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 8 of 25.
“Mdm Speaker, I thank the Member for the suggestions. The Member is right that for many of the mature PMETs, their salary is likely to be more than $4,000. That is the reason why, besides PCP which has been around for a few years, in October, we also introduced CSP. Under CSP, we are able to provide wage support for salary ranges from $4,000 to $7,000. So, in short, mature PMETs can be supported under our programmes through a combination of both PCP and CSP.”
“Mdm Speaker, the Member asked whether the Workforce Development Agency (WDA) programmes and initiatives can be extended to university graduates. WDA programmes and initiatives are indeed already extended to university graduates, including fresh graduates. This includes providing employment facilitation and career services, including career advisory, job fairs and resources on job search. In fact, last year, of the jobseekers assisted by WDA and the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i), 17% of them hold a degree qualification. The Member also asked whether the Ministry would consider more grants and financial aids to help the older graduates to upgrade or upskill under the full sponsorship of the Professional Conversion Programme (PCP). Mdm Speaker, professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs), including degree holders, can have access programmes such as PCP, the Career Support Programme (CSP) and P-Max, to help them transit to new jobs, including in the small and medium enterprises (SMEs). In particular, older PMETs are already offered a higher level of career and employment support, as suggested by the Member. For example, under PCP, companies which hire PMETs aged 40 and above will receive 90% wage support, or 20% more than those younger than age 40, up to a cap of $4,000 during the training and this is on top of existing training subsidies. At the same time, CSP is also specially designed for mid-career PMETs aged 40 and above. The Government pays between 10% and 40% of their first year's wages for mature PMETs deployed under CSP.”
“Mdm Speaker, first of all, let me separate the two issues of notification with statistics. Retrenchment statistics are done through survey, so we do this on a quarterly basis. In other words, regardless of whether the retrenchment exercise has been notified to MOM, we do a comprehensive survey, so the statistics should reflect the overall situation. On the questions of notification, the tripartite partners have discussed this many times before. On the part of the employers, many of them have expressed that for pre-retrenchment notification, their main concern is confidentiality. This is an issue that up till now we have not been able to reach a consensus on. Having said so, on the part of MOM, our primary concern is, firstly, about responsible retrenchment. But more importantly, we want to ensure that we can offer timely employment facilitation to those workers affected by retrenchment. So, what we did was since early this year, we have established a tripartite retrenchment response taskforce, comprising of the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i), Workforce Development Agency (WDA), MOM and the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) as well. What we have been doing is that once we have knowledge of any retrenchment exercise, the taskforce will move in. We will work with the company and the union very closely to gather information on who are the workers affected, their age, education and skill profiles. We would even organise a job fair in the company, on-site, if there is enough critical mass. So, I think on the whole our primary concern is to ensure that the retrenched workers will receive not just a fair retrenchment treatment but, more importantly, are given the best employment support as well.”
“Mdm Speaker, on the first point, whether this payment is above the payment for notice pay, the answer is yes. On the issue of industry norm, the tripartite partners do issue the Tripartite Guidelines and this industry norm of two weeks to one month is actually in the guidelines. In other words, this is the industry norm today and the tripartite partners make an effort to ensure that this is known by companies on the whole. At the same time the tripartite partners also emphasise that for unionised companies where the quantum of retrenchment benefits is incorporated in the collective agreement, the norm today is one month. All this information is in our guidelines.”
“Mdm Speaker, I agree with the Member. If any Member, especially unions, know of any such disguised retrenchment exercises, please let MOM know.”
“On the issue of retrenchment notice period, the Employment Act stipulates the minimum notice period for termination of employees covered under the Act, namely, rank-and-file employees and professionals, managers and executives earning up to $4,500 per month. On the issue of payment of retrenchment benefits, the Employment Act stipulates that no employee who has served less than two years shall be entitled to any retrenchment benefit. However, the Act does not mandate the payment of retrenchment benefits for employees who have served two years or more. The quantum of retrenchment benefits, if any, is at the employer's discretion. Even so, the vast majority of employers with 25 or more employees do pay retrenchment benefits commensurate with the industry norm, as shown in the survey I cited earlier. Affected employees who encounter irresponsible retrenchment practices not in compliance with the Employment Act can approach MOM for assistance. Those not covered by the Act can approach their unions if they are union members. For non-union members, if their contract stipulates a notice period or the retrenchment benefits quantum, they have recourse through the civil Courts. And with the setting up of the Employment Claims Tribunals in April 2017, they will have a more affordable and expeditious avenue to resolve their contractual disputes, including retrenchment benefits.”
“Thank you. Mdm Speaker, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) conducts a survey on retrenchment once every four years. Based on the last survey conducted in 2013 for retrenchments carried out in 2012, nine in 10 companies paid retrenchment benefits, 68% of them came from manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, and financial and insurance services; 80% were non-unionised companies, and 66% were small and medium enterprises employing between 25 and 199 employees. We do not have data on smaller enterprises as the survey covered only establishments with at least 25 employees. The same survey showed that the prevailing norm was to pay a retrenchment benefit of between two weeks and one month of salary per year of service. In view of the current economic situation, we have brought forward the next survey due in 2017 to this year. We have also extended coverage to smaller establishments employing between 10 and 24 employees. The tripartite partners recognise that retrenchment is a difficult time for companies, affected employees and their families. We therefore issued and periodically update the Tripartite Guidelines on Managing Excess Manpower and Responsible Retrenchment. The guideline covers, for example, the fair selection of employees for retrenchment, consultation with union, notification to MOM, to the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP), communication with the employees affected, retrenchment benefits based on industry norm and, last but not least, providing employment facilitations to workers affected. This is to remind the employers to implement their retrenchment exercise in a responsible and sensitive manner.”
“Mdm Speaker, may I have your permission to take Question Nos 20 and 21 together, please?”
“I thank the Member for the question. The eligibility for Silver Support is reviewed annually. So, come November this year, we will complete the review for 2017, and the seniors will receive a letter of notification from CPF in December this year and that will apply for 2017. This will be the annual review. But any time during the year if any of the seniors feel that their family circumstances have changed, maybe the income has dropped or whatever, they can request for a review any time during the year and CPF Board will conduct a review. For those who turn out to be eligible, they will qualify for Silver Support from the date of appeal without having to wait for the annual cycle.”
“Mdm Speaker, whether the children live with the seniors, we hope they will all take care of the seniors. The point Mr Louis Ng is asking, if I get him right, is why is it that when we compute the per capita household income, we included only children who live with the seniors, and we do not include children who do not live with the seniors? This means not so much using per capita household income but per capita family income as a criterion. In other words, we look at it as a family, whether the children are staying together or not and so on. I think, on the whole, no outcome is perfect. So, one of the key considerations of this scheme is that we would like to make the scheme as convenient for the seniors as possible. For example, under the Silver Support Scheme, the seniors need not apply for the scheme. On the per capita household income, we are able to gather the information through various sources, but that should not rule out, who knows, one day in the future, when we have enhanced our information network, we may one day evolve towards per capita family income basis. But as of now, we do it on a per capita household income. And let me emphasise, again. For cases if, indeed, the seniors feel that they deserve special consideration, help them to put up an appeal and, as I mentioned, we will look at the three criteria in totality. If they do not qualify based on the per capita household income criterion, but if we take into consideration the other two criteria, if we feel that, on the whole, they deserve that extra help, we will extend the Silver Support to them.”
“Mdm Speaker, the first question is about seniors staying with their children and because of the higher income of the children, as a result, the seniors do not qualify for Silver Support because they exceeded the per capita household income of more than $1,100. The solution is not for the children or the senior to move out of the house; the solution is for the children to continue to take care of the senior. The second point about the outreach, website and hotline, I agree with the Member. In fact, we discovered that as well. Most of the seniors would come to CPF Service Centres. At the same time, we are also arranging a series of community outreach. Many of the People’s Association (PA) staff are equipped with the information. I am also happy to say that quite a number of our grassroots advisers are also helping to bring the information out there to the community. In short, I think in cases where the senior does not meet the requirements, we will look at the case from the total perspective. If the children are of a higher-income group and if they exceeded the per capita household income criterion by a big margin, those cases are likely to be rejected. But if they are marginal cases where the number of persons in the household is small, for example, a mother living with a son and the son actually is earning only about, say, $2,500, if this is divided by two persons, the per capita income becomes $1,250 which still exceeds the requirement. But in those cases, we will look at it from the total perspective and will consider it on a case-by-case basis. In any case, I hope that the children or the seniors do not move out of the house. They should continue to live together and take care of each other.”
“So far, CPF Board has received about 2,300 appeals for Silver Support. Among the cases processed, some have been rejected because these seniors have far exceeded the thresholds of the three criteria. Some cases have been approved because the seniors' circumstances have changed in the last 15 months and they now meet all the three criteria. There were also some marginal cases where seniors narrowly missed out on one criterion, but met the other criteria by a big margin. For such appeals, we consider their circumstances in total and decide on a case-by-case basis. However, the majority of the appeal cases are still pending because CPF Board is waiting for the appellants to provide additional information and documents for us to reassess their eligibility. The Silver Support Scheme will cost close to $320 million in the first year to support about 140,000 of our seniors. It complements the extensive range of support schemes for our seniors. Seniors who do not qualify for Silver Support but require financial assistance can approach any Social Service Office for help. As the Minister for Finance said at Budget 2016, and I quote, "the majority of our seniors, even if they do not qualify for Silver Support, will continue to benefit from substantial existing support schemes".”
“The first criterion is total Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions made during prime working years until the age of 55. Wages were generally low in the early years of Singapore's economic development. As a result, a vast majority of our workers earned low wages during their younger days. Notwithstanding the changes in CPF contribution rates over the years, a majority of our seniors, in fact, about two-thirds of them, have total CPF contributions of $70,000 or less when they turned 55. Among these two-third seniors, some owned smaller homes with less scope to monetise their assets and some currently continue to have lesser family support and lower household income. By combining the three criteria of total CPF contributions capped at $70,000, home ownership of 4-room Housing and Development Board (HDB) flat or smaller, or living in 5-room flat or smaller, and lastly, household monthly income per person of not more than $1,100, we ensure that Silver Support goes to those seniors who need more help than the others. One hundred and forty thousand of them received their first Silver Support payouts in July 2016. To help our seniors better understand the new scheme, we have set up a Silver Support website for them to check their eligibility and get clarifications on frequently asked questions. Seniors can also call the Silver Support hotline or visit any of the CPF Service Centres. To date, CPF Board has handled more than 28,000 enquiries. We also disseminate information and distribute brochures on Silver Support through the grassroots network such as the Community Centres. Pioneer Generation Ambassadors are also trained to explain the scheme to seniors during their house visits. So far, they have explained to about 15,000 seniors.”
“Mdm Speaker, I would like to put Silver Support in proper perspective. Silver Support is the latest addition to our seniors' support schemes. Over the years, the Government has put in place a comprehensive framework to support seniors in their various needs. There are three tiers of schemes. Let me illustrate. The first tier offers universal coverage for all seniors, for example, with MediShield Life for healthcare, Senior Citizen Concession Card for public transport and foreign domestic worker levy concessions for daily care at home. The second tier provides another layer of support to a majority of seniors, for example, with Goods and Services Tax (GST) Voucher Scheme for utilities and healthcare. And to supplement retirement incomes, we also have the Silver Housing Bonus and enhanced Lease Buyback Scheme for seniors to monetise their property. The third tier is for a minority of seniors only, for those who need even more support. For example, ComCare for short- and long-term financial assistance, Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS) Blue, MediFund and MediShield Life Additional Premium Support for healthcare. The Silver Support Scheme is the latest addition to the third tier of support. In other words, it is only meant for the minority of seniors. It is targeted mainly at the bottom 20% of elderly Singaporeans aged 65 and above, with a smaller degree of support extended to up to the next 10% of seniors. Specifically, we identify them as seniors who not only have little or no family support currently in their retirement years, but also did not manage to save enough for their retirement because they earned low wages over their prime working years. The eligibility criteria for Silver Support were announced by the Finance Minister at Budget 2016.”
“Mdm Speaker, may I take Question Nos 14, 15 and 16 together, please?”
“While there is no EP quota, employers must consider Singaporeans fairly in hiring and career development. MOM subjects EP applications from companies which have signs of unfair employment practices to closer scrutiny. Processing of their EP applications will take longer. Where such companies do not take corrective action, MOM may, on the recommendation of Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices (TAFEP), suspend their work pass privileges.”
“Employment Pass (EP) applications are assessed based on a combination of factors, including educational qualifications, work experience and salary. The 20 EP applications for Harry's International Pte Ltd were approved as they met the criteria. However, their employee was subsequently found to have falsely declared the salaries in the EP applications. She was convicted in Court and fined $40,000. The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) safeguards the integrity of our work pass framework by conducting the necessary verification on doubtful EP applications. These include checks on qualifications by overseas screening agencies or with the issuing education institutions. Employers may also be asked to show proof that the submitted qualifications are genuine and that they have the financial ability to pay the declared salaries. Audits may be conducted to ascertain if EP holders were, indeed, paid the salaries as declared. EP applications found with doubtful qualifications will be rejected. EP applicants found to have submitted forged qualifications will also be barred from employment in Singapore. Applications with a declared salary suspected to have been inflated will also be rejected. Strong action is taken against those who make false declarations in work pass applications. If convicted, the offender can be fined up to $20,000 and/or jailed for up to two years under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act (EFMA). They will also be barred from hiring new or renewing work passes of their foreign workers. Members of the public who know of such offences should report the matter to MOM. Since 2014, a total of 58 employers have been convicted for making false declarations of salary in work pass applications.”
“Intra-company transferees (ICTs) from any country, including India, would need to meet the Ministry's work pass qualifying criteria to work in Singapore. The only difference is that ICTs from all countries are exempted from the advertisement requirement in our Jobs Bank. The Ministry does not disclose data on foreign manpower with breakdown by nationality, including Page: 170 data on ICTs.”
“Half of Central Provident Fund (CPF) members aged 65 or older who passed on in 2015 had about $6,800 or less left in their CPF accounts. Table 1 below shows the CPF balances of CPF members aged 65 or older who passed away between 2010 and 2015. Any unused CPF balances are bequeathed to the deceased member's nominated beneficiaries. If there are no nominated beneficiaries, the unused CPF balances are distributed under intestacy laws.”
“Employees who feel that their wages have been unfairly adjusted upon re-employment should approach their unions or the MOM for early assistance.”
“The re-employment model was introduced in 2012, after extensive tripartite consultations. Under the Retirement and Re-employment Act (RRA), employers are required to offer re-employment to eligible employees who turn 62 years old or the contractual retirement age if it is higher, up to the prevailing re-employment age. Employers may re-employ employees on a new contract with re-negotiated terms, or allow them to continue on their existing contracts. The law requires any adjustments to contract terms to be based on reasonable factors, such as the employees' productivity, performance, duties and responsibilities and the wage system applicable to the employee, including any seniority element. Currently, the re-employment age is 65 and it will be raised to 67 by 1 July 2017, as announced at the Ministry of Manpower's (MOM's) Committee of Supply debate in April. In recent years, over 98% of resident employees who wished to continue working were offered employment beyond 62. Specifically, in 2015, 98% of those who accepted re-employment in the same job, be it on a new or existing contract, did not experience a cut in their basic wages. Of the small minority of 2% who did experience wage cuts upon re-employment, the median wage cut Page: 169 was 10%. It is worth noting that among those on new contracts, almost one in 10 actually received higher wages upon re-employment. To create higher awareness of employers' obligations on the employment of older employees, the Tripartite Partners have issued a set of Tripartite Guidelines on the Re-employment of Older Employees. The guidelines are gazetted and are used by MOM, the Industrial Arbitration Court and the High Court in settling re-employment claims and appeals.”
“The Employment Act sets out the basic terms of employment including salary and other statutory benefits. Where there are disputes, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) first attempts to resolve them by mediation. If parties are not satisfied with the outcome, they can have the dispute adjudicated at the Labour Court. In the past three years, MOM received about 4,500 disputes involving foreign workers per year. This represents less than 0.4% of the foreign workforce in Singapore. MOM ensures that all disputes are dealt with expeditiously. The large majority, that is, more than 90% are amicably settled through mediation within one month. The remaining 10% of cases are resolved through adjudication at the Labour Court. Adjudication takes an average of another month to complete. Hence, practically all disputes are resolved within two months from the time the foreign workers surface their disputes to MOM. MOM requires the employers to be responsible for the workers' well-being, including the provision of proper food and accommodation, for the duration of the dispute. This ensures that the employer does not unfairly pass on the cost of upkeep to other taxpayers. The state will provide for the upkeep of a worker where necessary, if the worker is required by the state, for example, as a prosecution witness or an accused person. The longest case in the last three years took about 10 months to complete as it involved not only a salary dispute but also a criminal breach of the Penal Code, where the employer was also investigated for allegations of salary fraud. The worker involved in that case was given proper upkeep and was also allowed to change employer after two months to continue working in Singapore.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, for those who are covered under the EA, we can prosecute them under the Act. For those not covered under the EA, the advantage of the ECT is that the order of the ECT is now enforceable by registering the settlement outcome with the District Court. That is a big plus. By the way, for TMF, that is, likewise, the biggest improvement. Salary-related settlement agreements at TMF are now enforceable through registration with the District Courts. [(proc text) Question put, and agreed to. (proc text)] Page: 109 [(proc text) Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. (proc text)] [(proc text) The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. – [Mr Lim Swee Say]. (proc text)] [(proc text) Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed. (proc text)] Page: 110”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, this will be in accordance with the State Courts' procedures. For example, whether the issue of re-employment eligibility was discussed in mediation, the information will be made available to the ECT. Likewise, the records of the ECT, as I had replied earlier to the suggestions made by Mr Louis Ng, we will work together with the State Courts to look into these proposals.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank the Member for the clarification. I read the Hansard as well and I think the way I worded it may have created this wrong impression. This is the reason why I thought it is important that I clarify it here. Basically, what I meant to say was that of all the companies, of all the employers who received the Labour Court order for payment, 80% actually were able to make payment; only 20% did not make the full payment. Of the 20% that did not make full payment, some of them did not have assets for seizure, some of them had run into financial difficulties or they had closed down their businesses. For these, obviously, there is no recourse. For those who are able to make payment, but for whatever reason refuse to make payment, we prosecute them under the EA because this is a salary offence. In other words, even with the ECT, we still have the right to pursue employers for failing to make salary payments.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, I will discuss that with the tripartite partners. My understanding is that, if a case is relating to the payment of the EAP, the first to be established is whether the employee is eligible for re-employment because, if the employee is not eligible for re-employment, then the payment of the EAP does not arise. So, at the mediation stage, if the employer feels that the employee is not eligible for re-employment, that is where he should bring it up during the mediation. And if the mediator agrees with the employer that the employee does not qualify for re-employment, the case is closed. If the employee disagrees with the mediator that he does not qualify for eligibility, he can come to MOM, and MOM is the final decision-maker to decide whether a worker is eligible for re-employment. Once MOM rules that the person is eligible for re-employment, then the mediation will proceed. After the mediation, if there is no outcome, they will go to the ECT. That is my understanding of how it works. So, by the time it goes to the ECT to re-debate on the eligibility of the employee, it is, in a way, setting back the whole process all over again.”
“The tripartite partners have deliberated at length and we have decided and agreed that the ECT should start with resolving salary-related dispute claims in an affordable and expeditious manner now, before we consider to expand the scope of the ECT to hear non salary-related issues in future. So, not now, but in the future. The tripartite partners will continue to deliberate on this issue. In conclusion, Mr Deputy Speaker, I want to come back to the point made by Assoc Prof Randolph Tan. It is a very important point. At the end of the day, what we really want to strive for is having good progressive HR practices at the workplaces so that disputes can be prevented. I share his views completely. The ECT is a solution to resolving disputes. However, we must not forget that, at the end of the day, avoidance of disputes is better than resolving disputes. I also agree with Mr Thomas Chua's point about paying more attention in supporting SMEs. We will be doing even more to help SMEs to keep upgrading their HR capability. I share Mr Thomas Chua's concern that if the ECT mechanism is made too complicated, many SMEs may not be able to cope with it. That is the reason why we have set up the ECT as a first step to be as simple and direct as possible. Page: 107 I believe that the establishment of the ECT and TADM is an important step forward in addressing salary-related claims for all workers and, hopefully, will create a more comprehensive dispute management landscape here and lay the foundation for us to continue to update and evolve the dispute resolution mechanism in Singapore. Mr Deputy Speaker, with that, I beg to move.”
“A summary of the feedback and the response will be made available online on the Reaching Everyone for Active Citizenry @ Home (REACH) platform following the debate in this House. Mr Deputy Speaker, establishing the ECT is a big step forward, but is not the final step. It is just a good start. We are going to do much more. For example, Mr Patrick Tay asked about reviewing our employment legislation. Over the years, we have progressively expanded our EA coverage for PMEs. We first extended salary protection under the EA to PMEs earning less than $2,500 because, prior to that, there was no coverage for PMEs. In 2008, we included PMEs earning less than $2,500 under our EA. This salary ceiling was raised to $4,500 in 2011. In 2014, we amended the EA to give PMEs some non-salary protection, such as sick leave benefits, unfair dismissal. We will continue to work with the tripartite partners to regularly review our employment legislation, including the EA salary ceiling as suggested by Mr Patrick Tay. Mr Tay also asked about covering more types of disputes under the TMF. Today's Bill now allows the TMF to cover a broader range of disputes, including salary-related and non-salary related disputes, like re-employment. We will continue our discussions with the tripartite partners for the TMF to cover more non salary-related disputes, such as unfair dismissal. This is something we will do through tripartite consultation. Mr Faisal Manap, Mr Dennis Tan, Ms K Thanaletchimi and Mr Gan Thiam Poh also asked whether the ECT could hear non salary-related disputes in future, including unfair dismissals, workplace injury claims, discrimination and so on.”
“I also agree with Mr Thomas Chua who highlighted that it is important for the employers, especially SMEs, to enhance and raise their HR competencies so as to avoid disputes rather than to be faced with disputes. We will do our part as well to help to upgrade the HR capabilities amongst SMEs. Mr Murali Pillai asked what kind of claims will continue to come to the Commissioner for Labour under the EA . With the setting up of the ECT, the Commissioner for Labour will continue to hear claims related to the transfer of employment to another company because of restructuring, and claims related to the recovery of salary not paid in legal tender. These will not be under the ECT. In addition, the Commissioner for Labour will continue to handle non-salary-related disputes, such as unfair dismissal. Mr Murali Pillai asked why is it that employers should raise the issue of re-employment eligibility during mediation and not during the ECT hearing. I want to clarify that under the RRA, re-employment eligibility is determined by MOM. If the employees and the employers have Page: 106 disagreements over re-employment eligibility, the employee should come to MOM and we will get it settled. Once it is determined that the employee is eligible for re-employment, if they cannot agree on the payment of the Employment Assistance Payment (EAP), that is where the ECT will come in to rule whether the payment is adequate and appropriate. Assoc Prof Daniel Goh asked about the outcomes of public consultation conducted earlier this year. We did receive feedback, and many of the feedback were similar to the issues raised by the Members today.”
“TADM will give them advice and assist them to go through that process. Assoc Prof Daniel Goh referred to my reply to a Parliamentary Question on 11 May 2015, mentioning that of those employers who did not comply with the Labour Court's orders, 80% of them turned out to be able to pay. Maybe the way I put it was not so clear. So, I wish to clarify. What I meant was that of all the employers who receive Labour Court orders, 80% were able to pay. Only 20% did not make the full payment. Of those 20% who were unable to make full payment, the majority of them were due to financial difficulties, in some cases, going out of business. For those who wilfully disobey the Labour Court orders, they can be prosecuted under the EA or salary offences. So, we do have the mechanism to prosecute them. We have done so and will continue to do so. To help the local vulnerable workers who are caught in situations where companies may not have assets to be seized or may have stopped operations and are unable to make the payment, Assoc Prof Daniel Goh, Mr Louis Ng, Miss Cheryl Chan, Mr Gan Thiam Poh and other Members asked whether we can do something to help them. I am happy to say that MOM is in the process of establishing a short-term relief fund to assist such workers, and this fund will be administered by TADM. More details will be disclosed later. On public communication, I agree with Members Mr Patrick Tay and Mr Zainal Sapari that it is important to raise awareness about the ECT and TADM, including the rules and processes. So, MOM certainly will work with the tripartite partners and key stakeholders to do so.”
“I agree with Mr Patrick Tay that the claim process should be simplified where possible. At the same time, Mr Zainal Sapari also asked about the ECT's operating hours and having some claim forms in the vernacular languages. Mr Deputy Speaker, this ECT is part of the State Courts system. The ECT will align its processes with those of the other State Court tribunals. MOM will work with the State Courts to customise the services of the ECT according to the needs of the workers. Mr Louis Ng had some questions regarding ECT records and grounds of decisions. MOM and the State Courts will explore these matters in the drafting of the subsidiary legislation. On ECT fees, Mr Patrick Tay, Mr Louis Ng and some other Members touched on the affordability of ECT fees. I fully agree that the fees should be kept affordable. In fact, that is the whole purpose of the ECT. We will consider various suggestions, for example, to tier fees by claim amounts and so on. Mr Faisal Manap was concerned that the fees may be set too high and he Page: 105 hoped that it would be set below $160 or something like that. We will bear that in mind. I would also like to assure Mr Zainal Sapari and Mr Faisal Manap that the ECT will be accessible to low-wage workers and we will waive the fees for deserving cases, which is in line with today's State Courts' practice. Enforcement of the ECT orders. Ms Thanaletchimi asked how the ECT orders can be enforced. If the orders are not complied with, they can commence debt recovery by applying to the State Courts for a Writ of Seizure and Sales. I think Members are concerned about what if the workers do not know how to go about doing this, and whether it will be too costly for them. I am happy to share with Members that TADM will assist them.”
“Union members in a non-unionised company, who undergo the TMF, can seek consent from ECT for their tripartite mediation advisors to observe their ECT hearings. These will be prescribed in the subsidiary legislation, in black and white. Mr Zainal Sapari asked whether the next-of-kin (NOK) can make the claim for some members. Generally speaking, claimants must make their claims in person. But in cases where the employee does not have the capacity to represent himself, his NOK may apply to the Courts to be appointed as a deputy under the Mental Capacity Act. Once appointed as a deputy, the NOK may then submit a mediation request on behalf of the employee. Some Members also expressed the concern on what if the worker is not able to express himself, not able to present his case fairly due to whatever constraint, then whether the judgment will be a fair one. Here, I want to assure the Members that the tribunal magistrates appointed to the ECT will be legally qualified and they will decide on each case, its merits, and in accordance with the relevant legislation, case law and legal principles. The ECT will adopt a judge-led approach. So, the judge will lead the tribunal and may allow individuals with relevant skills and experience to act as assessors, as suggested by Mr Murali Pillai. The ECT may also summon any person to give evidence or produce relevant documents. Parties may appeal to the High Court against an ECT order on grounds of law and jurisdiction. In other words, all these measures are to ensure that there will be a fair outcome. In terms of the processing of ECT cases, I would like to assure Mr Patrick Tay that the ECT and TADM will continue to prioritise the urgent cases, which is what we are doing in the Labour Court today.”
“This is to avoid multiple proceedings in different Courts and tribunals over the same dispute. This is in line with the State Courts' existing practice. It is not something new to the ECT. Mr Zainal Sapari asked about the timeframe for mediation sessions. For Labour Court claims, the first session is arranged within a month, usually within 14 working days. We will continue with this best practice under the ECT. Mr Murali Pillai asked whether new claims that may arise between mediation and ECT hearings can be combined. The answer is yes, we will consider his suggestion. However, I would prefer to limit it to only similar and related claims because, if the claims are completely different, it is better that they go through mediation. But I take the Member's point. Representation at the ECT. Many Members talked about legal representation. The reason why we insist on no legal representation at the ECT is because we think legal representation will work to Page: 104 the disadvantage of the workers. Because if we allow legal representation, it is more likely that the employer will be able to afford legal representation, compared to the employee. But, more importantly, as I have mentioned, we want the ECT to be a very affordable, very expeditious way of resolving disputes. Any complex cases that require legal representation, they should go to the civil Court rather than come to the ECT. We are not saying that this is not important; we are just saying that it is outside the scope of the ECT. Several Members also asked about the representation at the ECT. I just want to confirm again that for union members in the unionised companies, they may be represented by the unions at mediation and at the ECT hearings.”
“Today, their claims are not under the Labour Court. The ECT, for a good start, will take over the role of the Labour Court and not beyond that. Therefore, for these categories of workers, we will look to include them in future phases of implementation. Time limit – six months, one year. It is debatable. Based on our experience with the Labour Court, six months and one year would be sufficient to cater for most cases. But one important point is that based on our experience with the Labour Court, evidence becomes harder to gather, harder to collate, as the time passed by. As a result, we believe that by imposing this time limit, it will actually force both employers and employees to take quick action. If you have a claim, make it quickly, why wait? And bear in mind, there is a limit of $20,000, $30,000. The longer the workers wait to file their claims, the more the workers accumulate their claims, the more likely they are going to be affected by the claim limit. So, I would say that having a faster claim works to the advantage of the workers. Do not wait. On claim limit, why $20,000? If I set it at $50,000, Members will ask why $50,000? If I say $100,000, Members will ask why $100,000? The answer is very simple. Today, at the Labour Court, we have a $20,000 limit for PMEs; for the rank-and-file, there is no limit. But we discovered that, for the rank-and-file, $20,000 is more than adequate. As a result, we decided to continue the existing claim limit of the Labour Court. But this number is not cast in concrete. We will review it from time to time through tripartite consultation. Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked why the claimants cannot recover their abandoned claim amounts in other Courts.”
“Secondly, it is not our intention to make the ECT so comprehensive that it solves all problems. The ECT is meant to be a cheaper, better, faster way of resolving disputes. Cheaper – must be highly affordable, more so than the civil Courts. Better – because it must be able to help more and more employees, including those not covered by EA, to have access to the ECT. Lastly, faster – we want the disputes to be resolved as quickly as possible. Against that backdrop, let me start by saying that I know many of you will be disappointed by my response, but please bear in mind this. I think Member Mr Dennis Tan or Assoc Prof Daniel Goh said that the ECT is a good start. I fully agree with him. That is our intention. We want to have a good start to the ECT and this good start need not be the ending point, it is just a good start. Against that backdrop, let me try to respond to some of the specific points. Page: 103 First, Mr Patrick Tay asked about apprentices and interns who are under contracts of service. Yes, they would have recourse through the ECT. Mr Patrick Tay and Mr Zainal Sapari talked about frivolous claims. Let me assure Mr Zainal Sapari that all valid claims will be heard, regardless of the claim amount. So, even $50 can be a valid claim. Mr Zainal Sapari asked whether employees filing for CPF claims can come under the ECT. Deputy Speaker, non-payment of CPF contribution is an offence. Workers do not have to claim for non-payment of CPF. All they need to do is notify CPF and we will take enforcement action on their behalf. Mr Faisal Manap and Mr Dennis Tan asked why not include foreign domestic workers. We have mentioned it before that foreign domestic workers and other categories of workers already have access to separate mechanisms today.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, first of all, I thank all the Members for their views and suggestions, as well as for supporting the setting up of the ECT. Members have brought up many points. Before I respond to them to the best of my ability, let me just set the stage first, and take a step back. In the Second Reading opening this speech, I highlighted that, right now, there are three avenues for workers to settle their dispute with their employers – by becoming a union member, through the Labour Court as well as through the civil Court. These three avenues complement one another. We are not trying to find one solution to replace all three because each one, on its own, serves a very important purpose. For example, unions must continue to be allowed to play a very important role because if the day were to come where our legal framework becomes so comprehensive that unions no longer have a role to play, eventually the Labour Movement will become weak. When the Labour Movement becomes weak, the day will come when the workers can no longer be protected adequately in all aspects of work. Just look at what is happening in the US today. The labour movement is weak; everybody recognises it. In recent years, we have heard many public reports lamenting that the weakness of the labour movement in the US is today a major weakness in their labour landscape. But in the case of the US, will they be able to find a way for the labour movement to be strong again? This is something for them to worry about, to think about. In Singapore, the Labour Movement is strong, it is healthy. Tripartism is strong, it is healthy. Let us keep it that way. Therefore, let me stress, firstly, that it is not our intention to weaken the role of the unions through the ECT.”
“First, the claims limit will be $30,000 per case for cases which go through mediation with union involvement, compared to $20,000 for all other claims. Second, union members in unionised companies can be represented by their unions at mediation and at the ECT, and this will be as prescribed in the subsidiary legislation. Third, union members in non-unionised companies who undergo TMF can seek consent from the ECT to have their tripartite mediation advisors observe their ECT hearings. Mdm Speaker, I have highlighted the key features of the Bill. With the passing of the Bill today, the ECT and TADM will be established by April 2017. In conclusion, together, these changes ‒ the proposed ECT, the strengthening of TMF and the setting up of TADM ‒ will provide for a more comprehensive and inclusive suite of dispute resolution services for all employees, while ensuring that unions and the Tripartite Partners continue to have a strong role to play in our employment landscape. Mdm Speaker, I beg to move. [(proc text) Question proposed. (proc text)]”
“If mediation is successful, parties will sign a settlement agreement and apply for the registration of the settlement agreement in the District Courts for it to be enforceable as a binding Court Order. If mediation is unsuccessful, the mediator will issue a referral certificate for the claimant to lodge a claim at ECT. Mdm Speaker, ECT will significantly enhance the resolution of employment disputes. Even so, the tripartite partners will continue to have important roles to play. Tripartite Partners will set up a new centre known as the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM). For a start, TADM will conduct the pre-ECT mediation and serve as the MOM-approved mediation centre for all employees, both unionised and non-unionised members. Union members today enjoy additional remedies, such as the Tripartite Mediation Framework (TMF), MOM conciliation or recourse to the Industrial Arbitration Court. This will continue. We are also amending the IRA to expand the coverage of TMF so that more union members can use this avenue to resolve more types of disputes. Today, only managers and executives earning up to $4,500 per month who are union members in non-unionised companies have access to the TMF. We will remove the salary cap and also allow the rank-and-file employees to access the TMF. Only executive employees with substantial managerial responsibilities will continue to be excluded due to a potential conflict of interest. The types of disputes covered under the TMF will be Page: 80 expanded to include re-employment and other statutory employment benefits, for example, overtime pay, public holiday pay and maternity benefits under the EA and CDCA. In addition, in recognition of the role of the unions, we have included three features in the ECT process.”
“Public servants, domestic workers and seafarers will continue to be able to bring their statutory salary-related claims regarding employment assistance payment and maternity benefits to the ECT, just as for the Labour Court. As per current practice at the Labour Court, contractual salary-related claims of these groups of employees will not be heard at the ECT. Public servants continue to have recourse through the Public Service's internal processes. Domestic workers can approach their employment agencies and MOM to resolve employment disputes. Likewise, for seafarers, they can continue to settle disputes, including salary-related disputes, under the Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention) Act. I will now describe how the ECT will work. The ECT will be set up under the State Courts, with the claims to be heard by legally-qualified Tribunal Magistrates and in accordance with Court processes. We have built in features to keep the process expeditious and affordable. All parties will be required to go through mediation conducted by MOM-approved mediators before their claims can be heard at ECT. This is because, from our experience, it shows that mediation is an effective way of resolving salary-related claims amicably between the parties. More than 90% of Labour Court claims will be resolved at the mediation stage without having to go through formal hearings. The claimant must submit a request for mediation within one year after the claim arises, or within six months if the employment relationship has ended. There will be no legal representation, as with the Labour Court and Small Claims Tribunals.”
“To ensure that our employment dispute resolution landscape remains relevant going forward, the proposed Employment Claims Tribunals (ECT) will help more employees resolve more types of salary-related disputes with their employers. Let me first explain how ECT will cover more types of salary-related disputes. ECT will take over the Labour Court's function of hearing statutory salary-related disputes on employee entitlements under the Retirement & Re-employment Act (RRA) and the Child Development Co-Savings Act (CDCA). These include unpaid salary, overtime pay, salary in lieu of notice, employment assistance payment and maternity benefits. In addition, the ECT will hear contractual salary-related claims from employees. Such claims include payment of allowances, bonuses, commissions, salary in lieu of notice and retrenchment benefits, provided that these are expressed in monetary terms in the contract. The ECT will also hear claims from the employers. However, as with the Labour Court, employers can only bring claims for notice pay to the ECT. The types of claims which the ECT can hear are laid out in the First and Second Schedules of the Bill, which may be updated based on Page: 79 tripartite consultations. Besides hearing more types of claims, the ECT will be accessible to more employees, compared to the existing Labour Court. Besides hearing statutory salary-related claims from employees covered under the EA, RRA and CDCA, the ECT will also hear contractual salary-related claims from more employees, including PMEs who earn more than $4,500 per month and are currently beyond the coverage of the EA. With this, all employees can now have access to the ECT for their statutory and/or contractual salary-related disputes.”
“Mdm Speaker, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time." There are two main categories of employment disputes: first, salary-related disputes, such as those over non-payment or short payment of salary, allowances, bonuses, commissions and salary in lieu of notice of termination; and secondly, non-salary-related disputes, such as unfair dismissals and grievances from employees. This Bill focuses on the first category of salary-related disputes. Today, there are three avenues for resolving them. First, through the unions. Union members in unionised companies have recourse to conciliation under the Industrial Relations Act (IRA) and access to the Industrial Arbitration Court (IAC). Even though most of them are currently rank-and-file workers, but with the IRA amendments passed in 2015, we now allow more professionals, managers and executives (PMEs) to have access to this route. Second, employees who are covered by the Employment Act (EA) ‒ these are rank-and-file employees and PMEs earning up to $4,500 per month ‒ regardless of whether they are union members, they have access to what is commonly called "the Labour Court" at the Ministry of Manpower (MOM). Third, all employees have access to the civil Courts. This recourse is important, especially for complex claims which may require legal representation and take longer to resolve. Madam, even with these three avenues in place, there is growing demand for access to an affordable and expeditious way to resolve disputes. This is especially so amongst PMEs, whose number has increased by about 20% over the last decade and is set to grow further.”
“Yes, we must move fast to make every job a better job, move fast to make every worker a better worker but, most importantly, let us make sure that we progress in sync between these two to ensure that every better job will be able to find a better worker and every better worker will be able to find a better job. So, with that, we, hopefully, will be able to arrive at a state whereby every career in Singapore can be a better career for all Singaporeans. Madam, with that, I beg to move. [(proc text) Question put, and agreed to. (proc text)] [(proc text) Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. (proc text)] [(proc text) The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. – [Mr Lim Swee Say]. (proc text)] [(proc text) Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed. (proc text)] Page: 46”
“As we go through this transition, human resource has to be viewed as our human capital. Human resource is not just a number, a person for you to use, but it is for us to invest in. The more we invest in human resource, the more valuable this human capital will be in our future economy. In that regard, I would say that this will be more than just a priority of WSG, but one of the top priorities of MOM, together with the tripartite partners as well. We have formulated the sectoral plan for human resource. We are now in the process of formalising it, launching it and getting it implemented. In conclusion, Madam, we have to go through a fast pace of change. We are not the only one. I started by talking about G20. Let me end with G20. At the G20 Labour and Employment meeting, having expressed the concern with this slower economic growth, slower job growth, the conclusion amongst our G20 Labour Ministers is that we have to ensure that this innovation growth will be as fast as possible, as smart as possible. They use terms like rapid innovation, smart innovation, pervasive innovation. So, we are not the only country or economy that is trying to run fast. They, too, are trying to run fast with innovation, with technology. And yet, at the same time, they all recognise that this innovation-driven growth must also be an inclusive one. Otherwise, they will not be able to solve their problem with high youth unemployment and sticky unemployment. We, in Singapore, I think this is an area we have done better than them for many years. And this is the reason why in Singapore our economic growth has been healthy. But more importantly, we have been able to create enough good and meaningful jobs for our people. Page: 45 Moving forward, the same challenge remains.”
“At the same time, we encourage more of them to become "triple strong" so that we will see not just a stronger Singaporean Core, but also the transfer of know-how to strengthen the complementarity between the foreign workforce and the local workforce. I want to assure Mr Desmond Choo that our determination to strengthen the Singaporean Core is a real one. We have already taken action and we will continue to push for that. Mr Patrick Tay suggested that WSG conduct research into underemployment. I agree. I believe this is one area brought up by Ms Sylvia Lim during the COS as well. MOM is equally concerned about whether there is underlying growth in under-employment, not just time-based but also in terms of actual utilisation of the full potential of manpower. I will take the Member's suggestion into account when we formulate the WSG's research agenda. Dr Intan Mokhtar suggested that we should provide retirees and stay-at-home parents with meaningful work such as caregiving in the community. Again, I agree. I support her idea, and I believe that the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) and the Ministry of Health (MOH) are already working on this, and WSG will certainly support the various Ministries. Madam, I would like to conclude by touching on a point brought up by Mr Louis Ng which I think is a very important one – how can we ensure that more businesses will do a better job in managing their human resources. This is one of the key challenges we face moving forward. I have said it time and time again that our local workforce is ageing and growth is slowing down very rapidly – from growing at 4% a year in the first half of the decade this year to about 1% by 2020, which is just about four or five years from now.”
“In Singapore, our workforce is a good one but we cannot claim to have all the expertise that we need, especially in new growth sectors. And thirdly, is the timing gap. For example, with SkillsFuture, we can speed up the training and upgrading of manpower to meet our future needs. But it takes time. Therefore, we need foreign manpower to meet our numbers gap, the skills gap and the timing gap. The extent of the gaps varies across sectors. Some sectors face greater challenges in skilsl gap, whereas some sectors may face more of a numbers gap issue. Every sector has different challenges. Also, as each individual sector goes through the process of development, at various stages of development, again, they have different challenges. A new growth sector, for example, bioscience. In bioscience today, our manpower expertise gap is a lot greater compared to sectors which are more mature. And as a result, if we try to impose a quota on EPs across all the sectors, even for selective sectors, I think it will be very difficult for us to strike the right balance. If we impose it too tightly, it will stifle the growth of our economy. If we make it too loose, then, it will offer no protection for our local workers. Therefore, what we have been doing, and I think it is the right thing to do, is to be smarter in the way we make use of the foreign manpower by maximising the complementarity between the Page: 44 foreign manpower and the local manpower. As I mentioned in Parliament in the Committee of Supply debate this year, we have already redefined our EP framework not just to look at the qualification of individual EP applicants, but also to look at the industry, to look at the company and, along the way, we provide closer scrutiny to what we call the "triple weak" companies.”
“Mr Louis Ng asked what kind of additional support we can give to sectors and businesses where the human interaction cannot be mechanised. In other words, some sectors focus more on high-touch. With high-touch, does it mean that there is no scope for us to introduce technology? The answer is no. We believe that high-touch and high-tech both can go hand in hand. We have helped some businesses to be more high-tech and, as a result, we free up the manpower to focus on high-touch services. One example is in the retail sector. Many of the workers spend a lot of their time doing stock-taking. Under the LED scheme, we help them to install radio-frequency identification (RFID) in all their sales items. As a result, they are now able to do their stock-taking within minutes, at the most, hours. You just use the RFID reader, do a scan in the shop, within minutes, the stocktaking is done. As a result, the workers are now being retrained to spend more time not on stocktaking, but serving customers, doing upselling and so on. So, I think the two can go hand in hand. We will do more of that. On the foreign worker issue, Mr Desmond Choo asked whether we can implement a quota for EP holders, particularly in the high growth sectors like IT. Mdm Speaker, I want to emphasise time and time again that, in Singapore, we are tapping on foreign manpower, including EP holders to bridge the three gaps in Singapore. Firstly, the number gap. In many sectors, we just do not have the number, whether it is engineers in the wafer fab or sales staff in the retail sector. We just do not have the numbers. So, we need the foreign manpower to complement the shortage and bridge the number gap. A second gap is the skills gap.”
“These 10 restaurants jointly invest in this central kitchen and, as a result, they are now able to improve their productivity, and at the same time, minimise their manpower requirement. What is even more exciting is that at this central kitchen, we will also be training local chefs so that in time to come, the Singaporean Core in these Indian restaurants and sector will be strengthened as well. We believe that if we are able to get more and more SMEs to come together, not individually, but collectively, we can speed up the process of not just mechanisation, but innovation breakthrough, as mentioned by Mr Thomas Chua as well as Mr Louis Ng. Ms Jessica Tan and Er Dr Lee Bee Wah highlighted the impact of the future workplace on women. We fully agree. If you look at the labour force participation rate and the employment rate, these are high in Singapore by global standards. But compared to the rate for males, there is still room for further strengthening. In other words, there is still a lot of scope for us to work together to tap more on our women workforce, as highlighted by both hon Members. Page: 43 The tripartite partners have been working very closely together to make our workplace family-friendly. In Singapore today, under flexi-work arrangements, we focus on three thrusts: first, flexi-place, including working from home; second, flexi-time, including starting work two hours earlier, ending work two hours earlier; and third, flexi-load so that a person can decide whether I want to have a 100% load, 50% or 75% and so on. We are making very promising and very steady progress but obviously, there is a lot more that can be done. We will take up the suggestions by Ms Jessica Tan and Er Dr Lee Bee Wah to see how we can push this forward.”
“As SMEs go through a process of restructuring, the kind of support they need is quite holistic – manpower, technology, funding support and, most importantly, ideas on how to transform their businesses. Under the LED scheme, all the Government agencies have come together. We started the LED scheme in October last year and, since then, all the agencies, including SPRING, Infocomm Development Agency (IDA), WDA and NTUC e2i, are all working together. We are now providing a one-stop service to all SMEs. I am also very happy to say that SMEs are also beginning to come together. For example, just last week or two weeks ago, we worked with about 10 Indian restaurants. Many of them have restaurants in Little India. During one meeting with them, they told me that many of the Indian restaurants in Little India may have to close down, and I said, "If that happens, that will be a national disaster". I asked them what is the problem and they told me that the problem was manpower. They are not able to attract enough locals to join the sector, for example, to become a local chef trained in Indian cuisine. At the same time, due to the manpower quota limitations, they are not able to hire enough foreign workers to meet their requirements. After working together for about one year now, finally, we have achieved a breakthrough. Just two weeks ago, we opened up a new central kitchen for this group of Indian restaurants. What they did was – as mentioned by Mr Thomas Chua – individually, they are not able to invest in the technology, mechanisation and automation. Each piece of equipment costs from $20,000 to as high as $200,000, and there is no way each of these restaurants could make that kind of investment. Under the LED scheme, we brought them together.”
“We concluded that with the right design and incentive structure, it is possible to encourage employment agencies to be more jobseeker-centric, rather than client-centric. We are now working very actively with the industry and we intend to partner some of these "best in class" employment agencies. Soon, you will hear some of our new initiatives in this area. Ms Jessica Tan spoke about the impact of disruptive change at the workplace on workers, all sorts of workers, especially for women. Again, I fully agree. In fact, we share the same concerns about job creation as well as job disruption. This is the reason why we are going to pay greater attention to not just a traditional work arrangement, but emerging work arrangements as well mentioned by Ms Jessica Tan – freelancing, contract workers, and independent workers. Page: 42 Ms Jessica Tan may be happy to hear that WDA, or the soon-to-be WSG, has formed partnerships with associations and the NTUC to reach out to the freelancing sector. We even customise our PCP for the freelancers working in the creative industries. More, obviously, will be done. I also want to assure Ms Jessica Tan that we will be working very closely with SSG to match skills with job and employment. Employment and employability – the two will have to go hand in hand. In terms of support for the industry and, in particular, for SMEs, as highlighted by Mr Thomas Chua and Mr Louis Ng, again, we share their views completely. In the case of SMEs, we have stepped up our support for SMEs with the Lean Enterprise Development (LED) scheme. Mr Thomas Chua highlighted a very important point.”
“Mdm Speaker, I thank the Members for their support of this Bill. Firstly, on the issue of extending more support to PMETs, I agree with Members Mr Patrick Tay, Dr Intan Mokhtar and Mr Desmond Choo on their call for WSG to do more and to do better for PMETs. As I have mentioned earlier, we are cognisant of the issues faced by PMETs, especially those mid-career, in their 40s and 50s. At the same time, we also recognise that with the faster pace of restructuring, many of them in their mid-career will be affected even more. This is the reason why we will speed up the process of extending PCP to even more sectors, as the Member Mr Patrick Tay mentioned, in terms of how we can be more responsive and flexible. This is our intention. We are going to customise PCP sector by sector because the issues involved in professional conversion vary across sectors. So, we intend to customise for that. In the case of CSP, I agree with Mr Patrick Tay that we ought to find ways to create greater awareness. I assure the Member that we are working on some breakthrough ideas so that CSP will become more widespread, not just among the employees, but also the employers as well. At the same time, I also want to emphasise one point again as we extend additional support to PMETs. WSG will do its very best, but no matter how much it does, on its own, will not be enough. We intend to strengthen our partnerships. For example, in the case of NTUC, the U PME Centre is doing a great job under the leadership of Mr Patrick Tay. I hope that WSG can, likewise, extend our partnerships with U PME Centre and all the other partners as well. Mr Desmond Choo suggested that we should strengthen public-private partnerships in job placements for PMETs. I fully agree. We studied the experience of Australia and the UK.”