Employment Disputes Lodged for Mediation Assistance

Mr Chen Show Mao asked the Acting Minister for Manpower in each year from 2008 to 2012 as applicable (a) how many requests were lodged by employees for assistance to resolve employment disputes under (i) the tripartite mediation for PMEs and (ii) the Ministry's voluntary mediation service; (b) out of the number of incidents for each, how many were lodged by employees aged (i) 40 to 49; (ii) 50 to 59; and (iii) 60 and above; and (c) out of the number of incidents for each, how many were lodged by female employees.

Mr Tan Chuan-Jin: MOM provides assistance to help employees resolve their employment disputes, such as voluntary mediation services and adjudication at the Labour Court. Most employment disputes mediated by MOM are amicably resolved between employee and employer.

Tripartite Mediation for Professionals, Managers and Executives (PMEs) was introduced in February 2011 to help PME union members in non-unionised companies address their key employment issues 4 . Tripartite mediation covers employment disputes in the areas of salary arrears, payment of retrenchment benefits and breach of individual contract by the employer. So far, seven cases have been lodged by employees and almost all have been successfully resolved.

The breakdown of employment disputes lodged by employees for voluntary mediation assistance or tripartite mediation from 2008 to 2012 is provided in Table 1.

Note(s) to Question No(s) 14:

4 PMEs which fulfil the following criteria are eligible for Tripartite Mediation: (i) earn a monthly basic salary of up to $4,500; (ii) an individual member of any registered trade union without any form of representation rights; and (iii) employed in a non-unionised company.