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The Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) guidelines will be enshrined in law, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced in his National Day Rally speech on August 29.

In addition, a tribunal similar to the Employment Claims Tribunal will be created to deal with disputes over workplace discrimination.

This will give TAFEP "more teeth", and expand the range of actions that the government can take, PM Lee said.

Better to resolve disputes amicably

Set up in 2006, TAFEP has been promoting the adoption of fair, responsible and progressive employment practices with their guidelines on fair treatment.

PM Lee observed that most companies comply with the guidelines, with TAFEP stepping in to counsel those who fall short.

If such companies still fail to comply with guidelines, the Minister of Manpower (MOM) can impose administrative penalties, including restricting them from hiring foreign workers, he said.

Although such a system has "worked quite well", PM Lee shared that the government has received repeated requests over the years to "toughen up TAFEP", especially from the Labour Movement and National Trade Union Congress (NTUC) Members of Parliament who have pushed for anti-discrimination laws with penalties.

However, the government has held back as they did not want the process to become legalistic or confrontational and believed that it is better to resolve disputes amicably through persuasion or mediation, PM Lee explained.

Enshrine TAFEP guidelines in law

After consulting the tripartite partners, PM Lee said that the government has decided to enshrine TAFEP guidelines in law.

According to PM Lee, the approach will be modelled on how disputes regarding salaries or wrongful dismissal are dealt with.

Conciliation and mediation are attempted first in such disputes. A tribunal that deals with workplace discrimination, similar to the Employment Claims Tribunal, will arbitrate and decide the case only when those methods fail.

This will protect workers against different types of discrimination including nationality, age, race, religion, and disability.

Women will also receive better protection, PM Lee added.

PM Lee underlined the strong message that such a move sends:

"Writing TAFEP guidelines into the law is a major move. It signals that we do not tolerate discrimination at workplaces."

However, he emphasised that workplace disputes should still be resolved "informally and amicably" if possible and that "legal redress should be a last recourse".

Rise in local discrimination cases from 2014 to 2018

Earlier this year on March 4, Minister of State for Manpower Gan Siow Huang shared in Parliament that TAFEP has handled an average of 400 discrimination cases per year over the past three years, in response to a question by Workers' Party MP Leon Perera about the percentage breakdown of cases of discrimination and the penalties imposed for breaches of TAFEP guidelines.

Of the 400 cases, Gan said employers were found to have breached TAFEP guidelines in about 50 of them, and thus had their work pass privileges suspended.

About 60 per cent of cases involved nationality-based discrimination while around one-third of the cases involved gender and aged-based discrimination, in roughly equal proportions.

The remaining cases had to do with other forms of discrimination, such as pertaining to race, marital status, and family responsibilities.

Gan said that MOM tracks public perception of fair employment practices through regular opinion polls and also conducts more detailed surveys of fair employment practices over time.

While employers have made progress over the years, MOM has observed an increase in the percentage of local jobseekers who perceived discrimination during the job search process between 2014 and 2018, Gan added.

Top image by MCI.

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