MINISTRY OF LABOUR

Dr Lee Boon Yang Minister for Labour

1. MOL will, in partnership with workers and employers, foster an efficient and fair labour market and a safe and harmonious work environment, to achieve growth and prosperity for Singaporeans. Economic Competitiveness

2. We must remain competitive in the world market for our workers to enjoy job security, sustainable wage increases and better standard of living. We will work closely with employers and trade unions to formulate sound employment and wage policies, and build a business-friendly environment to attract investments and create more jobs.

3. We must refine our wage system to better reflect the value of the job, and to link performance and rewards more closely. We will promote employer medical benefits schemes which encourage greater individual responsibility for a healthy lifestyle and health care, and thus keep health costs low.

Industrial Relations Climate

4. A harmonious industrial relations climate has been one of our strongest attractions to investors. We will maintain this through tripartite cooperation. We will keep labour laws relevant to the needs of both employers and workers. We will provide a comprehensive and effective conciliation service which balances the interests of both, and resolves issues before they become conflicts.

Manpower resources

5. Our rapidly ageing population will cause serious economic and social problems.

6. Singaporeans must work longer, in order to continue earning regular income and accumulate more savings for their eventual retirement. We will extend the retirement age beyond 60, and simultaneously address structural problems in our wage system which make it difficult for employers to keep our older workers. We will ensure that older workers get a fair deal, but basic changes to the wage structure beyond 60 are unavoidable.

7. We will encourage more housewives to work by promoting part-time and flexible work arrangements, which help them balance work and household responsibilities. We will explore ways to train this group of potential workers to help them re-enter the workforce.

8. Economic upgrading and higher wages means restructuring of companies and industries, and inevitably some retrenchments and redundancies. We will help to retrain retrenched workers, so that they can find new jobs as soon as possible.

Foreign Worker Policy

9. We will always need foreign workers to supplement the domestic workforce. We will maintain a controlled and revolving pool of foreign workers, but we should not become over dependent on them. We will encourage employers to use technology to save manpower, and to recruit more skilled and productive foreign workers.

10. We will continue to simplify work permit rules and procedures. We will also upgrade the professionalism of employment agencies to provide better service to both employers and foreign workers.

Industrial Health and Safety

11. Workplace accidents are preventable. All workers are entitled to a safe and healthy workplace. We will actively enforce safety and health regulations. Industries and companies which persistently disregard safety rules or have poor safety records will receive special attention.

12. We will update the standards and practice of critical aspects of industrial health and safety. We will promote permit-to-work, safety audit and safety management systems to help employers plan, assess, review, implement and monitor safe work practices, especially in hazardous industries like construction and petro-chemicals.

13. Maintaining health and safety at work requires the combined effort of employers and workers. We need to train and educate all levels of the workforce, workers, supervisors and middle managers, and top management. We will work with vocational and tertiary institutions to introduce students to occupational safety and health, and encourage them to adopt safe work practices as a way of life. Social Security

14. Singaporeans must plan and save for their retirement. The CPF will continue to be the basic saving plan for all employees. The Minimum Sum Scheme ensures that each CPF member sets aside enough savings to meet his basic needs when he eventually retires.

15. We have progressively relaxed the restrictions on how CPF members can invest their CPF funds. The consolidation of the Basic and the Enhanced Investment Schemes on 1st January 1997 is but the latest step. CPF members have generally invested prudently. We will continue to widen the scope for CPF members to invest their savings and obtain higher returns, so long as they preserve a minimum amount for old-age.

16. We will also encourage CPF members to provide greater financial protection for themselves and their families, for example, by buying annuities with their Minimum Sum savings and health insurance like MediShield or MediShield Plus with their Medisave. We will also encourage more self-employed to save beyond what is in their Medisave for their old-age needs.