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The firm that reportedly stopped an SGUnited trainee from leaving the company was found to have "not acted in good faith", a joint statement by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), Workforce Singapore (WSG) and Singapore Business Federation (SBF) said.

The firm will not be able to offer new traineeships and attachments, the agencies updated on Jan. 30.

Firm barred from other Workforce Singapore programmes

According to the joint statement, SBF has been actively mediating the disputes between the trainee known as 'Michael' (not his real name) and the host organisation since Dec. 2, 2020.

Michael previously told Mothership that he wished to stay anonymous for fear of potential legal repercussions from this company as the training agreement contains strict non-disclosure requirements.

The agencies revealed that Michael accepted a 12-month traineeship programme as a teacher in a tuition centre. Two months into the traineeship, he tendered his resignation at the centre to accept a permanent position.

At that point in time, the company told him that he cannot resign and even threatened him to compensate the company for the remaining months in the agreement, Michael told Mothership.

According to the joint statement, the company said that they were unwilling to accept Michael's resignation because they were concerned about filling this vacancy.

"Facts gathered show that the host organisation had not acted in good faith by stopping the trainee from leaving the programme," the agencies added.

Workforce Singapore (WSG) has since rescinded the approval for the firm to offer new traineeships and attachments.

The said firm has since been barred from future participation in all WSG programmes.

Why are trainees are not covered under the Employment Act?

According to the agencies, trainees under the SGUnited Traineeship Programme are not covered under the Employment Act because there is no employment relationship between the host organisation and the trainee.

Employment Act covers employees who are engaged by a company under a contract of service.

What binds the relationship between the host organisation and the trainee is a training agreement.

In this case, trainees who face problems should report them to SBF, WSG's programme partner, who will get in touch with both sides and investigate the matter.

Singapore Business Federation oversees SGUnited Traineeship Programme

SBF will also look into cases of breaches of the terms and conditions of the SGUnited Traineeships Programme.

For cases involving discrimination or employment malpractices, SBF will seek the assistance of the MOM and/or Tripartite Alliance for Fair & Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) to intervene and take the necessary enforcement actions.

"SBF will not hesitate to take further action together with MOM and WSG against the host organisation, including rescinding approvals and clawing back any grants disbursed in serious cases of breaches or malpractices," the joint statement stated.

Trainees are allowed to leave traineeships

The three agencies also confirmed that trainees are allowed to leave the traineeships at any point in time as long as they provide sufficient notice to the host organisation as stipulated in their training agreement.

There are also other measures to safeguard the well-being of trainees, the agencies added.

Each application is scrutinised by the SBF to ensure that the host companies clearly structure their traineeships appropriately with a clear development plan.

Host organisations are supposed to update SBF on the trainees' progress too.

Trainees will have to sign off on the progress report before SBF disburses the training allowance to the company.

You can read the joint statement in full here.

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Top image adapted from Unsplash via MOM LinkedIn