Ex-offenders & persons with disabilities welcome to join Public Service because progressiveness

The Public Service sets the tone for progressive people practices.

Henedick Chng | March 02, 2017, 09:51 PM

Good news for ex-offenders and persons with disabilities - you can consider a career in the Public Service.

In Parliament on March 2, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, who is also the Minister in charge of the Civil Service, spoke on the Public Service's policy on hiring ex-offenders and persons with disabilities via his response to a Parliamentary Question posed by Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) Leon Perera and his speech in the Committee of Supply (COS) Debate.

Hiring of ex-offenders

In response to Perera's question on the number of ex-offenders who have been hired by the civil service in the last five years, Teo said that the Public Service does not track the number of ex-offenders employed.

He added that since 2006, ex-offenders who have had their criminal records spent need not include it in their application to join the Public Service.

According to Teo, ex-offenders who apply to join the Public Service can be appointed, with due regard given to the seriousness and circumstances of the offence, time that has elapsed since their conviction, and the duties and responsibilities to be assumed in the role.

In certain roles, however, such as those where the public officer has authority over children, Teo said that more caution will be taken in hiring ex-offenders.

Hiring of disabled persons

Teo said in his COS speech that government ministries and agencies were looking "seriously" into how more could be done for this group of applicants.

He said that initiatives had been introduced in recent years to help persons with disabilities land jobs in the Public Service, such as the posting of suitable vacancies on SG Enable's job portal, and partnering Voluntary Welfare Organisations to create job opportunities.

He added that the Public Service has employed about 270 persons with disabilities as of end-2016.

In his COS speech, Teo also said that the Public Service sets the tone for progressive people practices.

 

Top image from Gov.sg

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