Lim Swee Say
Singapore
“The number of reports received via the Snap@MOM app, number of valid reports and number of companies issued with enforcement actions between 2015 and 2017 are shown in the table below: All valid reports have resulted in warnings or enforcement actions.”
“In the case of students from ITE, polytechnics or autonomous universities, employers do not need to contribute CPF if the student is employed by them for training that is approved by their institutions.”
“Together with our tripartite partners at the national and sector levels, we have to do our best to transform across all sectors, for our economy to transform and grow, pervasively, as One Singapore Unlimited.”
“Between April and December 2017, the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM) and the Employment Claims Tribunal (ECT) concluded 3,750 employee salary claims where the employer was ordered to make payment to the worker. Salaries were fully recovered in about 92% of these orders. The remaining claims involved 139 employers.”
“The number of employed residents aged 62 and over, and 67 and over has increased over the last five years (see Table 1 below). Of all employed residents aged 67 and over in 2017, 64% were males; 80% held secondary and below qualifications, 9% had post-secondary qualifications, while 11% were tertiary-educated; 52% of this group of older w…”
“The proportion of full-time resident employees earning below $2,000 who received bonuses, including the Annual Wage Supplement, has remained stable at about 50% over the last decade. Employers and unions share the flexibility in structuring staff remuneration together under our Flexible and Performance Based wage systems.”
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Every one of 1,231 lines we hold for Lim Swee Say, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 6 of 25.
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, first of all, I would like to thank the 17 Members who have spoken and for their support of the Bill. Let me try to address the key issues brought up by the Members. First of all, I am happy to see that all of us in this House share a common objective which is to help as many Singaporeans as possible to work for as long as possible. Given the longer life expectancy, I think there is no disagreement that helping our seniors to live what I call "H2P2" − a Happy and Healthy, Productive and Purposeful life. I think we are on the same wavelength. The issue is: what is the best way to go about achieving this? First, why re-employment and not retirement? Why do we not raise the retirement age? The Member Assoc Prof Daniel Goh asked that question: why leave the retirement age at 62? Why not raise it to 65 or even higher? Why raise only re-employment age? Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, we started off raising the retirement age as the key mechanism to enhance the employment rate for older workers. We used to have a de facto retirement age of 55. Later on, we formalised it at 60 and it was alright. Later on, the tripartite partners worked very hard together to raise it to 62. We managed to make it happen. But after that, we hit a wall. When the tripartite partners sat down to talk about raising the retirement age from 62 to 65 and beyond, all three parties objected. First, the employers objected for the very obvious reason because they are concerned about the impact on businesses. On the part of the workers, Members may not be aware, our younger workers objected, too. In fact, at a grassroots dialogue chaired by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, a young worker asked him a very direct question. He said, "I am now in my 40s.”
“We recognise that there are older employees in all sectors and occupations, with different circumstances and needs, therefore, not all of which can be addressed by this Bill. We will, therefore, continue to work closely with our tripartite partners to continue to enhance employment opportunities for older workers and to build age-friendly workplaces in Singapore. Mdm Speaker, I beg to move. [(proc text) Question proposed. (proc text)]”
“This means that the original employer still has to offer EAP if he cannot find a job for the older employee in his own company. To prepare employers and employees for these changes, we have worked with the tripartite partners to revise the Tripartite Guidelines on the Re-employment of Older Employees. In particular, we added a new section on re-employment by a new employer to provide guidance on this new option. My Ministry will be issuing the revised Guidelines later today. This will take effect on 1 July 2017. Employers and employees who require more information may direct their queries to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) or the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC). Madam, the third key change is to remove an existing employer option to cut employees' wages at age 60. In 1999, this option was introduced to help employers with seniority-based wage systems to manage their wage costs when the retirement age was raised from 60 to 62. Since then, with the restructuring and reshaping of Singapore's economy, tripartite efforts have been successful in moving employers away from seniority-based wage systems. In 2011, 98.5% of companies with employees aged 60 and over did not reduce the wages of employees at age 60. Hence, the tripartite partners have agreed to remove this option for employers with effect from 1 July 2017. Madam, the tripartite partners have had extensive consultations on how to build on the existing re-employment model to enhance job opportunities for older employees while balancing the need for flexibility for employers. This Bill is the result of tripartite efforts over the last few years to strike this delicate balance.”
“First, those aged below 67 but not covered by the new re-employment age of 67. Second, those beyond the new re-employment age of 67. We are aware that older employees and their employers need clarity on the future of the scheme. A decision will be taken well ahead of the expiration of the current scheme. The second key change is to allow eligible employees to be re-employed by another employer to increase options for both the employers and the employees. Madam, we have received feedback from employers who are unable to find suitable jobs in their own companies for their workers. Some of these employers would like to help their older employees secure re-employment with another employer. However, today's law does not allow them to transfer their re-employment obligations to another employer. So, from 1 July 2017, the law will allow an employer, who is unable to offer a suitable position in his own organisation, to transfer his re-employment obligations to another employer. This change will benefit all three parties. The original employer will be deemed as having fulfilled his re-employment obligations. The employee will have more opportunities to be re-employed and will enjoy re-employment protection under the second employer. The second employer will likewise benefit from hiring an employee with experience. There will be safeguards put in place to protect these employees. The employee has to agree to the re-employment terms with the second employer, and the second employer has to agree to take over all applicable obligations and re-employment obligations for this employee. If either condition is not met, the original employer still has to fulfil his re-employment obligations.”
“Madam, the introduction of the re-employment age of 65 in 2012 was but a first step. The intention to raise the re-employment age to 67 was already announced in 2012. Since then, after extensive consultation and negotiation, the tripartite partners have agreed that we are now ready to take this next step. This Bill makes three key changes to the Retirement and Re-employment Act. First, the re-employment age will be raised from 65 to 67. Second, we will introduce a new option to allow re-employment by another employer. Third, we will remove the existing option of employers to cut wages of employees at age 60. Madam, I will now elaborate on these three key changes in the Bill. The first key change is that the re-employment age will be raised from 65 to 67 with effect from 1 July 2017. Eligible employees, who are locals with at least satisfactory work performance and who are medically fit, should be offered re-employment until age 67. The new re-employment age of 67 will apply to those who turn 65 on or after 1 July 2017; in other words, those born on or after 1 July 1952. This is what the tripartite partners agreed to after extensive consultations. To encourage employers to re-employ employees beyond the re-employment age, which is 65 today, the Government currently provides a 3% additional wage offset. This scheme, the Additional Special Employment Credit (SEC) scheme, benefits about 120,000 Singaporean employees aged 65 and above every year. This is on top of the SEC of up to 8% for employing Singaporeans aged 55 and above. This additional wage offset will expire on 1 July 2017. The Government is studying the need and manner to further extend it to encourage voluntary re-employment for two groups of Singaporean employees.”
“Mdm Speaker, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time." In 2012, we enacted the Retirement and Re-employment Act (RRA) for our older employees to work beyond the retirement age of 62. Under this Act, employers have to offer re-employment to eligible employees up to the age of 65. If the employer is unable to do so, he has to offer an Employment Assistance Payment (EAP) to the employees to tide them over the period when they are looking for alternative employment. One key feature of re-employment is that it need not be for the same job or on the same terms. Both the employer and the employee can consult each other and work out mutually agreeable arrangements. Both parties have the flexibility to make changes to the existing job arrangements to suit their needs. Re-employment, therefore, balances the objectives of providing opportunities for employees to work longer on the one hand, while maintaining some flexibility for the employers on the other. This approach has worked well. The introduction of re-employment in 2012, coupled with the efforts from the tripartite partners to encourage age-friendly workplaces, has made a positive impact on the employment of older Singaporeans. In 2015, over 98% of private sector local employees who wished to continue working at the age of 62 were offered re-employment. Ninety-eight percent of those who accepted re-employment in the same job also did not experience any cut in their basic wages. Five years on from 2012, which is 2017 now, Singapore's workforce continues to age. Over the last decade, the proportion of residents aged 60 and above in our labour force has increased from 5.5% in 2006 to 12% in 2015. As we live longer, we can expect this proportion to continue to grow.”
“" So, this is the first objective. The second objective is that we have jobseekers who are not active jobseekers or what we call the passive jobseekers. They have jobs today, they are not in a hurry to get a job. But they would like to know what is available. For example, when we organise a job fair with the hotel industry, many workers from other sectors come to attend and understand better where the hotel sector is heading in case one day they need to move on to this sector. Of course, lastly, those who are looking for jobs. Because of this, we have not been able to track how many jobseekers have found jobs through job fairs because, at the end of the day, the jobseekers were not served directly by us. On the part of the employers, we leave it to them to compete for the workers. The bottom line is this: jobseekers who are not able to find jobs through jobs fairs are most welcomed to come to WSG and e2i to register as jobseekers so that we can help them with one-to-one or group-to-group additional services. 3.00 pm”
“Mdm Speaker, the number of job placements over the last three years: in 2014, it was 17,500; 2015, 16,600; and the first nine months of last year, 14,900. Over the last 10 years, the numbers fluctuated up and down. It all depends on how many jobseekers came to us. We do not turn away jobseekers. Jobseekers who need help, they just have to come to us and we will respond accordingly. That is what we do. Secondly, in terms of job fairs, let me put it this way. Jobseekers coming to us to look for jobs, we will help them in various ways. First, one to one. For every jobseeker, we look at his or her skills profile, career interest, and we look for a suitable job for him. So, a one-to-one matching. In some cases, it is group to group. For example, a company has a retrenchment exercise, 20 workers were retrenched. For the group of 20 workers, we look for a group of employers. We will bring the employers to the company to do a group-to-group matching and try to help the 20 workers to find 20 jobs. In other cases, we go for the "many to many" approach. Job fairs are an example where we organise a job fair − typically about 400 jobs per job fair − and the number of jobseekers attending can run into hundreds and thousands. We do not keep track of them. The reason why we do not keep track of them is because the job fair serves various purposes. In some cases, jobseekers are not looking to work but we want to encourage them. For example, in a community, we want to encourage more of our older residents to take on employment. So, we would bring employers with jobs in the community to the Community Centre to draw them out. As a result, we have residents with no intention to work, but having attended our job fair, they said, "Oh, I did not know that nearby there are such job openings.”
“As I have mentioned, we pay special attention to them and, as a result, of all the successful jobseekers we served last year, 35% were previously long-term unemployed. Through continued efforts with our tripartite partners, we will strive to quicken the transformation of industry to create better jobs and, at the same time, quicken the re-development of our workforce to create better skills. We will also keep strengthening our career matching services to minimise missed matches and mismatches in the local market as we go through this period of economic transition.”
“Mdm Speaker, to maximise successful job matching, our integrated package of services and programmes include not just job fairs but also career guidance and counselling, job search coaching, employability camps as well as placement programmes, such as the Professional Conversion Programme (PCP), Career Support Programme (CSP) and an enhanced Place-and-Train programme targeted at professionals, managers and executives (P-Max). In the past 10 years from 2007 to September 2016, the first nine months of last year, Government-funded career services and programmes, including job fairs, operated mainly by the Workforce Development Agency, now Workforce Singapore (WSG), and the National Trades Union Congress-Employment and Employability Institute (e2i), have helped more than 160,000 jobseekers to secure employment. On an annual basis, the number of successful job placement ranges from a high of more than 24,000 in 2009 to a low of about 13,000 in 2008, with an annual average of over 16,000. In assisting our jobseekers, we make a special effort to help older jobseekers and the long-term unemployed, as I have mentioned earlier, and the outcome has been encouraging. Over the years, the profile of workers placed by our career centres has become more inclusive. The share of professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMET) placements has increased from 10% in 2007, 10 years ago, to 37% in the first nine months of 2016, so from one in 10 to now one in three PMET jobseekers, while the proportion of older workers aged 50 and above has increased from 29% 10 years ago to 39% last year. What is even more encouraging is that 35% of those who successfully found jobs in the first nine months of 2016 were previously long-term unemployed, which means unemployed for six months or more.”
“That is not to say that we have done everything we can do. In fact, right now, my Ministry, together with the various agencies, including the Ministry of Finance, is looking into what more we can do to further enhance the Adapt and Grow initiatives in the coming years.”
“Mdm Speaker, we pay special attention to those jobseekers who need that extra help from Workforce Singapore (WSG) and e2i. Not all jobseekers need our help. For example, last year, we conducted more than 90 job fairs for the employers to offer their job openings to jobseekers. We encourage the jobseekers to walk in on their own so that they do not have to sign up with e2i or WSG. We allow the matching to go on, on its own. For those jobseekers who are unable to secure jobs through such a platform, that is when they will go to see their Members of Parliament or come to WSG or e2i. What we do is that we track each and every one individually, in terms of when they first contacted us, what kind of services we provide to them, either send them for employability camp or send them for career coaching, skills upgrading or job placement, and so on. On the whole, out of every three jobseekers coming to us, those who need the extra help, within the same calendar year, we were able to help two-thirds of them, about 65%, to successfully find jobs. There is still the one-third. For example, right now, we have about a few thousand still on our jobseekers' database. We will continue to help them. There is one group that we pay special attention to, "the long-term unemployed". In other words, if they are on our list for six months or longer, we pay special attention to them, whether it is through the Professional Conversion Programme (PCP) or Career Support Programme (CSP). On the whole, the package of Adapt and Grow initiatives which was strengthened last year has worked well and the outcome has been quite encouraging. As I have mentioned in my reply, successful jobseekers are becoming more inclusive, including the older workers.”
“From 1 July 2017, the re-employment age will also be raised to 67. Under the Adapt and Grow initiative, we are also providing extra career and employment support to older workers, both the rank-and-file workers and professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs). Out of more than 11,000 workers placed by the Workforce Singapore and the National Trades Union Congress' Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) career centres in the first nine months of 2016, 39% or two out of five successful jobseekers were aged 50 and above. The Ministry of Manpower will continue to work closely with our tripartite partners to extend support to all local jobseekers as we go through this period of economic transition.”
“Mdm Speaker, the Singapore economy is projected to grow at a modest pace of 1% to 3% this year. The Ministry does not make forecasts of the unemployment rate. Nevertheless, amid current global economic conditions and continued economic restructuring, short-term fluctuations in the unemployment rate are expected. Based on the annual Graduate Employment Survey coordinated by the Ministry of Education, around nine in 10 graduates from our autonomous universities found jobs within six months from the completion of their final examinations in 2015. This is consistent with the previous three cohorts. For older residents, both their employment and unemployment rates have moved up. In 2015, over 98% of local employees who wished to continue working were offered re-employment upon reaching the age of 62. This has contributed to an increase in the employment rate of local residents aged 55 to 64 to a high of 67.3% in June 2016. However, the unemployment rate for local residents aged 50 and above has also increased from 2.1% in September 2014 to 2.3% in September 2016, in other words, an increase of 0.2% over a period of two years. There was also a corresponding rise in the long-term unemployment rate by 0.2% from 0.8% to 1% over the same two-year period from September 2014 to September 2016. So, both the unemployment rate and long-term unemployment rate for local residents have gone up by 0.2%. The Government will continue to provide extra support to encourage the employment of older workers. These include the Special Employment Credit (SEC), which is a wage offset of up to 8% of monthly wages for hiring Singaporean workers aged 55 and above and earning not more than $4,000 a month. An additional wage offset of up to 3% is provided for those aged 65 and above.”
“Madam, in terms of preparing the workers for the jobs of the future, there are two broad approaches. One is Place and Train, the other is Train and Place. Most of our focus today is on Place and Train. In other words, we try to guide the workers of today and tomorrow in terms of future job openings. From there, we put them through training programmes with the support of their employers. This is to ensure that by the time the worker has gone through the training, he/she will be meaningfully employed. So, most of our programmes are targeted at Place and Train for those not in employment. For those in employment, the focus would be on Train and Place. In other words, today, you have a job but you are planning ahead for the next three to five years. So, under SkillsFuture, we are encouraging workers to take on the personal responsibility to take on training which may or may not have the support of their employers. So, I fully agree with Mr Desmond Choo's point that we have to keep doing more to prepare workers of today for the jobs of tomorrow. So, for those who are already in employment, we try and help them to take on their personal upgrading through personal responsibility under SkillsFuture without having to depend on their employers. Yet, at the same time, for those who are out of employment, the immediate task is to get them a job and train them for the job. So, it is more for Place and Train. If we can continue to strengthen the Place and Train, and the Train and Place programmes, then, hopefully, we can minimise this mismatch, and the mismatch for professionals, managers, executives and technicians.”
“But as far as the Ministry of Manpower is concerned, this information, as and when they become available, we will incorporate them into our National Jobs Bank so that workers accessing the Jobs Bank will be able to have this information, decide for themselves which sector to go into, which career path to pursue, what job, what skills are needed and, from there, under SkillsFuture Singapore, they can pursue the skills upgrading in advance of their career change.”
“For those who are interested in any particular position, they can go into the detailed write-ups, job by job. On the whole, I want to emphasise again that Singapore is one of the very few countries in the world that is putting in so much effort to prepare our workforce and our industries for the future. Without the Industry Transformation Maps, this skills framework is not possible. For example, if you look at Precision Engineering, we talk about future manufacturing, which are the four key directions that are happening. These are very important because when they know that these are the emerging trends in Precision Engineering, then people will understand what the future openings are. For example, it is highlighted that robotics and automation are one of the emerging trends. Digitisation of manufacturing is another emerging trend; so also additive manufacturing, data analysis. Therefore, I just want to emphasise again and again that we are one of the very few countries in the world that is putting in so much effort to try to visualise the future and try to put in place a skills framework to guide our fellow Singaporeans in their future career selection and development. I hope that Members of this House can help us to bring out the message to the ground, because all these efforts may not be known enough on the ground.”
“Mdm Speaker, I thank the Member for the suggestions. Yes, in fact, we are trying to look ahead and make a forecast in terms of future jobs and future skills. However, to make a forecast at the company level, three years ahead may be a challenge because not many companies are prepared to make that kind of commitment upfront. However, forecasts at the industry level is being done and will continue to be done. If I may just give an illustration on how much is being done. At the last Parliament Sitting, I shared with this House the skills framework for the hotel sector. So, I will not repeat that again. Today, I have brought another two skills frameworks as an illustration. Page: 11 One is for Early Childhood Care and Education. In this skills framework, the career paths that are being presented, as we move forward in this sector, are clearly spelt out. There are three career paths. Either you are an educarer, teacher or in a leadership position. For each of these career paths, there is a detailed description in terms of what are the jobs available, what are the skill requirements and so on. Therefore, any person who is looking into a career development in the future, in the next three years, can take a look at this and decide for himself/herself whether this is a sector that he/she wants to go into. If so, these are the career paths, these are the job positions, as well as the skills that they can pursue. Another example is Precision Engineering. Here again, you can see that in this skills framework, it is clearly spelt out that anybody can join the sector to pursue two-career tracks. One is the engineering and technician track; the other is the management track. Again, the job positions are well spelt out. Even the salary range is all in there.”
“Mdm Speaker, under the Committee on Skills, Innovation and Productivity chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Tharman, sector agencies and tripartite partners are charting the transformation of their respective industries. These Industry Transformation Maps (ITMs) outline the key growth areas for each sector and the future profile of skills and jobs that Singaporeans can pursue. The ITMs are also accompanied by their respective skills frameworks which outline very specific career paths, occupations, salary range, skills requirements and training programmes available for each of these sectors. To date, ITMs have been launched for the Retail, Food Services and Precision Engineering sectors. As for the skills frameworks, they have also been launched for Hotel and Accommodation Services, Early Childhood Care and Education, and Precision Engineering. Career fairs are also being held to attract Singaporeans, to strengthen our Singaporean Core in these sectors. More sectors are in the pipeline, and the relevant career and employment information will be incorporated into our National Jobs Bank as and when it is published.”
“I thank the Member for the question. Yes, if we look at the numbers presented, these are the overall numbers. But in terms of actual tracking, we track by sector. We track by ages as well. For example, of the PMETs that we supported so far, we keep track of what percentage of them are below 40 years old, between 40 and 50, and above 50. As pointed out by the Member, we also track in terms of which are the most so-called popular sectors and which are the sectors where there are most openings. In other words, our programmes are not at the national level. In fact, all our Adapt and Grow programmes are sector by sector. PCP is sector by sector; P-Max is targeted at the SME sector; and CSP is targeted more at those with this expectation gap. So, on the whole, we try to be as comprehensive as possible in our outreach. As to the question about retention, for some of our schemes, we do attach a condition. For example, in the case of CSP, the employment period must be a minimum of one year. In the case Page: 10 of PCP, we do track after that. But at the end of the day, the key number that we track is the unemployment number. Some of them, after their professional conversion, they go and work for a company. But even if they have left the company, as long as they continue to be in employment, to us, the outcome is still a positive one.”
“Mdm Speaker, I agree with Mr Patrick Tay in terms of job matching for the PMETs. We have identified basically two key challenges. One is that of a mismatch, meaning that the PMETs looking for jobs and the jobs looking for PMETs, due to an information gap, are both not able to find each other. So, there is a mismatch. The second type of challenge is the mismatch, meaning that they have found each other, but either the jobs do not find the jobseekers suitable, or vice versa. Under our Adapt and Grow programmes, we are trying to address both. For example, if you talk about the case of the expectation gap, in fact, this is exactly what the CSP is about. CSP is to bridge the expectation gap in terms of wages between employer and employee, and this is the reason why we provide this wage support for the first year of their employment so that, hopefully, after one year, both sides' expectation gap can be narrowed and they continue from there. Having said so, certainly, there is a lot more that we need to do and can do. I really appreciate that the Labour Movement is playing a very active part in this whole exercise. Take, for example, the e2i. The e2i is a very important part of our employment and Career Support Programme, and I hope that the National Trades Union Congress and the Labour Movement will continue to partner MOM, together with the tripartite partners, and do more for our PMETs.”
“Mdm Speaker, Mr Gan asked how many employers have participated in these programmes. As I mentioned, this year alone, we have helped about 6,400 employees. I do not have a breakdown in terms of the number of employers, but if we look at that number, we can easily estimate that the number of employers would be in the thousands as well.”
“Mdm Speaker, the Adapt and Grow initiative was launched earlier this year to support workers, especially mid-career professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs), in finding jobs. In the first three quarters of this year, 6,400 PMETs found jobs through the assistance of Workforce Singapore (WSG) and the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i). To help more PMETs to take up available jobs in a different profession, we are increasing the number of Professional Conversion Programmes (PCPs) from 22 covering 12 sectors at the beginning of this year to more than 50 covering almost all sectors by the end of the year. This will benefit more than 1,000 PMETs a year. For mature PMETs who are made redundant, we are helping them to find new employment by providing wage support for the first year of employment. This is done through the Career Support Programme (CSP). Out of 1,500 eligible PMETs who have registered with WSG and e2i, more than 200 have received such wage support through their new employers since the inception of CSP in October 2015. We have also helped about 900 PMETs to secure jobs in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) under P-Max so far this year. We expect this number to exceed 1,000 by the end of the year. Together with the tripartite partners, WSG will continue to raise the awareness of these Adapt and Grow programmes among workers and businesses. We will continue to expand our capacity to support more workers and employers as we go through this economic transition. We will also continue to refine these programmes to ensure that they are effective in helping workers and businesses to adapt and grow.”
“Mdm Speaker, I agree with everything that Ms Thanaletchimi had mentioned. Yes, we need to step up awareness promotion and education, both for the employers and the employees. May I also add that we should cover both the unionised and the non-unionised sector as well because the adoption rates for the unionised sector and the non-unionised sector are Page: 8 equally low. We need to work on both sides.”
“Mdm Speaker, MediShield Life is primarily targeted at hospitalisation. However, to my understanding, and the Minister for Health can correct me if I am wrong, for outpatient treatments which are longer term and expensive, such as dialysis and cancer treatment, they are covered under the MediShield Life. If there are other areas of expensive and long-term outpatient treatment which the Member feels should be included in MediShield Life, he may wish to file a separate Parliamentary Question to the Health Minister.”
“Mdm Speaker, I thank the Member for raising the two points. Firstly, on the part of the employers, the Member asked why they cannot offer this option to the individual employees. Basically, the schemes offered by the companies, or by the employers to the workers, would be through the Group Hospital and Surgical scheme. Economies of scale are important. For Page: 7 example, if a company were to offer their employees portability, there would be the option for the employee to either come under the group scheme or the individual scheme. First, they will face a self-selection problem. The healthier ones may go for the individual scheme. Secondly, from the point of view of the employers, the costs would go up because once the group of employees is divided, the size of the group is smaller, there are no economies of scale. From that viewpoint, I can understand why most employers would not offer this individual option. But more importantly, Mdm Speaker, I would like to highlight that Singapore has a feature which is quite different from most other countries, which is MediShield Life. MediShield Life is for everyone, including the family, children and spouses of the workers. Secondly, it is for life, from the day you are born to the day the person passes on. MediShield Life provides that medical safety net for everyone, not just the workers, but also their families. This is the reason why the tripartite partners have decided to channel our energy to encourage companies, employers to move from non-portable schemes to a portable scheme, but building on MediShield Life.”
“Mdm Speaker, the reason why the take-up rate has been low is both because of the employers' as well as the unions' preferences. On the part of the employers, many of them found it more effective for them to attract and retain the workers that they want; in other words, they can tailor their company's medical scheme as an attraction. Secondly, most of their workers at the working age are mostly healthy. As a result, employers adopt the shorter-term perspective. It is more cost-effective for them to continue the current practice. On the part of the unions, they also find it a challenge to convince the workers to move towards portable medical benefits because, for most of the company-provided medical insurance schemes, the payment starts from the first dollar. So, there is no co-payment needed from the first dollar. The challenge for the tripartite partners is to convince both the employers as well as the unions and workers to adopt a longer-term perspective. Today, there are already financial incentives for employers to move towards portable medical benefits. For example, the tax deduction can be up to 2% of the payroll, instead of 1%. There are incentives in place. But I would say that the hurdles – in terms of how we overcome this short-term perspective of the workers and employers – would be something we will continue to work on through tripartite efforts.”
“We will continue to encourage more employers to shift towards offering voluntary portable medical benefits which leverage on MediShield Life. Page: 6”
“Mdm Speaker, at the national level, the Government ensures that Singaporean workers have portable medical benefits through mandatory MediSave contributions by employers and employees. At the company level, more than 90% of employers provide additional medical benefits. Among them, some employers provide portable medical benefits on a voluntary basis. Our last survey in 2013 showed that about 4% of companies employing about 20% of our local workers do so. These companies may enjoy higher tax deductions for their medical expenses if they meet the qualifying conditions. With the introduction of MediShield Life in 2015, all Singaporeans now have portable medical insurance. The tripartite partners are, therefore, promoting MediShield Life as the platform for voluntary portable benefits. MediShield Life is universal and employees can use MediSave contributions to pay for premiums for MediShield Life, as well as Integrated Shield Plans which build on top of MediShield Life. With MediShield Life, all our local workers can be assured that their medical coverage, including for pre-existing illnesses, would follow them, regardless of any change in employment status or employer. More importantly, the annual claim limit has been raised significantly and the lifetime claim limit has been removed. Our focus going forward is to encourage employers to shift from providing non-portable medical benefits, such as the Group Hospital and Surgical insurance, to making additional contributions to employees' MediSave accounts. The tripartite partners have, for a start, included this recommendation in the Tripartite Guidelines on the Re-employment of Older Employees released in May 2016.”
“Mdm Speaker, may I have your permission to take Question Nos 1 and 2 together, please.”
“The Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices emphasise the importance of recruiting and selecting employees on the basis of merit regardless of age, race, gender, religion, disability or family status. Job application forms should only ask for information that is relevant to assessing an applicant’s suitability for the job. The Government requires candidates to fill in a short application form that assesses their suitability for the job. Declaration of any existing medical conditions, including mental illness, does not disqualify a candidate from being considered for a position in the Public Service. Public agencies will select the candidate with the best overall fit for the job, taking into account his skills and qualifications, relevant work experience and personal attributes.”
“Taking a whole-of-Government approach to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) transform and upgrade, Government agencies, including SPRING, Workforce Singapore (WSG), the Infocomm Media Development Authority, Building and Construction Authority, Singapore Tourism Board and Economic Development Board, together with the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i), offer a one-stop service under the Lean Enterprise Development Scheme (LEDS). The main scope of support covers the development of new capability, new capacity and new markets. It also helps SMEs to meet their manpower needs by becoming more manpower-lean and improving human resource practices. SMEs on LEDS may also receive transitional manpower support to keep existing processes running while they transit to new, manpower-lean methods of production or service. SMEs, particularly the micro and small SMEs, can also receive help from WSG to recruit professionals, managers, executives and technicians through programmes, such as P-Max and Career Support Programme. The e2i has also developed Place-and-Train programmes for various sectors to help SMEs hire, train and retain workers. To attract younger talent, SMEs can tap on the SkillsFuture Earn and Learn programme to recruit local graduates from the polytechnics and Institutes of Technical Education. SPRING's SME Talent Programme further supports SMEs' talent attraction efforts through quality internships. In addition, WSG helps companies, including SMEs, in their recruitment through career fairs. As our economy makes the transition to become more manpower-lean, we encourage SMEs to make full use of the support offered by LEDS and various agencies. They may approach any of the 12 SME Centres for assistance.”
“Personal loans are usually extended by an employer to the foreign domestic worker (FDW) to help the FDW pay placement fees to the local employment agency (EA). Our EA Licence Conditions require EAs to state their refund policies in their contracts with employers, including refunds for loans given by employers for the placement fee. Therefore, if the FDW terminates her employment prematurely, employers should check the contract they signed with their EA. The contract will lay out whether and under what circumstances they can get a full or partial refund. There are also EAs which do not require employers to extend personal loans to the FDWs; so, the issue of a refund does not even arise. Employers who prefer such an arrangement can approach these EAs.”
“The campaign educates workers, including independent contractors, on simple and practical measures to prevent injuries at work through pictograms. These are disseminated through the mass media, television commercials, radio advertisements and outdoor media. WSH is a collective responsibility of all stakeholders. Independent contractors, too, should play their part and ensure that they carry out work in a safe manner. MOM and the WSH Council will continue to work closely with our tripartite partners to create safer workplaces for all workers, including independent contractors.”
“Under the Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Act, premises owners have to take reasonably practicable measures to ensure that their premises are safe for workers, including independent contractors. As required by the Act, premises owners need to conduct risk assessment to eliminate or mitigate any foreseeable risks before work activity can commence. Service buyers also play an important role in ensuring the safety and health of independent contractors. For instance, service buyers are encouraged to adopt the bizSAFE programme, introduced by the WSH Council, to build in-house WSH capabilities in risk management. They can even go a step further to procure services only from bizSAFE certified contractors. WSH is everyone's responsibility. Independent contractors can take steps to enhance their WSH capabilities. They can enrol in safety and health courses offered by accredited training providers. They can access the wide range of free WSH information and toolkits, customised to suit different industry trades, on the WSH Council website. The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) has set up the Freelancers and Self-Employed Unit (FSEU) to reach out to self-employed and independent contractors. FSEU can work with the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and the WSH Council to enhance WSH awareness and competency of freelancers and independent contractors. On a broader front, MOM and the WSH Council have stepped up WSH awareness activities all year round, including organising engagement forums in collaboration with industry partners. A WSH Campaign highlighting seven common causes of workplace safety incidents in hotspots, such as working at heights and safe lifting operations, was launched since June this year.”
“Contract workers can be under "contracts of service" or "contracts for service". A contract of service is defined by an agreement between an employer and an employee which includes the terms and conditions of employment. In a contract for service, an independent contractor, such as a self-employed person or a freelancer, is engaged for a fee to carry out an assignment or project. All local employees who are under contracts of service are entitled to have medical benefits through mandatory employer and employee MediSave contributions. Employees can use these MediSave contributions to pay for MediShield Life and Integrated Shield Plans premiums. In addition, all employees are also eligible under the Work Injury Compensation Act for work injury compensation if they are injured at work or if they contract an occupational disease. Companies which contract services from self-employed individuals under contracts for service are not required to buy insurance for these individuals. This is because there is no employer-employee relationship between them. Nonetheless, self-employed persons are required to contribute to their CPF MediSave accounts if they earn an annual net trade income of more than $6,000. These contributions can likewise be used to pay premiums for MediShield Life and Integrated Shield Plans. Contract workers who are under contracts of service can contact the Ministry of Manpower for assistance if they are not provided with statutory benefits that they are entitled to.”
“Mdm Speaker, yes. We are now doing a survey on the changes in the employment landscape. We are going to gather more employment information regarding workers – either self-employed or as part of the gig economy – because we believe that there will be implications for the workers. Within the gig economy, the relationship between employer and employee has changed. And what we are concerned about would be, if we see more workers becoming portfolio workers without the employer-employee relationship, then how would their welfare, their well-being, be taken care of, including skills upgrading, employability, retirement planning and so on? MOM is conducting a survey now. Based on the survey findings, we will then decide on the next step.”
“For companies that are not unionised, we will try to do mediation as well. But more importantly is that having gone through the retrenchment exercise, we will collate information on the profile of the workers affected by retrenchment, in terms of their skills and education profile as well as their job preference. In some cases, with the support of the employers and the union, we are even able to conduct career fairs onsite with the company for the retrenched workers. In cases where they do not have a critical mass, we organise off-site job fairs for them. In the first nine months of this year, we have assisted more than 3,000 retrenched workers under this special arrangement. So, the moment they are retrenched, we move in, work with the companies to help the workers. We assisted about 3,300 of them. Of the 3,300, we were able to help close to 2,000 secure new jobs and new employment. So, I would say that, on the whole, let us support the retrenched workers the best that we can. Our main objective is to ensure that the retrenched workers will be able to go back to work as quickly as possible. Because the longer they stay out of a job, the harder it would be for them to come back to work. And that is the reason why MOM is now exploring with the unions and the employers to strengthen the retrenchment reporting framework. Because we believe that with more timely reporting, we will be able to reach out to these retrenched workers earlier so that we can help them even more.”
“Mdm Speaker, the Member asked whether the rate of retrenchment is on the increase. For the first three quarters of this year, compared to the same period last year, certainly the number is higher and will be higher for the whole of this year. MOM does not make any attempt to forecast. There is no formula for forecasting retrenchments. But what we do is to track the number. As the Member mentioned, based on the first three quarters of this year, it is higher than last year. For the whole of this year, we believe it will be higher than the whole of last year. What can we do? At the last Sitting, the Minister for Trade and Industry had already stated his position that, if need be, when the time comes, we will provide support assistance either at the sectoral level or broad-based level. But we are monitoring the situation. For MOM and its tripartite partners, we accept that retrenchment will continue to happen because in Singapore, we have always believed in continuous restructuring. In good times or in bad, retrenchment has always been there. Therefore, ongoing restructuring is not necessarily bad. In fact, it is good for our economy and good for the workers as well, so that they can continue to, hopefully, take on better jobs. Having said so, we recognise that retrenchment will be a very difficult experience for our retrenched workers. This is the reason why the tripartite partners have put in place a special task force since early this year. As and when there is a retrenchment exercise, our task force will engage the employer, engage the workers and, together with the union, we will ensure that the retrenchment is carried out in a fair manner. For example, if it is a unionised company, we will ensure that the union will negotiate for the retrenchment benefits.”
“In 28 out of these 29 appeals – 15 in 2015 and 14 in 2016 so far – the workers were either not entitled to retrenchment benefits as they have less than two years of service or there were no retrenchment benefits specified in their contracts or collective agreements. For the one remaining appeal, MOM is helping the workers to resolve the issues. The public sector is committed to progressive human resource practices. Public sector agencies have signed the Employers' Pledge of Fair Employment Practices since 2007. They will continue to abide by tripartite guidelines to carry out restructuring responsibly and in consultation with public sector unions. Madam, under the Adapt and Grow initiative, MOM and its tripartite partners have stepped up our support for retrenched workers through job matching and career services. To enable us to reach more retrenched workers and offer more timely assistance to them, MOM is now in consultation with unions and employers to strengthen our framework for retrenchment reporting. We are aware of the different positions of the unions and employers on this, but MOM believes that we can find a way forward for the interests of the retrenched workers.”
“Mdm Speaker, for the first three quarters of this year, 11,890 workers were retrenched, compared to 8,590 in the same period last year. In total, 13,440 workers were retrenched last year. We expect the number this year to be higher due to ongoing business restructuring and slowing economic growth. There is no clear evidence that irresponsible retrenchment is on the rise. Under the Employment Act, an employee who has served less than two years is not entitled to retrenchment benefits. For those who have served more than two years, payment of retrenchment benefits is mandatory if it is specified in their individual employment contracts or in the collective agreements negotiated by their unions. Even so, based on the last survey conducted in 2013, nine out of 10 companies with at least 25 employees did pay retrenchment benefits. The prevailing norm at that time was two weeks to one month of salary for each year of service. We are now conducting another survey and the findings will be ready by end of the year. Workers who feel that they have been treated unfairly during any retrenchment exercise can report to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) for investigation. In 2015, MOM received 94 cases from employees with retrenchment-related issues, out of which 15 appeals were from employees who were dismissed but felt they were retrenched and thereby deprived of retrenchment benefits. In the first three quarters of this year, out of 63 retrenchment-related cases, the number of appeals is 14. So, on the whole, these cases account for a small proportion of the total number of local employees retrenched in 2015 and 2016 so far.”
“Mdm Speaker, may I have your permission to take Question Nos 6 and 7 together, please?”
“MOM gives all foreign workers a Handy Guide in their native language when they first arrive to help them adjust to working and living in Singapore. The guide educates them about their employment rights and responsibilities, as well as the consequences of not complying with our laws. It also provides practical advice to help them settle down, such as good hygiene practices, safe work practices and channels of assistance if they encounter problems. These messages are reinforced in MOM's newsletters and the roadshows for foreign workers that MOM conducts jointly with other agencies. MOM also appoints Foreign Worker Ambassadors who help provide advice to foreign workers staying in their dormitories. On the issue of littering in dormitories, dormitory operators are expected to maintain the cleanliness of their dormitory premises at all times. MOM regularly inspects dormitories and will ask operators to make improvements if the living conditions are found to be unsatisfactory. Where the well-being of the workers is compromised as a result of poor dormitory conditions, MOM will take enforcement action against the errant operators. We urge anyone with information on specific dormitories that have serious littering issues to report these to MOM.”
“In 2006, the Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Act introduced a maximum penalty of $500,000 for failing to take reasonably practicable measures to ensure workers' health and safety. This was an increase from the $200,000 penalty under the old Factories Act1. MOM has been making strong representations to the State Courts, for penalties to be increased to reflect the severe consequences of failing to comply with the WSH Act. The penalties imposed by the State Courts have been increasing, with the highest fine to date being $220,000. MOM will continue to seek deterrent sentences in appropriate cases. There is, therefore, no need at this time to consider further raising the maximum penalty under the WSH Act. The compensation limits for death, total permanent incapacity and medical expenses under the Work Injury Compensation Act was only just reviewed in 2015. From 1 January 2016, the compensation limits were increased by between 20% and 30%, in order to keep payouts in line with rising incomes and healthcare costs.”
“On 22 March 2016, two SMRT trainees were hit and killed by an oncoming train near Pasir Ris MRT station. On 13 September, SMRT dismissed two employees who were involved in the accident – one of the employees was the train driver and the other was an Assistant Engineer. The National Transport Workers' Union (NTWU) filed an appeal to SMRT on 19 September. In response, the company convened a panel to review the appeal. On 27 September, NTWU also filed an appeal to MOM under the Industrial Relations Act (IRA) on behalf of the two union members. MOM has called for information on the grounds of dismissal from SMRT. We will try to help the parties involved to come to an amicable settlement through conciliation. If it fails, an inquiry will be conducted to determine if the company has just cause to dismiss the workers. In the meantime, the union is engaging the two workers and is helping to secure employment for them.”
“Between 2014 and August 2016, around 3,000 foreigners were found working illegally and they are mostly from China, Bangladesh and India. We have seen a steady decline in the number of foreigners found to be working illegally, from around 1,300 in 2014 to 550 in the first eight months of this year. The illegal workers were found working mainly in the construction, food and beverage and other services sectors, in occupations, such as construction workers, cleaners and stall assistants. All foreigners working in Singapore must have a valid work pass. Failing to do so is a breach of the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act. MOM has a multi-prong strategy to reduce such illegal employment. First, MOM educates work pass holders and employers on their employment responsibilities, as well as the consequences of not complying with our laws. These messages are reinforced in MOM’s advisory letter to employers, guidebooks, newsletters and roadshows for foreign workers, including at their dormitories and in their native languages. Second, we take a risk-based approach and conduct proactive inspections on businesses suspected of hiring foreigners illegally. In addition, we also respond to tip-offs from members of the public. Foreigners found working illegally will be barred from future employment in Singapore. Third, to deter the demand for illegal workers, the penalty for illegal employment was enhanced in 2012. Employers who hire illegal workers face a minimum fine of $5,000 per charge for first-time offenders. Repeat offenders face a minimum fine of $10,000 per charge and a minimum imprisonment term of one month. Our strategy of conducting inspections, imposing penalties and outreach has worked well.”
“For abuse cases involving foreign domestic workers (FDWs), Police investigate all cases where criminal offences have been reported, whether FDWs are victims or offenders. In 2014 and 2015, there were about 30 cases per year involving FDWs as victims, where after investigations, the employer or members of employer’s household were prosecuted or given warnings in lieu of prosecution. In the same period, about 40 FDWs per year were arrested by the Police, on suspicion of abusing their wards. A proportion of these arrest cases eventually resulted in prosecution or warning in lieu of prosecution. MOM does not track the number of rest days received by the FDW offenders. All employers are expected to treat FDWs with care and respect. Under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Regulations, an employer has to grant a weekly rest day to the FDW or compensate the FDW in lieu of the rest day if there is mutual agreement. FDWs who encounter difficulties can seek assistance through the MOM helpline and NGOs like the Centre for Domestic Employees. Page: 94”
“We are in the process of shortlisting the first batch of these firms, working out the details of further support and aim to launch the programme later this year.”
“We are taking a two-pronged approach to encourage firms to strengthen their Singaporean Core. First, in February 2016, the Ministry identified about 100 firms for closer scrutiny. These firms did not seem to have made reasonable efforts to provide fair employment opportunities or have had substantiated complaints of discriminatory practices. After notifying them and scrutinising them for about six months, about one in five have been assessed by TAFEP and sector agencies to have made significant improvements. Their employment practices are now comparable to their industry peers. They have taken proactive steps to participate in career fairs and training programmes organised by WDA and e2i. Some have taken the further step to develop in-house programmes for knowledge transfer to their Singaporean staff. On the recommendation of TAFEP, MOM no longer subjects these firms to closer scrutiny and their EP applications are being processed as per normal. The remaining four in five have shown some progress but MOM will continue to scrutinise their EP applications. As at end September, we have not approved close to 300 EP applications from these firms. We are looking closely at whether they have taken concrete steps to consider Singaporeans fairly for these positions. In addition, we have identified around 180 more firms to be placed under closer scrutiny. This will bring the total number of firms under closer scrutiny to about 250. Second, we are identifying firms with exemplary fair and progressive human capital practices for differentiated treatment. MOM is launching a Human Capital Partnership Programme to better support them in nurturing our local manpower and strengthening the complementarity of foreign manpower. This will encourage more firms to follow suit.”
“CPFIS was introduced in 1986 to give CPF members an option to invest and manage their CPF savings. CPF members are made aware that they must understand and accept the risk of their investment choices. There are over 700 products to choose from under CPFIS. They should, therefore, choose CPFIS investments that match their risk tolerance and investment objectives. There is now $24 billion invested through CPFIS, of which the majority are from the Ordinary Account. In the past five financial years, about 16% of CPFIS-OA investors were able to realise higher returns than the risk-free OA interest rate offered by CPF. However, the other 84% of CPFIS-OA investors did not. In other words, the majority of CPFIS-OA investors would have been better off leaving their savings in their OA to earn the default interest rate, currently at 2.5%. The CPF Advisory Panel made a similar observation in its report that was released in August 2016. Hence, the Panel has recommended that the Government review the current CPFIS to better target it at knowledgeable CPFIS investors who feel confident of managing their investments on their own and have the time to do so. Along with the review of the CPFIS, the Panel also recommended that the Government introduce the Lifetime Retirement Investment Scheme, or the LRIS for short, as a simpler investment option. The LRIS will cater to CPF members who wish to invest their CPF savings but find the CPFIS too complex and onerous or find it too time-consuming Page: 90 to actively manage their investments. The Government has accepted the Panel's recommendation to review the CPFIS and to study the LRIS. More details will be released later.”