DISCRIMINATION IN HIRING AND OTHER EMPLOYMENT MATTERS

Mr Simon S C Tay asked the Minister for Manpower whether the Government will consider introducing legislation or other means to ensure that private sector employers do not discriminate in hiring and other employment matters on factors such as race, religion, language, gender or age, unless such factors are strictly relevant to that job.

Dr Lee Boon Yang: My Ministry does not propose to introduce legislation to regulate recruitment advertisements and practices.

While my Ministry shares the concern of Mr Tay and members of the public over job advertisements which stipulate a particular race, religion, gender or age as a criterion for the selection of candidates, we do not believe that legislation is the best solution.

Currently my Ministry is able to investigate complaints received from anyone who considers himself to be discriminated against in employment on grounds such as race, religion, age and gender. If our investigations reveal that any form of discriminatory practice does exist, the employer will be cautioned and warned of the implications of such practices. The employers concerned will also be asked not to adopt any discriminatory employment practices in future. They usually would accept the Ministry's advice.

In the course of our investigations, we have discovered that job advertisements citing a preference for a particular ethnic background were often misrepresented. Employers explained that they wanted candidates who were able to speak a particular language and that since candidates of other racial groups were unlikely to meet the language requirement, they felt that it would be more expedient to stipulate a particular race in their job advertisements. This would also spare the efforts of applicants who did not have the necessary requirements, in applying for the job and attending to interviews. Notwithstanding this explanation, the Ministry had pointed out to such employers that citing racial preference or other discriminatory factors should be avoided.

I would also like to emphasise that this problem resides in a minority of employers and often in small companies. We are of the view that an educational and promotional approach is preferable to legislation in dealing with this issue. The problem with legislation is that it would create rigidities in the job market which would be detrimental to economic growth and job creation. For example, there would be instances where business and job requirements would compel an employer to look for persons of a particular background compatible to the requirements. Similarly, where a job requires physical strength such as handling heavy machinery in a shipyard, it would be more appropriate for the employer to recruit a younger male worker who is able to cope with the job requirement. On the other hand, in the cosmetic business, the employers would want to employ younger females instead of older males to promote their products. These are market requirements and should not be misconstrued as discrimination. I would also like to point out that experience in other countries has shown that legislation may not solve the problem. Instead, it often leads to high incidences of litigation and controversies.

This issue of discrimination had not been raised for the past 10 years when we enjoyed sustained economic growth and negligible unemployment. I have no doubt that in 1996 and 1997, there were similarly inappropriately phrased recruitment advertisements. Yet we only received 9 complaints in 1996 and 16 complaints in 1997. Last year, we had 32 complaints. We believe this trend reflects the rising unemployment rather than real discrimination.

In the light of the above, my Ministry therefore prefers to adopt an educational and moral suasion approach by working together with employers' organisations to advise employers to promote non-discriminatory recruitment practices based on the workers' skills and capabilities and not on factors which are of no relevance to the job. In labour scarce Singapore, it is in the interests of employers to reach out to all Singaporeans who can do the work and help the company to compete. This is the basis of our meritocratic approach which has served Singapore well. By adopting discriminatory practice, an employer is only shortchanging himself. This will become more apparent when the economy recovers in a year or two.