Employment & labour — Topics

6 Nov 2017

Workplace Safety and Health (Amendment) Bill

The Workplace Safety and Health (Amendment) Bill proposes raising the maximum fines for subsidiary legislation offences from $20,000 to $50,000 to deter unsafe practices, even when no harm has occurred, and allows early sharing of learning reports from complex accidents to prevent recurrence, while ensuring such reports are inadmissible in legal proceedings to protect due process.
The Bill transfers the accreditation of WSH training providers from the Ministry of Manpower to SkillsFuture Singapore to align with national standards, with no additional costs to businesses, and updates personal liability protections for WSH officers acting in good faith.
MPs raised concerns about the impact of learning reports on investigations and businesses, the adequacy of penalties for occupational diseases, and the need for stronger whistleblower protections, with the Minister assuring judicious enforcement and consideration of suggestions for the WSH 2028 strategy.

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6 Nov 2017

More Mother Tongue Teachers for Preschools

The Ministry of Education and Early Childhood Development Agency have increased local mother tongue teacher training places by over 70% and introduced specialized tracks, growing the pool of such teachers by 35% to about 3,300.
Support measures like scholarships, fee subsidies, and the Professional Conversion Programme have attracted mid-career switchers, with 255 joining the preschool mother tongue teaching sector in 2015 and 2016.
To address shortages, the government is exploring conversion programmes for retired primary school teachers and current teachers, who would need to undergo bridging programmes for early childhood education.
Efforts are underway to improve working conditions, recognition, and career prospects to retain local mother tongue teachers, though challenges like attrition due to personal commitments remain.
The government is working with other ministries and training institutes to ensure a sustainable pipeline of quality mother tongue preschool teachers while addressing concerns about the use of foreign teachers.

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6 Nov 2017

Career Enhancement for PMETs with Government Schemes

The Minister outlined a four-pronged strategy to enhance PMET careers: economic transformation, lifelong learning via SkillsFuture, the Adapt and Grow initiative, and tighter rules on foreign PMETs to improve local-foreign complementarity, reporting positive outcomes in productivity, PMET employment share, and median income growth.
The government is aligning Professional Conversion Programs with Industry Transformation Maps to target growth sectors like finance and infocomm, offering higher wage support for mid-career PMETs, and has helped about 10,000 local PMETs secure jobs through Adapt and Grow programs in the first eight months of the year.
While acknowledging ongoing challenges like job-skills mismatches and the need for employer and worker adaptability, the government is expanding support through tripartite partnerships, retrenchment task forces, and the Lean Enterprise Development scheme to help PMETs transition into better jobs.

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3 Oct 2017

Singaporeans Employed by Majority Foreign-Owned Companies

Minister for Manpower Lim Swee Say stated that the number of Singaporeans employed by majority foreign-owned companies is available, but detailed breakdowns by age group, educational level, and percentage of the total workforce are not accessible.
The data on Singaporeans working in these companies was presented in a table, though specific figures were not detailed in the debate excerpt.
The debate highlighted the government's inability to provide granular statistics on the demographic and educational composition of Singaporeans in foreign-owned enterprises.
This limitation underscores challenges in tracking and analyzing the employment landscape of Singaporeans in such companies for policy or oversight purposes.

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3 Oct 2017

Maintaining Ratio of Six Workers to Support One Elderly Person

Gan Thiam Poh questioned the Prime Minister on maintaining the six-to-one worker-to-elderly ratio, given low fertility and the projection that one in four Singaporeans will be over 65 by 2030.
Teo Chee Hean, for the Prime Minister, stated the current support ratio is five-to-one and is expected to decline, with policies including support for families, controlled immigration, and foreign workforce supplementation.
The government is enhancing seniors' continued contribution by raising the re-employment age, extending financial incentives for hiring older workers, and redesigning jobs to be age-friendly.

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3 Oct 2017

Trend of Women in Civil Service and Women in Leadership Positions in Civil Service

The Prime Minister reported that as of 31 December 2016, 56% of civil servants (approximately 84,000) were female.
Among leadership positions defined as super-scale grades, 45% were held by women.
Over the past five years (2012-2016), women accounted for 56% of new officers joining the Civil Service.

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3 Oct 2017

Grant for Companies to Offset Cost of Hiring Temporary Staff for Pregnant Employees

Louis Ng proposed a grant for companies to offset costs of hiring temporary staff for pregnant employees until their child turns two years old.
The Second Minister for Manpower highlighted the Work-Life Grant as a flexible support measure for family-friendly workplaces, noting its broad use and high company participation.
Louis Ng emphasized the need for more support beyond maternity leave and requested a study on workplace discrimination against pregnant employees.
The Minister cited examples of companies using creative solutions like temporary contracts and technology to support pregnant workers, advocating for company-specific approaches.
The Minister offered to collaborate on a study of workplace discrimination if there is interest from relevant parties.

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3 Oct 2017

Tripartite Standards for Employment of Term Contract Employees

Assoc Prof Daniel Goh asked the Minister for Manpower about the number of companies that have adopted the Tripartite Standards for Employment of Term Contract Employees, the percentage of resident term contract employees covered, compliance audits, and future improvements.
The Second Minister for Manpower, Mrs Josephine Teo, responded that over 400 employers have adopted the Standard, covering about 17% of resident term contract employees, and explained that compliance is based on self-assessment with TAFEP handling employee complaints.
Assoc Prof Daniel Goh inquired about review mechanisms and possible sanctions for non-compliance, to which the Minister replied that TAFEP administers the Standard and coordinates with tripartite partners to review and adapt it, emphasizing a voluntary approach with incentives for compliance.
The Minister clarified that companies self-assess compliance, but TAFEP engages employers if employees report discrepancies, and the focus is on increasing adoption rather than imposing administrative burdens like mandatory submission of assessments.
The debate highlights the government's strategy to promote progressive workplace practices through voluntary tripartite standards, with ongoing consultations to ensure relevance and wider adoption among employers.

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2 Oct 2017

Annual Infographic on Usage of National Manpower, Training and Upgrading Schemes

Patrick Tay Teck Guan asked if the Ministry of Education will issue an annual infographic to update individuals and companies on their usage of national manpower, training, and upgrading schemes such as Adapt and Grow and SkillsFuture.
Ong Ye Kung responded that agencies like SkillsFuture Singapore and Workforce Singapore actively promote schemes through industry associations and unions, and the government encourages employer investment in workforce development.
The MySkillsFuture portal will launch later this year to let Singaporeans track their SkillsFuture Credit usage, and the SkillsFuture Advice for Individuals programme will provide community-level guidance on available schemes.
Despite various outreach efforts and evolving schemes, the government does not plan to issue individualized annual updates on programme utilisation, but encourages active engagement with the schemes.

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2 Oct 2017

Proportion of Workers Re-employed over Last Five Years

From 2012 to 2016, over 98% of private sector local employees who wished to continue working were offered re-employment at age 62, with over 95% accepting re-employment in the same job.
Among those who accepted re-employment in the same job at age 62, about 96% did not receive a cut in basic wages in 2012, rising to 98% in 2016.
The data is based on the Ministry of Manpower's Labour Market Supplementary Survey.

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2 Oct 2017

Auto Inclusion, Application and Funding for Adapt and Grow Schemes

Patrick Tay asked if the Adapt and Grow schemes, like the Career Support Programme, could be automatically included, applied for, and funded for employers instead of requiring manual applications.
Lim Swee Say explained that most jobseekers and employers find matches through agencies, ads, and networks, and Adapt and Grow schemes are meant for targeted help for those with skills or wage mismatches.
Lim Swee Say noted that these schemes offer training and wage support to help mature or long-term unemployed jobseekers and employers bridge gaps, but auto-approaches would require more public funding and weaken targeted assistance.

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2 Oct 2017

Efforts to Strengthen Singaporean Core

Patrick Tay inquired about the Ministry's efforts to strengthen the Singaporean Core, specifically the number of companies on the watchlist and those facing executive measures, and whether harsher penalties like contract moratoriums would be imposed.
Lim Swee Say stated that around 300 firms are on the Fair Consideration Framework Watchlist, with over 60 improving and 25 facing work pass curtailment, leading to more Singaporeans being hired.
The Ministry supports progressive employers under the Human Capital Partnership Programme, with over 70 recognized for strengthening the Singaporean Core and receiving timely work pass processing.

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2 Oct 2017

Progress of EntrePass Scheme

The EntrePass scheme, introduced in 2003, has approved over 7,000 applications from foreign entrepreneurs across diverse sectors, creating about 15,000 jobs for locals.
The scheme has been enhanced to broaden evaluation criteria, allow a year for exploration before company setup, and extend pass validity to two years to attract more global talent.
Additional initiatives like Startup SG and the Action Community for Entrepreneurship International Centre are in place to support and anchor promising startups in Singapore.

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2 Oct 2017

Improving IT Skills of Mature Workers for Smart Nation

The Ministry for Communications and Information is upskilling mature workers through initiatives like the TechSkills Accelerator (TeSA), which has trained about 12,000 workers, with nearly half being mature workers aged 40 and above.
TeSA provides coordinated career support, including mentoring sessions, with over 350 participants, more than half of whom are mature workers.
The government is collaborating across sectors to develop 30 different skills frameworks and harmonize technical competencies to help workers upgrade their technological skills.
SkillsFuture Singapore will launch a national programme called SkillsFuture for Digital Workplace to build foundational digital literacy among workers.
These efforts are integral to Singapore's digital economy and Smart Nation roadmap, with more plans to be announced in the upcoming months.

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2 Oct 2017

Efforts to Help Freelancers and Workers in Gig Economy with Medical and Retirement Adequacy

The Ministry of Manpower explained that gig economy workers can be employees or self-employed, with employees and employers required to make CPF contributions for healthcare and retirement, and lower-income employees eligible for Workfare top-ups.
Self-employed persons must make mandatory MediSave contributions for healthcare and can voluntarily top up their Special and Retirement Accounts for retirement, with tax relief and potential Workfare top-ups available for lower-income freelancers.
A tripartite workgroup has been formed to study and address key issues faced by self-employed persons, including healthcare and retirement adequacy, and will provide updates after consulting stakeholders.

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2 Oct 2017

Workplace Safety and Health (Amendment) Bill

The Workplace Safety and Health (Amendment) Bill was presented by the Second Minister for Manpower, Mrs Josephine Teo, to amend the existing Workplace Safety and Health Act.
The bill was read for the first time and scheduled for a second reading at the next available parliamentary sitting, with instructions for it to be printed.
The debate focused on introducing amendments to enhance workplace safety standards and regulatory measures under the existing legislation.

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2 Oct 2017

Protection for Self-employed Persons who Offer Delivery Services

The Minister confirmed that self-employed delivery riders are covered under the Workplace Safety and Health Act, which requires companies to ensure safety measures for both employees and contractors, though they are not required to provide Work Injury Compensation insurance for them.
A Tripartite Workgroup has been formed to explore insurance options for self-employed persons, including coverage for third-party claims, but the Minister noted challenges in mandating company-purchased insurance due to costs and the varying nature of contracts.
The Minister clarified that if a third party is injured by a self-employed rider, legal liability depends on whether the company took reasonable safety precautions; if not, the company could be held liable under the law.
The timeline for the Workgroup’s review is not yet determined, as consultations with stakeholders are ongoing, and any findings will be announced when ready.
The Ministry stated it has no evidence of companies disguising employees as self-employed contractors to avoid liabilities, but welcomes any specific reports for investigation.

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2 Oct 2017

Strengthen Recruitment and Hiring Practices

Patrick Tay Teck Guan asked if the Ministry of Manpower would consider regulations to strengthen recruitment and hiring practices, ensure job applicants are informed of application outcomes, and if the public sector could lead on this.
The Second Minister for Manpower replied that fair employment practices are already guided by tripartite guidelines, with TAFEP addressing complaints and referring cases to MOM, and that voluntary Tripartite Standards will be introduced, with the public sector adopting a standard requiring feedback to shortlisted interviewees.
Patrick Tay highlighted feedback that public sector applicants via platforms like Careers@Gov do not receive formal acknowledgments or rejections, suggesting the public sector lead by providing such notifications.
The Second Minister agreed that acknowledging applications is good practice, especially for employers with automated systems, and encouraged more employers to adopt this as a work in progress.
Saktiandi Supaat asked about plans to enhance TAFEP’s enforcement powers over recruitment practices, to which the Second Minister responded that TAFEP uses awareness, complaint resolution, and MOM collaboration, with tools like blacklisting non-compliant companies, and emphasized a mix of persuasion and incentives over strict regulations.

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11 Sep 2017

"Change of Employer" Option Granted to Work Permit Holders from January to June 2017

Mr Kok Heng Leun asked the Ministry of Manpower for figures on Work Permit holders who were granted the option to change employers in the first half of 2017 and how many of them secured new jobs without returning home first.
In response, Minister Lim Swee Say stated that foreign workers with valid salary claims are allowed to change employers, and about 600 such workers expressed a wish to change employers in that period.
Lim added that roughly half of those 600 workers found new jobs in Singapore, and the Ministry does not track whether workers went home between jobs.

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11 Sep 2017

Number of Work-related Traffic Accidents Involving Food Delivery and Courier Service Staff from 2015 to 2017

From 2014 to 2016, there were six fatal and 12 serious work-related traffic accidents involving food delivery and courier service riders or drivers.
The Ministry of Manpower is collaborating with the Workplace Safety and Health Council, tripartite partners, Traffic Police, and the Land Transport Authority to enhance safety engagement and awareness through campaigns, training, and educational resources.
Measures include the Singapore Ride Safe Campaign, provision of protective gear, advanced training, in-house safety sessions, and the development of guides on safe riding, with enforcement inspections targeting 50 companies to improve safety practices.

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