EXTENDED MATERNITY LEAVE SCHEME

EXTENDED MATERNITY LEAVE SCHEME:

(Complaints about unfair job termination): 16.

Mr Christopher de Souza asked the Minister for Manpower (a) what is the number of complaints received from pregnant women about unfair job termination since the third month paid maternity leave scheme was introduced in 2004 for the years 2005, 2006 and the first five months of 2007; and (b) whether the number of such complaints has risen year on year, compared to the number of complaints received prior to the introduction of the scheme.

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Manpower (Mr Hawazi Daipi) (for the Minister for Manpower): Sir, in 2005 and 2006, the Ministry received 60 and 71 complaints respectively from pregnant employees relating to the termination of employment. Of the 71 complaints in 2006, 38 were resolved through conciliation by MOM with payments being made to the employees,

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22 were withdrawn by the employees and five cases are pending investigation. The remaining six cases were referred to the Minister to decide if the employee has been dismissed without sufficient cause, as provided for under the Employment Act. Of these, one case was decided in favour of the employee with the Minister directing the employer to pay 12 weeks of maternity leave, while for the other five cases, the Minister was satisfied that the dismissals were not related to the pregnancies of the employees. From January to May 2007, 21 complaints were received, of which four cases were resolved through conciliation with payments being made to the employees, five cases were withdrawn and the remaining 12 cases are pending investigation.

These numbers are higher than the 25 complaints in 2004 when paid maternity leave was extended to three months. This could be due in part to heightened awareness among employees and the public about the protection of the enhanced maternity benefits.

My Ministry will continue to work closely with the relevant partners and monitor closely the effects of the extended maternity leave. Employers should note that, under the Employment Act, it is an offence to dismiss or terminate the employment of an employee during her maternity leave. Dismissal on the grounds of pregnancy is an unfair dismissal under the Employment Act.

Mr Christopher de Souza (Holland-Bukit Timah): Sir, may I ask the Ministry what concrete steps the Ministry has taken to address the complaints received and whether the Ministry is collating how many employers were found to have wrongfully terminated jobs, how many employers were taken to court, and whether such collation can be made available to the public via its website?

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Mr Hawazi Daipi: A number of cases were resolved. In fact, about 90% of the cases were resolved, either resulting in the employees getting paid by the employers for their maternity benefits, or the employees withdrawing their claims. The point I want to make is that conciliation has worked and has helped resolve the claims by employees.

For the number of actions taken, we can always make this public through Parliament, for example, during parliamentary questions, or on our website. That is possible.