Workplace and Employment Discrimination for Pre-existing Medical History

Dr Tan Wu Meng asked the Minister for Manpower what measures are being taken to safeguard Singaporean workers from unfair discrimination arising from pre-existing medical history when (i) at the workplace or (ii) seeking confirmation of employment.

The Minister of State for Manpower (Mr Sam Tan Chin Siong) (for the Minister for Manpower): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices stipulate that employers should recruit and select employees on the basis of merit. They should also treat their employees fairly, with equal opportunities for training and development and pay their salaries based on ability, performance, contribution and experience. Pre-existing medical history should not be a factor if it does not affect the employee's ability to perform the job. MOM will take action against employers found to have engaged in discriminatory practices.

MOM and tripartite partners have also launched the Tripartite Standard on Recruitment Practices in November last year. To date, more than 240 employers with over 245,000 employees have signed up. These employers have committed to use only relevant and objective selection criteria to shortlist and select job applicants.

Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, the incidence of discrimination based on medical conditions is low. There were only three cases in the last four years, out of a total of 2,100 cases of complaints on unfair employment practices examined by MOM and TAFEP. Nevertheless, MOM and TAFEP will monitor the situation closely. We will continue to actively engage employers on how to implement fair and progressive recruitment and employment practices. MOM will treat any report of workplace discrimination seriously and take enforcement actions where necessary. We urge workers who face any form of workplace discrimination to report the matter to MOM or TAFEP promptly, so that investigation and enforcement actions can be taken early on the errant employers.

Dr Tan Wu Meng (Jurong): I thank the Minister of State for his answer. In my interactions with my residents, I have come across residents who have recovered from a previous history of mental illness. They may have had a bout of depression when they were younger; they are now very well but, at the same time, they are afraid that if they declare this information to an employer, it may prejudice their employment prospects.

Likewise, I have also met residents who are on dialysis and worry that if the prospective employer becomes aware at an early stage, it may again prejudice their ability to have the job because of the time that needs to be taken out and the flexible work arrangements.

What plans does the Ministry have to continue building awareness of more enlightened Human Resource practices in the industry?

Mr Sam Tan Chin Siong: I thank the hon Member for sharing his residents' experience. This is something we are also concerned with in MOM.

As mentioned in my earlier report that in the promotion of fair and progressive recruitment and employment best practices, we encourage employers to select and also appoint their employees based on their ability and their skill set rather than using the existing medical history. We have been emphasising this to employers through our interactions with the Singapore National Employers' Federation. At the same time, we have also set up an Institute of Human Resource Professionals to encourage and provide a lot of training for HR practitioners and professionals, so that they will go back to their companies and put in place progressive and fair recruitment and employment practices.

In all this aspect, we hope to be able to create a fairer and also non-discriminatory environment where even prospective job applicants, who have pre-existing medical conditions, will not be discriminated against.

However, for the small number of job applicants who feel that they had been discriminated against, we encourage them to report such discriminatory practices to MOM or TAFEP early, so that we will take immediate intervention to investigate the matters. And if, really, the discrimination is found to be justified, MOM will take strong actions to make sure that the employers will adopt proper recruitment and employment practices.

Just to share a little bit on what has been going on. As I mentioned earlier, there have been three cases of discrimination reported on medicated conditions, and after our investigation and examination, we realised that, actually, there is no evidence to suggest that there is actual discrimination on the ground. The complaints arose merely because of miscommunication and misinformation. We take comfort in knowing the fact that on the ground, although there may be some cases of discrimination on medical conditions, for cases that we have received, actually, they are found to be otherwise.

So I think it is important for any workers, any job applicants, who feel that they have been discriminated against because of their medical conditions, they should make MOM or TAFEP the first port of call to make a report, so that we will look into the situation and take the necessary intervention.