CODE OF RESPONSIBLE EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES (Complaints)

CODE OF RESPONSIBLE EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES

**

(Complaints): **

7.

Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan asked the Minister for Manpower since the issuance of the Code of Responsible Employment Practices by the Singapore Business Federation, Singapore National Employers' Federation and National Trades Union Congress in 2002, (a) whether his Ministry has received complaints regarding discriminatory and/or unfair hiring practices and, if so, how many complaints were received; (b) if he can provide a breakdown of the types of complaints received by age, gender, marital status, disability and race; (c) if any action had been taken against any of the employers and, if so, what actions were taken; and (d) how is his Ministry working with employers and relevant organisations to discourage unfair hiring practices.

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Dr Ng Eng Hen: Since the Code of Responsible Employment Practices was adopted in 2002, the Ministry has received between 27 and 67 complaints each year of discrimination in their job search based on various grounds, including age, gender, marital status and language requirements. The details of such complaints are shown in Table 1 below.

** Table 1 **

** COMPLAINTS OF DISCRIMINATION BY JOB SEEKERS **

** 2002 - JUNE 2005 **

Discrimination Complaints: |

2002: |

2003: |

2004: |

2005:

(Jan- Jun): ---|---|---|---|---

Age

|

15

|

5

|

15

|

7

Language/Race Requirement

|

4

|

25

|

29

|

21

Marital Status

|

2

|

1

|

3

|

0

Religion

|

5

|

5

|

1

|

1

Gender (mainly related to maternity leave and pregnancy)

|

1

|

1

|

15

|

9

Others

|

0

|

0

|

4

|

1

Total

|

27

|

37

|

67

|

39

Allegations of discrimination in the selection of candidates for employment tend to increase when fewer jobs are available. Conversely, there were fewer complaints in earlier years when there was full employment.

There was also an increase in the number of complaints on maternity leave benefits last year following publicity on the new marriage and parenthood package to enhance paid maternity benefit from 8 weeks to 12 weeks in October 2004. In addition, the law was amended to also cover executives for paid maternity leave. With more employees being covered by the law, the increase in complaints relating to maternity benefits is not unexpected.

All complaints of employment discrimination are investigated by the Ministry. We counsel, warn or take other administrative action against employers who are found to have adopted discriminatory practices. For example in the case of the 'No Indian Guards' incident where the managing agent of a condominium sent a fax to a number of security firms asking them to tender for a contract with a 'No Indian guards' condition, the Ministry had intervened and issued a stern warning to the agent against the discriminatory practice, and the condition was withdrawn by the agent thereafter. Employers who are counselled are receptive to our advice and made the necessary changes to their hiring practices.

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MOM does not condone any form of employment discrimination. The Ministry together with the Singapore National Employers' Federation (SNEF) and the National Trades Union Council (NTUC) jointly formulated the Tripartite Guidelines on Non-Discriminatory Job Advertisements in 1999 to guide employers in the selection of candidates. These guidelines advise employers to select candidates on the basis of their merits such as qualifications, skills, experience and other attributes which are relevant to the requirements of the job. Employers should not hire job seekers based on subjective or discriminatory criteria. Notwithstanding the complaints received, we have found that most employers in Singapore are enlightened and adopt fair criteria in selecting and hiring candidates.

The Ministry works closely with SNEF and NTUC to educate employers to adopt enlightened and responsible employment practices. At seminars and dialogue sessions with employers, we share progressive as well as unacceptable hiring practices by companies as part of this education process.

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