Josephine Teo
Singapore
“The Government's risk-calibrated approach to data security in artificial intelligence (AI) systems was explained in a written reply, given on 9 January 2024, to related questions asked by Dr Tan Wu Meng and Mr Gerald Giam.”
“Access to frontier models is helpful for specific use cases, such as advanced research and cybersecurity. However, these form a small proportion of artificial intelligence (AI) demand. For most industry, Government and research uses, capable models are already available.”
“The Government tracks the development of technical standards for identifying artificial intelligence (AI)-generated content, including watermarking and digital provenance approaches, as part of broader efforts to manage AI-related risks.”
“Upon receiving a valid report of intimate image abuse, the Commissioner of Online Safety is empowered by law to direct Online Service Providers (OSPs) to disable access by Singapore users to the specified harmful online material. This direction may be extended to cover identical copies found on the platform.”
“The Government is committed to keeping children safe online. We have announced plans to extend age assurance requirements to designated social media services, including requiring platforms to keep users under 13 off their services.”
“Under the Online Safety (Relief and Accountability) Act 2025, the Commissioner of Online Safety is empowered to issue directions to platforms to remove specified harmful content, including intimate image abuse.”
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“Waiving or cutting levies would blunt the motivation to restructure, improve job quality and become more manpower-lean. We would not have seen how industries can rise to the occasion. The hotel industry is an excellent example. One lunar new year about a decade ago, when I was still serving as a Labour Member of Parliament, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong visited a leading hotel to thank the workers for sacrificing time with family to give tourists a great guest experience. Sensing an opportunity not to be missed, the hotel's general manager literally ambushed the Prime Minister and gave an extended presentation on the hotel's manpower woes. I am not sure whether the Prime Minister remembers it.”
“A company in the services sector of the same size can have up to 35 foreign employees, of which 10 can be S Pass holders starting from January 2021. Beyond these gradations, we should be realistic. Which subsector or occupation will accept having more restrictions compared to others that have less? Looking at it from a different lens, which local employees would feel it is fair that their employers need not worry or try as hard to improve job quality to retain them because of more access to foreigners? Consider the longer term, too. Can we be so sure that foreigners will always accept the work conditions our own people find unappealing or that will they not find better jobs back home in time to come? For all these reasons, Workforce Singapore and SkillsFuture Singapore have been working closely with agencies like the Building and Construction Authority to help employers reach out to fresh graduates as well as mid-career switchers. Employers, too, can help themselves by enhancing job quality and widening the pool of potential recruits. Mr Kenneth Loo, former President of the Singapore Contractors Association and Executive Director of Straits Construction, acknowledged this point and talked about the need to "…try to make jobs more meaningful and attractive through digitalisation, so that processes can change and the environment will be more palatable to workers". If I may suggest to Mr Douglas Foo, employers in the manufacturing sector should plan ahead, too. I hope that SMF, of which he is the President, will help them to do so. These efforts to make jobs more attractive to skilled Singaporeans go hand-in-hand with an overall emphasis on business transformation.”
“In fact, levies have remained the same since 2017 for the construction sector and 2016 or earlier for other sectors. There are two other important reasons for not waiving levies. First, in supporting businesses, our priority was also to preserve local employment. Second, as much as we want to help businesses, measures to deal with the short-term fallout should not negate longer-term efforts for companies to become less reliant on foreign manpower for growth. Levy waivers or reductions would have run counter to both objectives. In addition, after much careful consideration, we have announced forthcoming cuts in the S Pass quotas for construction, marine and process sectors, but we will give these sectors a longer period to adjust. Some commentators are troubled by the difficulty of attracting locals to these sectors. Others believe these moves are painful but necessary; they say it is "tough love". I thank Ms Sylvia Lim, for example, for supporting it. I should point out that, unlike for the services sector, the quota cuts for the construction, marine and process sectors are at the S Pass level and not at the Work Permit level. S Pass jobs are skilled jobs which polytechnic graduates and even ITE upgraders are able to perform. Mr Saktiandi Supaat and several Members of Parliament asked that flexibility be provided to employers who find it difficult to attract Singaporeans to certain jobs. Today, employers can already enjoy short-term flexibility in meeting foreign workforce criteria under the CTP and the Lean Enterprise Development Scheme. At a structural level, too, we recognise the differing appeal of sectors. In the construction sector, out of 100 employees, up to 87 can be foreigners, of which 15 can be S Pass holders, even after the changes kick in by 2023.”
“With the greater sense of uncertainty, employers may hold back or even reverse wage increases. Through the enhanced Wage Credit Scheme, the Government will co-pay 20% of qualifying wage increases in 2019 and 15% of increases in 2020 if this higher wage is sustained. Effectively, more than four months of the wage increase is borne by the Government over two years. The enhanced scheme has also raised the qualifying salary from $4,000 to $5,000, with $1.1 billion going to about 90,000 employers, benefiting more than 700,000 local employees. Why so much emphasis on jobs and wages? Neighbourhood stores have already noticed a sharp drop in revenues as shoppers cut back on spending. When livelihoods are at stake or incomes stagnate, even necessary spending on essentials like healthcare and education may be delayed. Individuals will also have limited capacity to upgrade their skills and stay relevant. Moreover, employers would need time to mobilise and train manpower. When the upturn comes, businesses could easily find themselves shorthanded and unable to respond to opportunities. This will result in the drag on our business community persisting longer than necessary. The recovery will be slower. Understandably, besides jobs and wage support, businesses that hire foreign workers had hoped for levies to be waived. Members of Parliament like Mr Seah Kian Peng and Mr Arasu Duraisamy asked about it, too. We are waiving levies for employers whose foreign workers are required to serve quarantine, Leave of Absence or Stay-Home Notices when they have a travel history to China. But we have not done so for foreign workers in general because it will not benefit the many employers who only have local employees. At the same time, we have not raised levies either.”
“Mr Speaker, a grassroots leader shared with me how, during a previous downturn, his employer had rushed to trim its workforce by rolling out a Mutually Agreed Departure (MAD) scheme. Employees who signed up for the MAD scheme received generous payouts. Unexpectedly, less than a year later, business picked up again. Some of his former employees – the same ones who had received payouts under the MAD scheme – were rehired at their previous salaries and went on to work many more years. Now, we may laugh at the unfortunate name of the scheme and the apparent short-sightedness of the employer. But when business is down and the bottom nowhere in sight, it must cross the minds of bosses to cut jobs and save costs. Fortunately, most employers have not done that. Last year, despite the uncertain outlook, retrenchments were maintained at 2018 levels. [Deputy Speaker (Mr Charles Chong) in the Chair] Today, with the COVID-19 outbreak casting a pall, concerns have heightened. The recent announcements by Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, therefore, provide welcome relief. Of the $4 billion Stabilisation and Support Package, a whopping 60%, or $2.4 billion, will go towards JSS and the enhanced Wage Credit Scheme. All businesses with local employees will benefit. Jobs Support will provide companies an 8% cash grant based on the gross monthly wages of their local employees for three months, subject to a monthly wage cap of $3,600 per employee. This means that an SME with 10 local employees earning median salaries would get about $8,000 in Jobs Support. Over the next three months, the Government will inject about $1.3 billion to employers and help keep 1.9 million local employees in their jobs.”
“Between April 2017 and December 2019, there were 26,000 mediation requests lodged with the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM), of which more than 70% went to mediation. Of the remaining cases, most claimants withdrew their claims before mediation took place. Of the claims that went through mediation, more than 80% were resolved amicably by TADM. These tend to be cases where the facts were clear or salary arrears had not been accumulated over a long period. Claims that could not be resolved through mediation would be referred to the Employment Claims Tribunals (ECT) for adjudication. About 40% of cases that were referred to ECT resulted in money orders issued to employers to settle the claims. The remaining claims were dismissed by ECT or withdrawn by the claimant. For more details, the Member may wish to refer to the Employment Standards Report published by the Ministry of Manpower in October 2019.”
“Employers are required to provide their Foreign Domestic Workers (FDWs) with a weekly rest day. If an FDW agrees to work on her rest day, her employer is required to provide compensation in lieu of the rest day. Based on information collected by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) over the past four years, about 20% of FDWs agreed to be compensated in lieu for all their rest days at the point of Work Permit application. Nonetheless, FDWs and employers tend to subsequently make changes to the rest day arrangements during the employment period, based on mutual agreement. For example, some FDWs may wish to take more rest days per month after they have paid off their placement loan. Based on MOM's survey with FDWs in 2015, 98% of FDWs surveyed had at least one rest day a month. This is consistent with a survey of FDWs conducted by the Centre for Domestic Employees in 2017, where 96% had at least one rest day a month.”
“With greater awareness following the global #MeToo movement in late 2017, and the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices' (TAFEP's) establishment of a help and resource centre for managing workplace harassment in 2019, we have seen more reports of workplace harassment where employers have been the subject of such complaints as shown in the table below. In each of these cases, the employer had not properly followed up on allegations of workplace harassment. TAFEP engaged the employer to educate and ensure that they implement measures in the Tripartite Advisory on Managing Workplace Harassment, including asking the employer to re-investigate the complaint, where necessary. Specifically in one of these 22 cases, as the employer was alleged to have verbally harassed the complainant, TAFEP additionally advised the employer to be more mindful of his behaviour and to be respectful when engaging his staff. So far, all the employers that TAFEP engaged have been cooperative and receptive to their advice. A watchlist allows the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) to monitor specific workforce metrics of employers suspected of errant behaviours to see if they have improved their employment practices. However, workplace harassment complaints typically involve specific incidents and persons. There are no clearly identifiable metrics to monitor. A watchlist approach is, therefore, impractical. Instead, MOM's policy is to revoke the work pass privileges of egregious offenders, such as employers who fail to provide a safe environment for employees or refuse to improve their grievance handling processes. So far, we have not encountered a case of such severity.”
“In the past three years, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) was notified of salary reductions affecting less than 2% of non-domestic Work Permit holders (WPH) per year. The median amount of salary reduction reported was $170 in 2017, $160 in 2018 and $100 in 2019. The median percentage of reduction reported was 20% in 2017, 22% in 2018 and 17% in 2019, compared to the initial salary declared. Under our laws, employers are not allowed to reduce the salary of their WPHs below what was declared on the In-Principle Approval (IPA) letter unless they have obtained the workers' written agreement and notified the Ministry beforehand. WPHs who have their salary reduced without their agreement should approach MOM or the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management to lodge a case. MOM will require the employer to make good any salary shortfall to the worker and impose a fine of up to $10,000. WPHs whose employment contracts are terminated by their employers for not agreeing with the salary reductions should also come forward to seek help from MOM. MOM will allow such WPHs to transfer to a new employer.”
“Over the last three years, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) received 65 complaints or feedback regarding the hiring of foreigners in financial institutions. In most cases, the complainants did not provide specific information for follow-up action. Of those that did, MOM and TAFEP investigated thoroughly and took appropriate actions, including withholding of work pass privileges. Locals hold more than four out of five jobs paying $3,600 or more, that is, the minimum qualifying salary for Employment Pass, in the financial sector. This ratio has held steady over the last three years, even as the workforce in the sector grew. While most financial institutions and hiring managers understand the need to hire based on merit, there is a minority of employers that seek to circumvent our fair hiring requirements. MOM does not tolerate any form of workplace discrimination, and has recently raised penalties across the board for all forms of discrimination. Beyond the employers, MOM will also take individual employees to task if they were involved in any unfair hiring practices. Beyond complaints, MOM has enhanced our detection of unfair hiring behaviour through data analytics. We urge members of the public to report to MOM or TAFEP if they come across workplace discrimination, and provide specific information so that we can take action. The identity of whistleblowers will be kept confidential.”
“Among those who required FWAs in 2018, more than eight in 10 could avail themselves to the FWA they needed, which was an increase from 2016, when only seven in 10 could do so.2 In response to the Citizens' Panel on Work-Life Harmony's recommendations made last year, our tripartite partners will also commit to intensifying their efforts to support adoption of FWAs. More details will be shared at the upcoming Committee of Supply debates.”
“The Government and tripartite partners are committed to provide working caregivers with the necessary support so that they can fulfil both their work and caregiving responsibilities. To better understand the needs of caregivers, the Ministry of Health (MOH) led a cross-agency review in 2018. When interviewed, employees who were caregivers provided feedback that Flexible Work Arrangements (FWAs) were more important than other measures, such as family care leave, in supporting them in their caregiving needs. To help caregivers, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has, together with our tripartite partners, adopted a multi-pronged strategy to support and encourage employers to adopt FWAs. First, we provide grants to employers who adopt FWAs. In 2019, MOM increased the Work-Life Grant budget to $100 million to support and encourage more companies to provide FWAs to their employees. Second, through the Tripartite Standard (TS) on FWAs, we recognise progressive employers who offer FWAs. As at end-December 2019, close to 2,100 employers responsible for some 470,000 employees, have adopted the TS FWAs. Third, we guide employers on how to implement FWAs. Resources, such as the Tripartite Advisory on FWAs and Job-Sharing Implementation Guide, help them make FWAs available to their employees. Fourth, we actively promote FWAs among employers and raise their awareness of how FWAs can improve their staff retention. We reach them through sector-specific engagement sessions, online marketing and roadshows. These efforts are paying off as we are seeing more employers offering FWAs. Based on MOM surveys, more than nine in 10 employers in 2018 offered some form of formal or ad hoc FWAs, up from about eight in 10 in 2013.1 As a result, more employees are benefiting from FWAs.”
“Mr Speaker, the IPS researchers have done a serious piece of work. They are entitled to putting forward a point of view. We do not necessarily agree or disagree with them. But we can look specifically at their proposals and, in that regard, the policies are never static. They are continuously being reviewed and continuously being enhanced where there are opportunities to do so. But at different junctures, we would have to look at what is of greater priority. And for these, the Government itself conducts surveys; the Government itself engages with different groups. What the groups have told us very clearly is that in addition to all the things that we are doing on parental leave, it is also important to address workplace norms, and actually, more importantly, we have to make alternatives available to the families. The alternative that is available in today's context of nuclear families, smaller families and also because grandparents are working, is, "Please do more with regard to preschool". And that is what we have put a lot of emphasis on. As to what could change in the future, can we perhaps even strengthen it more, that would be a relevant question for further review.”
“The Government will continue to identify ways to better support parents in managing their work and family responsibilities, such as by promoting the adoption of flexible work arrangements, and working with employers and community partners to strengthen attitudes and norms in support of fatherhood. The study by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) recognised that fathers' roles are also shaped by societal norms. The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) partners non-profit organisations, such as the Centre for Fathering, to promote the "Dads for Life" and "Mums for Life" movements in schools, workplaces and the wider community. These movements go a long way in driving mindset shifts among employers, colleagues, friends and families, to give greater recognition and support to the important roles fathers and mothers play in the lives of their children. The Government will continue to work with business and community partners to promote greater paternal involvement.”
“Mr Speaker, fathers play an important role in their children's development. International studies have shown that when fathers are more involved, their children have better physical, cognitive and emotional developmental outcomes. Greater paternal involvement in the home also helps mothers to stay active in the workforce. Local research has shown that Singaporean fathers are playing a more active role in caregiving and family responsibilities. This is encouraging. We have progressively increased parental leave for fathers over the years to better support working parents and help fathers to play an active role in caring for their children. In 2017, we increased paternity leave and shared parental leave to two and four weeks respectively. This took into account feedback from some parents that shared parental leave was helpful in allowing fathers and mothers to decide flexibly how best to care for their child, based on their own family circumstances. Today, fathers can tap on eight weeks of leave in their child's first year, almost double the amount compared to five years ago. We are glad to see that more fathers are using their paternity leave, with take-up rates increasing from 25% in 2013 to 53% for recent cohorts. Our priority should, therefore, be to encourage and enable more fathers to take their paternity leave before considering further enhancements. We are also mindful of the need to carefully balance the needs of parents with the concerns of employers over the needs at the workplace.”
“The short answer is yes. All good things will be considered.”
“Mr Speaker, there are really three parts to this. The first is that, if you look at our MediShield Life system, it already covers everyone, including the SEPs. So, there is one layer of protection that an SEP will already have. The second is that we are very mindful that in some instances, what is considered a self-employment arrangement may, in fact, be a mis-classification. Then, in those instances, the right thing to do is to rectify or regularise that arrangement so that the employer rightly provides for the individual in terms of medical benefits. The third is really people whose nature of work involves them contracting with multiple service buyers. Under those circumstances, if we were to say that each one of those service buyers would be responsible for some part of the medical provision, I think there are complications in terms of implementation. I accept the fact that, indeed, on a system basis, it may be more efficient to get the individual covered but that is really the whole purpose of MediShield Life to begin with.”
“We have recently enhanced WIS for SEPs by increasing the qualifying income ceiling from $2,000 to $2,300, and the maximum annual payouts from $2,400 to $2,667.”
“Mr Speaker, over the past decade, the share of persons who were engaged in self-employment as their main source of income has remained stable at 8% to 10% of our resident workforce. In 2017, the Government set up a Tripartite Workgroup on self-employed persons (SEPs). Since March 2018, we have been implementing the Workgroup's recommendations to address SEPs' challenges. Today, all SEPs are already covered under MediShield Life against large hospital bills. SEPs' concerns were more about their loss of income when they fall sick for prolonged periods. To mitigate this, we worked with insurers to make available Prolonged Medical Leave (PML) insurance products. Today, major intermediaries, like Grab and Gojek, provide PML insurance coverage at no additional cost to their regular drivers. The National Instructors and Coaches Association also offers discounted PML insurance for their members. We encourage more service-buyers and associations to support their SEPs with such insurance coverage. In addition, Government agencies have taken the lead to implement the "Contribute-as-you-Earn" (CAYE) pilot, where SEPs contribute to their MediSave accounts as they receive payment for their services. Like regular employees, SEPs can save for home ownership and retirement through the Central Provident Fund (CPF) system. They can do so by making voluntary CPF contributions and benefit from the higher-than-market interest rates. Lower-income SEPs receive additional support through the Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) scheme. WIS encourages lower-income workers to stay employed and strengthen their retirement adequacy. Each year, more than 40,000 SEPs receive WIS.”
“To sustain them, we must be able to continue the momentum of good job creation, motivate individuals to upskill or reskill, promote employer commitment to fair hiring and progression, and sustain Government investments in education and training. To help Singaporeans, we must make every effort to keep up these efforts instead of focusing narrowly on displacing Permanent Residents and foreigners in our workforce. That would be a zero-sum game which will cause companies to rethink locating their high value activities in Singapore. The end result will not serve Singapore and Singaporeans' best interests.”
“In his 40s, he wanted a change in environment and to challenge himself. Last year, through the PCP for Electronics Assistant Engineer, he joined GlobalFoundries as a Senior Associate Engineer. He manages clean-room equipment to ensure optimal levels of humidity, temperature and pressure for wafer fabrication. He now earns about 10% more than at his previous job. Every day, we continue to help jobseekers like Effandi secure good jobs. On the Member's last question, the employment outcomes of our university and polytechnic graduates are a good indicator of whether we are helping Singaporeans acquire skills for PMET jobs in demand. Based on the latest Graduate Employment Survey, around nine in 10 university and polytechnic graduates who entered the labour force were employed within six months after graduation or completion of their full-time National Service. This figure has remained stable over the past decade. Mature workers who have been in the workforce for some time have also made good progress. This is evident when we compare the education and employment profile of local workers aged 40 and over. About one in four of them joined the workforce with a local diploma or degree and could have been expected to perform PMET jobs. But, in fact, about double, or one in two of these workers, are today holding PMET jobs. This is itself quite remarkable. Overall, the number and share of employed locals in PMET employment have risen steadily over the years. The number of local PMETs grew from about 960,000 in 2009 to 1.3 million in 2019, while the PMET share of employed locals increased steadily from 51.4% to 58.3% over the same period. If we look at Singapore Citizens only, the trend is very similar. These employment outcomes were not easily achieved.”
“Mr Speaker, based on the Ministry of Manpower's (MOM's) survey, sectors with higher proportions of professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMET) vacancies that employers indicated were hard to fill by locals include information and communications, built environment, including construction, professional services and manufacturing. Under the Growth Sectors Initiative that we started in 2017, MOM works closely with sector agencies to place locals into PMET jobs in sectors with good growth potential. A key thrust under this initiative is to reskill locals through our Professional Conversion Programmes (PCP) to take up good job opportunities. The Growth Sectors Initiative covers the four sectors which I mentioned earlier, as well as finance and insurance services, wholesale trade and healthcare. Locals comprise around 75% of employed PMETs in these growth sectors. Mr Pritam Singh asked about the success of our efforts. Over the past three years, the Adapt and Grow initiative has helped more than 48,000 local jobseekers get placed in PMET roles. As a result of more focused efforts under the Growth Sectors Initiative, Workforce Singapore and sector agencies have placed over 10,000 mid-career locals into PMET jobs in the growth sectors. We have helped locals take up a wide range of jobs, including data analysts, digital advertising professionals and technical sales engineers. Over nine in 10 PCP participants remained in employment two years after placement. Around seven in 10 PCP participants earned higher salaries than before. PCP participants, such as Effandi Sajari, often have inspiring stories. Effandi spent close to two decades in the energy and power sector managing projects that involved installing low voltage power network equipment across the island.”
“The Ministry of Manpower supports workers seeking membership in a union registered with the Registry of Trade Unions. They can benefit from union support and representation in areas, such as training and upskilling, collective bargaining and dispute resolution. However, it would be inappropriate to insist as a condition of Government contracts that the contractors' workers be union members. Such a condition could lead to perverse outcomes. For example, a contractor may feel compelled to terminate a worker on account of his preference not to be a union member, in order to be eligible to bid for Government contracts. To avoid unemployment, a worker may then feel compelled to join the union. This goes against the fundamental right of a worker to decide on union membership. The Government recognises unionised companies in other ways. For instance, companies can tap on an extra 10% in funding support through the Enterprise Development Grant, if they work with unions to train workers as the companies' jobs transform. We also support unionised companies' efforts to be more progressive employers, through engagement programmes organised by the tripartite partners.”
“Since Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM) was established in April 2017, it has been able to mediate employment-related disputes not covered under the Employment Act (EA). For disputes covered under other employment laws1, such as the payment of allowances, bonuses and commissions provided for in the employment contract, mediation is compulsory. For other disputes, such as workplace grievances and poor employment practices, mediation is voluntary. In total, TADM has conducted mediation for about 12,000 employment-related disputes not covered under the EA, with about 70% resolved amicably.”
“The Household Services Scheme (HSS) was piloted in 2017 to allow eligible companies to hire more foreign workers to provide part-time domestic services, such as home cleaning. Since then, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has been monitoring the demand for part-time domestic services and studying the effectiveness of HSS in meeting households' needs for part-time domestic services. As demand for part-time domestic services picked up, MOM expanded the number of HSS companies from 15 in 2017 to 50 in 2019. We are still monitoring the Scheme to assess how it is meeting the needs of households and providers of domestic services, and the risks of HSS workers being diverted by companies to non-domestic work. The pilot has been extended to run until August 2020, and MOM will evaluate the results of the pilot thereafter.”
“Based on salaries declared by employers at the point of initial employment of their foreign domestic workers (FDWs), the median basic monthly salary over the past three years is $560. FDWs who had prior work experience in Singapore receive about $20 more per month. We do not provide nationality-based data to avoid invidious comparisons. The data also does not capture the impact of salary adjustments for longer-serving FDWs. The basic monthly salaries of FDWs who were hired via the Eldercarer FDW Scheme vary from $400 to $1,000, with the median of about $570. The difference in median salaries should not be attributed solely to their Eldercarer training. It can also be a result of other factors, such as the type and length of training courses they have undergone, whether they had prior nursing training and experience, and the level of caregiving needs of the care recipients.”
“The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is examining the impact of workplace mental health issues on our local workforce by tapping on completed studies by the Institute of Mental Health and National Council of Social Services. We also refer to global studies by the World Health Organization and International Labour Organization. MOM agrees that mental well-being at the workplace is important. To encourage more companies to put in place measures to support employees' mental well-being, the Total Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) programme initiated by the WSH Council and supported by the Health Promotion Board will assess employees' physical and mental well-being. The Total WSH consultants can also assist employers with stress management workshops and mental well-being talks, to support the mental well-being of their employees. We are initiating a pilot of iWorkHealth, a web-based psychosocial assessment tool to help employers and their employees to identify workplace stressors. The tool serves to raise awareness of workplace stressors and provide recommendations on areas where employers can work on to improve the mental well-being of their employees. The tool is targeted to be launched later this year.”
“The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) recognises that there could be instances where families with caregiving duties would require two foreign domestic workers (FDWs) to help care for persons with disabilities. Hence, on a case-by-case basis, the Ministry approves the Work Permit applications of up to two FDWs for one care recipient. However, each care recipient is eligible for the concessionary levy of $60 per month for only one FDW. This is to be fair to all employers whose caregiving needs vary. The Government provides further support for households who may need help to defray caregiving costs. For example, the Ministry of Health provides a Home Caregiving Grant (HCG), which is a monthly cash payout of $200 to defray the cost of caregiving for individuals with permanent moderate disability. The HCG payout can be used flexibly for different caregiving expenses, including the cost of hiring an FDW. FDW employers who wish to train their FDWs in caregiving can also tap the Caregivers Training Grant which is an annual training subsidy of $200 for each care recipient. The Government will continue to review and improve the range of home-based support measures to meet the needs of persons with disabilities and their caregivers.”
“The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) does not set a quota on the number of foreign domestic workers (FDWs) to be placed by employment agencies (EAs). EAs which apply for and are approved by MOM to participate in the Advance Placement Scheme (APS) are, however, encouraged to commit to bringing in 20 or more FDWs each month. This is to ensure a meaningful pool of FDWs whom employers with urgent caregiving needs can select from. The Ministry regularly monitors the placement volume of APS EAs. To date, no EA has been penalised for not keeping to its commitment. An EA, which makes the effort but is not able to bring in a steady and regular pool of APS FDWs, may still stay in the scheme. Only EAs that consistently fail to place any APS FDWs are dropped from the scheme.”
“Mr Speaker, the treatment for persons who are on LOA is quite clear. We have sent out an advisory to employers that because this LOA is a requirement, they will have to find ways of supporting it. Whether the person who is on LOA is provided with additional leave or that the duration of LOA is treated as paid vacation leave or sick leave, there are certain suggestions on how the employers may treat it. I think the Member's question also extends to persons who are not required to be on LOA, but either as their own unilateral sense that they should stay away, because they are not feeling well, or they have to look after someone who is on LOA. In those instances, I think we have to allow the employer to exercise some flexibility. If it is a situation where the employer has come into agreement with this individual, well and good. I think the employers know what to do. But there is really no requirement for a person to stay away from work if they themselves are not being asked to fulfil an LOA requirement. It is only something that they are doing on top of, so I just wanted to be clear on that. The Member has also asked the question about self-employed persons. We are very mindful of how they could be impacted and, as Minister Lawrence Wong has said earlier, we are looking at ways in which we can be helpful.”
“I thank the Member for her supplementary question. From what she has asked, I gather her concern is really with regard to individuals who are seeking to get the medical certificates because they feel unwell to work. We have to take it in a broader context. There are more than 4,000 medical practitioners that are registered under MRA. There should not be a concern that the individuals have no access to doctors who can issue valid MCs. People may consult TCM practitioners for any number of reasons, but the fact that the Employment Act requires MCs to be issued by an MRA-registered practitioner in order to be valid has been known for quite a long time. Employers are certainly free to do more than what the Employment Act requires, to recognise other medical certificates. But the practice adopted within the Employment Act is consistent with MRA. If I may quote to the Member, section 15 of MRA states that "no medical certificate or other document required by any written law to be signed by a duly qualified medical practitioner shall be valid unless signed by a person who is registered under the Act and has a valid practising certificate". But like I said, if employers would like to recognise TCM medical certificates, they are certainly free to do so.”
“Mr Speaker, under the Employment Act, all employers are required to grant paid outpatient sick leave to employees with medical certificates (MCs) issued by any medical practitioner registered under the Medical Registration Act (MRA). Traditional Chinee Medicine (TCM) practitioners can also be registered, if they fulfil the requirements of MRA. This is already a wider recognition of MCs. Before April 2019, employers were only required to recognise MCs if they were issued by a Government or company-appointed medical practitioner. I should add that employers are free to go beyond the minimum provisions in the Employment Act and recognise TCM practitioners' MCs for the purposes of granting paid sick leave.”
“Mr Speaker, the citizen unemployment rate is based on the Labour Force Survey, which asks for the citizenship of the respondent at the point of the survey, but does not require the respondent to indicate when he or she obtained citizenship. In any case, the addition of new citizens in Singapore does not change the citizen unemployment rate in any significant way. Let me illustrate. Suppose the citizen unemployment rate is 3%. This means, if there were only 100 citizens in the labour force, three of them are unemployed. Suppose an employed person becomes a citizen, this translates to a 1% growth in the citizen labour force. There are now 101 citizens in the labour force, but still only three who are unemployed. As a result, the citizen unemployment rate falls by 0.03 percentage points to 2.97%. Compared to 3%, the effect is mathematically very small. In fact, out of 3.5 million Singapore Citizens, significantly less than 1% received their citizenship within the past year. Some are working adults, while others have yet to join the labour force or have retired. This means that the impact to the citizen labour force and unemployment rate is essentially negligible.”
“The Ministry of Manpower conducts annual surveys on wage practices and publishes the data in our annual Report on Wage Practices. The report includes data on the quantum of the annual variable component (AVC) – in other words, the bonuses – given by private establishments. As we reported in the 2018 Report, the performance of establishments and individuals were employers' main considerations when determining bonuses. These factors are not affected by Civil Service bonuses.”
“All employers are expected to abide by the principles of fair employment practices set out in the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices (TGFEP), which makes it clear that recruitment and hiring practices are to be based on merit and the ability to perform the job. Religious wear should generally be allowed at workplaces, unless employers have uniform or dress code requirements which are suited to the nature of their work, or for operational and safety reasons. Such requirements should then be communicated and explained clearly to employees as well as job applicants. In the past five years, the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) received a total of 16 complaints related to the wearing of religious articles, or less than 1% of all the complaints received. Table 1 below shows the breakdown by industry of the complaints received. Most complaints arose due to insensitivity on the part of the employer or interviewer in communicating the company’s dress code and practices. All the employers have heeded TAFEP's advice and made the necessary rectifications to their employment practices. TAFEP investigates all complaints of workplace discrimination, including unreasonable restrictions against religious wear, and will work with the Ministry of Manpower to take enforcement actions against substantiated complaints.”
“The Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) investigates all complaints received. Where warranted, cases are referred to the Ministry of Manpower. Where action has been taken against the employer, TAFEP will keep the complainant updated on the outcome. Many have been thankful and appreciative of the help and support to address their concerns.”
“Over the past five years, an average of around 3,000 companies and 31,000 workers have benefited from absentee payroll funding1 each year under the Workfare Training Support (WTS) Scheme. The average amount disbursed yearly is about $6 million. See Table 1 below for details. The breakdown of the top industry sectors with the most number of companies benefiting from absentee payroll funding is in Table 2 below. These are broadly sectors with a higher proportion of low-wage workers.”
“Various Government agencies worked together with the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and food delivery companies to come up with the Transition Assistance Package (TAP) to help food delivery riders transition to using alternatives to e-scooters, or to other jobs. As riders do not need to inform the food delivery companies when they have decided to stop taking deliveries, there is no clearcut way to track the number of affected riders who have become unemployed. Instead, our approach has been to proactively reach out to those who may be looking for other jobs. For affected food delivery riders who are looking to change jobs, Workforce Singapore (WSG) and NTUC's Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) have deployed career coaches onsite at food delivery companies on more than 70 occasions, and have organised a curated job fair to assist affected riders with their job search efforts. The food delivery companies have been helpful in disseminating information on these career events to their riders. Affected riders can also tap on various employment facilitation programmes under the Adapt and Grow initiative, such as the Place-and-Train Programme, which provide opportunities for jobseekers to be hired and receive training for new jobs. To date, more than 180 affected riders have approached WSG and NTUC's e2i for job search support. The agencies have been actively engaging affected riders on employment assistance available to them if they wish to switch jobs, though many have not stepped forward for job search assistance. Should they subsequently decide to come forward, we will provide them with the necessary job search support.”
“To ensure members' retirement adequacy is not compromised, Central Provident Fund (CPF) savings used for the flat, including the interest that would have been accrued had the monies not been withdrawn, should be refunded to their CPF accounts upon the sale of the flat. This applies when a CPF member who co-owns a flat with his parent withdraws his name from the flat, as the transaction is akin to a sale. We recognise that many members initiate such ownership transfers as they are planning to purchase a matrimonial Housing and Development Board (HDB) flat. For such cases, allowance is given for the member to transfer ownership and make the required CPF refund six months after he has taken possession of his new flat. This transition period could stretch to a few years if the member is buying a Build-To-Order flat. Similar to flat purchases, the refund can be made using the parents' CPF savings, or by taking up an HDB or bank loan if eligible. The monies refunded to the member's account can also be used to pay for the new matrimonial flat. Over the last five years, CPF Board has received around 200 appeals annually on average to waive the CPF refunds, upon transfer of flat ownership. For members who are unable to make the CPF refund in time, CPF Board and HDB will work with them to explore their options, which will depend on the specific circumstances of their family. For example, they may have a sibling who can take over their share of the co-owned flat, or their parents may wish to right-size to a smaller flat that is within their budget.”
“These unfortunate accidents highlight the need for occupiers and employers to be more diligent in their risk management and mitigation and not take WSH for granted. Beyond the immediate-term engagement and enforcement efforts, we need longer-term measures to motivate more employers and occupiers to take greater ownership of risk awareness and mitigation. In 2020, we are progressively implementing the recommendations set out in the WSH 2028 Tripartite Strategies Committee report. They include publishing the safety performance of firms and establishing a framework for public sector developers to disqualify unsafe contractors, including first-level subcontractors. These moves will align businesses' commercial interests more closely to workplace safety. This will spur companies to be more serious in risk management and preventing accidents.”
“There were nine fatal workplace accidents in the month of November 2019, compared to an average of four per month in the past three years. The unusually high number of cases is a cause of concern for the Ministry. Therefore, we had probed deeper to uncover if there were any specific reasons or trends for the spate of accidents. Of the nine fatalities, four were from the construction sector, two from marine, two from services, and one from manufacturing. There was no dominant trend that contributed to the spate of accidents in November. Nonetheless, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), together with the industry partners, stepped up on engagement and enforcement efforts in November. We worked with the Singapore Contractors Association Ltd and the Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Council to organise an Industry Safety Timeout as a reminder to all contractors and workers to remain vigilant while at work. To send a strong signal to the industry, Minister of State Zaqy Mohamad led a team of enforcement officers on a surprise visit to a worksite, where the officers uncovered multiple WSH lapses. In response, we issued a full Stop Work Order. MOM's Stop Work Orders stay in force for a minimum of three weeks to ensure that the company's leadership takes appropriate actions to correct their safety practices and risk assessments. We expect companies to rectify all unsafe conditions and demonstrate to us their ability to better manage WSH on site before MOM lifts the Stop Work Order. We will ramp up inspections by conducting 400 inspections until February 2020, targeting high-risk industries, such as construction, marine, as well as manufacturing. We will also conduct checks on similar equipment that were involved in two of the fatal accidents to prevent recurrence.”
“The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) publishes annual statistics on local and foreign workforce numbers. However, MOM does not provide a breakdown of the number of foreign workers by nationality as it is not in Singapore's interest to do so. Malaysian workers can be found across all sectors. This is not surprising, since our work pass framework allows Malaysian workers in all sectors, subject to the respective sector's Dependency Ratio Ceiling controls.”
“Over the past five years, close to 80% of unused Central Provident Fund (CPF) monies were distributed by CPF Board to beneficiaries according to deceased members' nominations. The monies include balances in their Ordinary, MediSave, Special and Retirement Accounts. The unused monies of members who did not make nominations are transferred to the Public Trustee's Office (PTO) for distribution to the deceased's next-of-kin in accordance with intestacy and Muslim inheritance laws. This was explained in the Ministry of Law's oral response on 4 November 2019 to Assoc Prof Daniel Goh. PTO reported that 88% of un-nominated CPF monies were distributed to next-of-kin in the last five years. In other words, about 98% of all unused CPF monies belonging to deceased members were eventually distributed by CPF Board and PTO in the last five years. Next-of-kin can approach PTO at any time to submit their claims on the unclaimed monies. There is no time limit for the application.”
“In the last three years, 10 workers suffered injuries caused by heat stress or work-related heat disorders, of which one was fatal. They comprised less than 0.03% of all workplace injuries and occupational diseases in the same period. The Ministry of Manpower, together with the Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Council, has developed the WSH Guidelines on Managing Heat Stress in the Workplace. The guidelines inform employers to conduct risk assessments associated with heat stress and the precautionary actions they should take to prevent heat stress at work. These include acclimatising newly arrived workers who come from colder climates, providing regular rest breaks at shaded areas, making cool drinking water accessible, and educating workers on the symptoms and seriousness of heat-related disorders. The WSH Council has also been disseminating information on heat-related safety and health risks through its website, the WSH bulletin1, as well as collaterals, such as the Heat Stroke Card. Heat stress is also included in the WSH Council's Total WSH Programme. Total WSH consultants are expected to advise companies on what they can do to protect workers from heat stress. Heat stroke and dehydration are already included in the types of work incidents that are reportable. From 1 September 2020, the reporting requirement will be extended to incidents that result in any instance of medical certificate or light duty.”
“To cater to the needs of working parents, including mothers re-entering the workforce, childcare centres are required to operate from 7.00 am to 7.00 pm on weekdays, and from 7.00 am to 2.00 pm on Saturdays. This arrangement meets the needs of most parents, without extending the working hours of childcare centre workers. For families working shifts or on weekends, many of them arrange for other caregivers, such as grandparents and relatives, to help out. Some centres may extend their services, taking into consideration demand and resources. Currently, around 55 centres operate beyond 7.00 pm on weekdays. Mothers, including those re-entering the workforce, may prefer some flexibility in their work hours to meet their caregiving needs. Through the Work-Life Grant and Tripartite Standard (TS) on Flexible Work Arrangements (FWAs), the Government encourages employers to provide FWAs, such as flexible start and end times or telecommuting, to help employees better manage work and family responsibilities. As at end-September, around 1,900 employers, covering around 450,000 employees, have adopted the Tripartite Standard on FWAs. Jobseekers who require FWAs may find a better job fit with an employer that has adopted the TS on FWAs. Mothers looking for employment can also tap on Workforce Singapore's (WSG's) Adapt and Grow initiative, which offers a suite of employment services and programmes to help jobseekers to enter into new jobs. For more information, jobseekers can visit WSG's Careers Connect and the National Trades Union Congress's Employment and Employability Institute's career centres to find out more.”
“The vast majority of employers and employees have been able to work out mutually agreeable arrangements for the taking of childcare leave. In the past five years, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices did not receive any case where an employee had applied for childcare leave and the employer had unreasonably rejected the application. During this period, MOM handled 15 cases where childcare leave was either not provided or under-provided in an employee’s contract. The main reason for employers not having fulfilled their statutory obligations was a lack of awareness of employees' entitlements. In all 15 cases, MOM required the employers to rectify their childcare leave policies to comply with the law, and took enforcement action against them.”
“The Child Development Account (CDA) is meant to support the developmental needs of children, such as education and healthcare. Parents can use the CDA to pay for expenses at Approved Institutions, such as childcare centres, kindergartens, hospitals, clinics and pharmacies. In addition to the CDA, the Government provides a Baby Bonus Cash Gift of $8,000 to $10,000 per child, which parents can use to pay for other items, such as child car seats.”
“MOM's records show that the large majority of FDWs who worked for at least six months continued to stay with their employers beyond one year. Hence, beyond the initial six months of employment, it would not be fair to attribute the subsequent breakdown of the relationship to a poor match by the EA and could result in higher service fees for employers. Lastly, despite best efforts to ensure a good match, there could invariably still be disputes between employers and their FDWs. Employers can now tap on the free dispute resolution services offered by the Centre for Domestic Employees and the Foreign Worker Association for Social Support and Training to resolve their FDW issues. The new measures will be rolled out progressively over the next two years to allow time for employers, EAs and FDWs to adjust to the changes. MOM will continue to work with the EA industry to facilitate improved matching outcomes for employers and FDWs.”
“Foreign domestic workers (FDWs) play an important role in supporting families in their caregiving duties and domestic work. As it is costly and disruptive to families when they hire an FDW who is not able to meet their household needs, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) recently announced a series of measures to better support employers in the hiring of FDWs. Firstly, to improve the chances of employers being matched with FDWs who can meet their household needs, employers and employment agencies (EAs) will be able to obtain more information on the work experience of prospective FDWs from October 2020. This includes information on the FDW's previous job scope, her former employer’s residence type and household size, and the reasons for the termination of her past employment contracts. In addition, EAs will also be able to have access to the profiles of FDWs hired by employers who had changed five or more FDWs within a span of 12 months. This will allow the EAs to better customise their services for these employers who may need more help in selecting FDWs, such as making house visits to find out more about the unique household needs of the employers and training the FDWs based on these needs. Secondly, from October 2021, all EAs will be required to provide an option to refund at least 50% of the service fee charged to employers when the FDW's contract ends prematurely within the first six months. This will encourage the EAs to improve their matching processes and take greater ownership in finding better matches for employers. In general, six months is a sufficient period for an employer to determine if his/her FDW meets the household's needs.”
“We support their investigations by performing our own enquiry into workers' complaints and sharing our findings and assessments with the professional bodies. For instance, in cases of insufficient medical leave, we would advise the worker to get treatment at another clinic if they have not already done so. We would then share the first and second doctor's prescription of medical leave with SMC and provide them the assessment of whether the first doctor's prescription seemed insufficient for the injury.”