Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say said in Parliament on Feb 7 that the manner in which 54 employees were sacked by infrastructure consultant firm Surbana Jurong was unacceptable.

The employees were labelled as poor performers and fired last month. News of the manner of their dismissal made rounds online. That prompted the Singapore Industrial and Services Employees’ Union general secretary tospeak out against the way these employees were sacked. Unions also said due process was not followed.

Lim shared that the management of Surbana Jurong and unions have reached a settlement and the company will pay affected workers an ex-gratia payment. Lim said that this settlement "is a fair one."

Responding to questions in Parliament about the incident, Lim said that "the episode serves as a good reminder to employers that termination should be conducted in a responsible and sensitive manner."

He also said that in all his years working in the labour movement and manpower ministry, it was the first time he had seen an organisation announced that the affected workers were poor performers in such a major termination exercise.

He said that employers must substantiate claims of poor performance if they want to terminate employment on that basis. He also said objective criteria should be made known to all employees and employers should keep performance records of employees. Furthermore, the relevant union should be consulted if affected employees are unionised.

Non-Constituency Member of Parliament Professor Daniel Goh asked what were the penalties for employers who disguise retrenchment as termination due to poor performance. Lim said that without documented evidence showing an employee's poor performance, termination based on poor performance would be considered unlawful.

The employer would then be required to reinstate the employee, or to provide compensation. If the employer does not comply, it can be prosecuted.

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