Employment & labour — Topics

4 Sep 2019

Percentage of Foreigners Working in Online Food Delivery Industry

Er Dr Lee Bee Wah inquired about the percentage of foreign workers in the online food delivery industry and whether jobs could be restricted to Singaporeans, while the Minister of State confirmed it is illegal for foreigners to work as self-employed delivery riders and detailed penalties under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act.
The Minister of State reported that in April, two Malaysians were caught working illegally for food delivery and are under investigation, and he urged the public to report illegal workers to MOM.
Er Dr Lee Bee Wah highlighted concerns about Malaysians on Malaysian-registered motorcycles delivering food and asked about enforcement and how residents can report such cases, to which the Minister of State explained penalties for both the illegal workers and Singaporeans who abet them.
When asked to publicize a contact number for reporting, the Minister of State suggested visiting the MOM website for the relevant telephone number.

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3 Sep 2019

Take-up Rate of Parent-care Leave by Public Servants

The Minister reported that in 2017 and 2018, 43% and 44% of eligible public servants took up parent-care leave, respectively.
Private sector adoption of paid parent-care leave increased from 15% of companies in 2012 to 20% in 2018.
The government encourages flexible work arrangements, noting over 90% of employees work in companies offering some flexibility, and 80% of those needing such arrangements have access.
Tripartite partners have promoted standards on unpaid leave for unexpected care needs and flexible work arrangements, with 700 companies adopting the latter.
Budget allocations for work-life grants were increased to support companies in maintaining flexible work arrangements.

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3 Sep 2019

Audit of Insurance Companies' Coverage of Employees with Disabilities

Denise Phua Lay Peng asked the Ministry for Manpower to commission an audit of insurance companies to ensure they approve workmen’s compensation coverage for employees with disabilities and that all such employees are covered.
Josephine Teo stated that all employees, including those with disabilities, are covered under the Work Injury Compensation Act (WICA) and can receive compensation for work-related injuries.
She explained that the new WICA 2019 requires insurers to be licensed by MOM and prohibits them from refusing coverage based on personal characteristics like disability, age, or health status.
Designated insurers under the new Act can access actual company claim records to price premiums based on risk, eliminating the need to presume higher risks from hiring disabled persons.
The Ministry affirmed that there is no need for an audit because the existing regulatory framework already prevents selective coverage and ensures equitable insurance for employees with disabilities.

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3 Sep 2019

Hiring of Male Domestic Workers

From 2013 to 2018, there were about 50 male foreign domestic workers (FDWs) in Singapore each year.
The main reason employers cited for hiring a male FDW was that a female FDW was unsuitable for specific care-giving needs, such as caring for a disabled, heavy-built, or medically special family member.
Most employers prefer female FDWs, but the Ministry of Manpower assesses male FDW applications case-by-case and allows flexibility in exceptional situations.

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3 Sep 2019

Rationale for Reduction in Childcare Leave When Child Turns Seven Years Old

Louis Ng Kok Kwang questioned the rationale for reducing childcare leave from six to two days when a child turns seven years old.
The government explained that childcare leave was enhanced over the years, with six days provided until age seven and an additional two days extended for children aged seven to twelve in 2013.
The rationale is that younger children require more parental care, while primary school children need less, and the policy balances parental needs with employers' manpower constraints.
The government will continue to review support for working parents, including through a Citizens' Panel to address work-life harmony issues.

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3 Sep 2019

Variation of Existing Outsourced Services Contracts to Factor in Cost Increases from Changes in CPF Contribution Rates

Mr Zainal Sapari asked whether procurement departments can vary existing outsourced service contracts to account for cost increases from policy changes like CPF contribution rate adjustments.
Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat explained that CPF changes for workers over 55 will be phased in gradually from 2021 over 10 years, giving contractors advance notice to price bids accordingly.
The government plans a support package for businesses to adjust to these changes, with details to be announced in the next Budget, reflecting a policy of providing sufficient notice for companies to plan ahead.
Given historical wage growth of over 4% annually, most companies are expected to manage the planned 0.5–1% increase in employers’ CPF contributions within overall wage increases.

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3 Sep 2019

Foreign Workers with Injuries or Occupational Diseases Sustained at Work who Filed Claim under Work Injury Compensation Act

Mr Zainal Sapari asked about foreign workers' work injury claims from 2017, including the number of claims, breakdown by nationality, success rate, and actions against false claims.
From 2017 to 2018, about 18,200 foreign worker claims were filed, representing less than 1% of the foreign workforce, with most claimants from Bangladesh, China, India, and Malaysia.
Of the 17,500 concluded cases, 85% were valid, 13% withdrawn, and 2% invalid, with most invalid claims due to misunderstandings and only five cases found to involve dishonest intent in the past two years.
The government has prosecuted all dishonest claimants, who face fines up to $15,000, imprisonment up to 12 months, and permanent barring from working in Singapore.

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3 Sep 2019

Work Injury Compensation Bill

The Ministry of State for Manpower introduced the Work Injury Compensation Bill to repeal and replace the existing Work Injury Compensation Act, aiming to create a more proactive, efficient, and balanced system that incentivizes workplace safety, speeds up claims processing, and enhances protections for both employees and employers.
Key amendments include expanding compulsory insurance coverage to non-manual employees earning up to $2,600 monthly, compensating employees on light duties, and allowing insurers to process all types of claims to expedite payouts, while ensuring checks and balances through MOM's oversight.
The Bill also introduces differentiated insurance premiums based on employers' safety records to encourage prevention of injuries, updates compensation limits to reflect wage and healthcare cost growth, and provides clearer safeguards against fraudulent claims and unfair practices.

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3 Sep 2019

Programmes to Support Companies to Adopt More Age-friendly Work Practices

The government has supported over 1,800 companies through the WorkPro Job Redesign Grant since 2013, benefiting around 20,000 older workers, while many other companies have implemented age-friendly practices like flexible work arrangements and well-being programmes.
Training rates for older workers aged 50 to 64 have increased from 26% in 2015 to 40% in 2018, supported by schemes like the SkillsFuture Mid-Career Enhanced Subsidy offering up to 90% funding for eligible courses.
Over 90% of eligible local workers aged 62 and above who wish to continue working are offered re-employment, with similar high rates for those aged 63 to 67, and most retain the same wages during re-employment.
The Tripartite Workgroup on Older Workers recommends broader job redesign across organisations and structured career planning to help older workers stay relevant, moving beyond task-specific interventions.
The government continues to encourage companies to create age-friendly workplaces and support older workers’ skills upgrading to enable longer, more productive careers.

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2 Sep 2019

Utilisation of Government-Paid Child Care Leave Scheme and Extended Child Care Leave Scheme in Past Five Years

Louis Ng asked the Minister for Social and Family Development for the percentage of working mothers and fathers who took four, five, or six days of Government-Paid Child Care Leave (GPCL) each year in the past five years.
He also asked for the percentage of working mothers and fathers who took exactly one or two days of Extended Child Care Leave (ECL) each year in the past five years.
The Minister responded that GPCL provides six days of paid leave for parents of children under seven, with employers covering the first three days and the government reimbursing the next three, and that ECL provides two days of paid leave for parents of children aged seven to twelve.
The Minister stated that utilisation of these leaves has been slowly rising and provided estimated percentages for the past three years, noting that data before 2016 is not available.

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2 Sep 2019

Adoption of Eight Tripartite Standards by Employers

Assoc Prof Walter Theseira asked for the current number of employers, broken down by company size and industry, that have adopted the eight Tripartite Standards, and what plans the government has to encourage wider adoption.
As of July 2019, about 2,700 employers, including public agencies, have adopted at least one Standard, covering approximately 670,000 employees, representing one in five workers.
The top three industries with the most adopters are Infocomm Technology and Media, Professional Services, and Wholesale Trade.
The Ministry of Manpower and tripartite partners are actively promoting the Standards through outreach campaigns, events, briefings, and clinics to help companies understand and implement the practices.
The government will continue its efforts to encourage more employers to voluntarily adopt the Tripartite Standards to promote fair and progressive workplace practices.

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2 Sep 2019

Cases Dealt with by Employment Claims Tribunal since Its Establishment in April 2017

Between April 2017 and December 2018, about 1,600 employees filed salary claims at the Employment Claims Tribunal (ECT), with two-thirds resulting in money orders for employees.
The ECT does not order employers to pay beyond statutory or contractual entitlements; any such order arises from breaches of contract or contracts contrary to the Employment Act.
The typical grounds for ECT orders over contractual sums include employers not abiding by contract terms or contracts being unlawful under the Employment Act.

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2 Sep 2019

Training Participation Rate of Unemployed Persons and Their Utilisation of SkillsFuture Credits in Last Three Years

Anthea Ong asked for the training participation rate and SkillsFuture credits utilisation among unemployed persons, broken down by gender, over the last three years.
The Minister provided data showing unemployed males had a significant training rate increase from 2016 to 2017, with a slight dip in 2018, while females’ rates rose steadily over the same period.
The government does not have a breakdown of SkillsFuture credits utilisation by employment status, but overall gender utilisation has been relatively balanced since the credits began in 2016.

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2 Sep 2019

Average Utilisation Rate of Flexible Work Arrangements by Employees in Last Three Years

Ms Anthea Ong asked for the average utilisation rate of flexible work arrangements (FWAs) over the last three years, broken down by whether employers receive the Work-Life Grant (WLG), by type of FWA, and by gender and age.
The Ministry of Manpower does not collect FWA utilisation rates as they do not indicate need; instead, they track accessibility, noting over 80% of employees aged 25-64 who needed FWAs in 2018 had access, up from 70% in 2016, with similar rates across age and gender.
The WLG is disbursed based on employee FWA usage, up to $105,000 per company, but the ministry does not track utilisation by all employees; beneficiary companies must adopt the Tripartite Standard on FWAs, and the WLG budget was recently increased to $100 million to support employers.

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2 Sep 2019

Number of Nurses Resigned in Past 10 Years

An average of about 850 local nurses resigned from the public healthcare sector annually from 2013 to 2018, with a resignation rate of 6.0%.
The most common reasons for resignation were family commitments, pursuing further studies independently, and a desire for a change in work environment.
Around 0.1% or 20 local nurses retired each year over the same period.

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2 Sep 2019

Extension of Retirement and Re-employment Ages and Plans to Review Retirement and Re-employment Ages for Officers under Uniformed Services Schemes

Desmond Choo asked the Minister for Home Affairs about the number of civilian officers benefiting from the extension of retirement and re-employment ages and whether there are plans to review these ages for uniformed services officers.
K Shanmugam stated that 3,800 civilian officers and 5,200 Immigration and Checkpoints Authority officers fall under the national framework for retirement and re-employment ages.
MHA last increased the retirement age for uniformed officers from 50 to 55 in 2013 and periodically reviews it based on manpower needs, life expectancy, and officers' ability to work longer.
MHA is currently conducting a review of the retirement and re-employment ages for uniformed officers, expected to be completed in the next several months.

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2 Sep 2019

Review Retirement and Re-employment Act to Include Care-givers

Ms Anthea Ong proposed amending the Retirement and Re-employment Act to include caregivers who wish to rejoin the workforce after their care recipient passes away.
Minister Josephine Teo stated the Act already covers individuals rejoining the workforce if they meet the same criteria as those who stayed employed, emphasizing support for their return through training and reskilling.
Teo highlighted the Adapt and Grow initiative as a resource to help caregivers re-enter employment by providing services for skills and wage matching.

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2 Sep 2019

Companies That Voluntarily Restored CPF Contribution Rates for Employees Aged 55 Years and Above

Assoc Prof Daniel Goh Pei Siong asked the Minister for Manpower for the number of companies and employees that have voluntarily restored CPF contribution rates for employees aged 55 and above.
Mrs Josephine Teo explained that employers can make voluntary CPF contributions through schemes like the Additional MediSave Contribution Scheme and others, but these are private arrangements.
The CPF Board does not track the basis for these voluntary contributions, such as whether they are for equalising CPF rates for employees aged 55 and above.
In 2018, about 1,000 employers made voluntary contributions for approximately 13,000 employees aged 55 and above.
The response highlights a gap in data collection regarding the specific reasons for voluntary CPF rate restorations for older employees.

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2 Sep 2019

Review of Employment Pass Criteria and Applications in View of Increasing Citizen Unemployment Rate

Murali Pillai questioned if the Ministry of Manpower would tighten Employment Pass (EP) criteria last reviewed in 2017 and review EP applications for permanent roles that are offered as fixed-term contracts to Singaporeans, citing rising citizen unemployment.
Josephine Teo noted that employment growth slowed but retrenchments remained low, with unemployment edging up slightly, indicating cautious hiring rather than widespread layoffs, and highlighted support through the Adapt and Grow initiative.
The EP criteria were last updated in 2017 with higher salary thresholds to align with local wages and prevent substitution of Singaporean PMETs, and the Ministry will continue monitoring wage levels for potential adjustments.
Offering an EP holder a permanent position while a Singaporean receives a fixed-term contract for the same job would violate tripartite fair employment guidelines, and such cases should be reported if observed.

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2 Sep 2019

Effectiveness of Jobs Bank in Getting Employers to Give Fair Consideration to Local Job Applicants

The Minister explained that job seekers and employers use multiple channels, so reliance on the Jobs Bank alone is limited, but the portal’s monthly visitors have grown significantly since its launch.
The Adapt & Grow initiative and related programs, including career coaching and Professional Conversion Programmes, helped about 30,000 Singaporeans find jobs in 2018 and 18,000 in the first half of 2019.
The government monitors the Jobs Bank’s effectiveness through user engagement metrics and the broader placement outcomes of its employment support programs.
Employers found violating the Fair Consideration Framework, such as unfairly advertising jobs without genuinely considering local applicants, face sanctions including withdrawal of work pass privileges.

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