service Commission.

Every complaint will be looked into and where there is sufficient basis and information provided to establish a case, the appropriate action will be taken against the perpetrators. In the course of fact-finding, care will be taken to protect the interests and confidentiality of the complainant. Summary statistics on disciplinary cases in the Civil Service are part of the Commission’s annual report to the Parliament. Cases involving discriminatory practices are not singled out as a category in this report due to the small numbers.

The Public Service does not discriminate by race, religion or gender in our HR policies. We recruit and select public officers on the basis of merit and open competition and take into account the candidates’ overall suitability, such as their skills, relevant experiences and personal attributes, against the requirements of the job roles. Pay is based on merit and performance, and we emphasise fairness and rigour in our appraisal system. Promotion is on the basis of demonstrated performance and the ability to contribute at a higher level. In addition, our HR policies support our officers’ needs, at different stages of their working life, so that they can contribute to the best of their ability. Overall, this allows us to develop the potential of our public officers and drive performance in the Public Service to meet the needs of Singapore and Singaporeans.