The Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) said it is "following up" on a Facebook post by Nas Daily, a.k.a. Nuseir Yassin, that was recruiting foreigners for a job position based in Singapore.

The post, put up on Aug. 12, was looking to “hire a Vietnamese person” for his team in Singapore.

It said: “I'm looking for the best video maker in Vietnam to join me in a full-time position. You have to know how to make videos. You have to be the best at shooting or editing.”

The Facebook page it appeared on, Nas Daily Vietnamese, is two months old and has 71,200 followers.

Criticised

The job advertisement on Facebook then attracted criticism.

One commenter wrote: “Why can't you just hire someone from Singapore? Are they unqualified?”

TAFEP's response

The backlash has since been registered with TAFEP, which is the national watchdog overseeing complaints of discrimination in hiring and at work.

TAFEP said it was “following up on this”.

It also said in response to media queries: “Regardless of the medium in which the job advertisement is posted, TAFEP expects all employers to abide by the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices (TGFEP), which applies to all Singapore-based jobs.”

Under the TGFEP, words and phrases that exclude Singaporeans or indicate a preference for non-Singaporeans “should not be used”.

The response also said that employers would not be able to submit applications for Employment Passes without advertising the positions on the Workforce Singapore’s Jobs Bank for 14 calendar days and giving fair consideration to local job applicants.

This is part of the Fair Consideration Framework (FCF).

The FCF details fair hiring requirements for all companies in Singapore.

Selected jobs are exempted from the Jobs Bank advertising requirements.

However, this excludes firms with fewer than 10 employees or pay a fixed monthly salary of S$15,000 and above.

Yassin has commented on TAFEP’s response.

Background

Yassin, an Israeli-Palestinian, moved to Singapore in April to set up his new company, the Nas Daily Media Company.