Sick leave can be used for both mental and physical health conditions, Minister of State for Ministry of Manpower (MOM) Zaqy Mohamad stated during the Committee of Supply debates in Parliament on Feb. 3.

In issuing a medical certificate, doctors should not indicate the nature of the patient's health condition to the employer, unless the patient has consented to it, he added.

Zaqy's statement was in response to a suggestion by Nominated Member of Parliament Anthea Ong, in her Budget 2020 debate speech on Feb. 26, in which employees could be allowed to use sick leave for mental health treatment or recovery.

Employers should not ask job applicants about their mental health

On top of that, employers should not be asking job applicants about their mental health, he further stated.

They are expected to practise fair and merit-based employment practices, as defined within the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices, he added.

Previously in Jan., the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) updated its guidelines, advising employers that they “should not ask job applicants to declare personal information such as their mental health condition unless there is a job related requirement.”

In addition, TAFEP has also stated that employers should remove all declarations on mental health condition from the job application forms.

Not abiding by TAFEP guidelines in the future may render employers liable to enforcement actions by the Ministry of Manpower on the grounds of discrimination.

Only certain jobs can ask for such information

The only situations where it is reasonable to ask for applicants for such information is for certain jobs such as pilots and police officers, Zaqy said.

In such cases, some mental health conditions may affect their ability to perform their job roles safely.

Hence, information on mental health is necessary for such employers to make a holistic assessment of well-being.

Tripartite advisory on mental health to be formulated

Zaqy then said that he agreed with Ong that employers have an important role to play in supporting the mental well-being of their employees.

Here, he highlighted that as per Ong's suggestion, the government will formulate a Tripartite Advisory on mental well-being, for the purpose of educating employers on what can be done.

The advisory will then highlight initiatives that companies should emulate, including progressive practices such as providing access to anonymised external counselling service, or training supervisors to identify mental health symptoms early.

The advisory will also seek the views of different stakeholders such as members of the newly announced Youth Mental Well-being Network.

Zaqy also noted that Ong had suggested including mental health expenses as part of medical benefits for employees.

On this matter, he said that one way it could be done was through including it as part of employer-provided medical benefits that complemented current healthcare financing offerings.

Zaqy added that this was something which the tripartite partners could discuss while crafting the Advisory and that the aim was to finalise the advisory in the second half of 2020.

MOM will also partner with Labour Movement to address mental health

On top of that, MOM will also parter with the Labour Movement to support the well-being of employees and initiate mental health studies.

He cited the potential promotion of the usage of iWorkHealth, a web-based psychosocial assessment tool currently being piloted by MOM, for launch later in the year.

In elaborating on what the app entailed, Zaqy said that the tool was aimed at helping both employers and their employees identify stressors at the workplace, by raising awareness of factors causing excessive stress.

The app will also recommend ways to improve mental well-being.

Top image screenshot from gov.sg YouTube