Tan See Leng
Singapore
“We are aware of the Singapore Workplace Report 2026, produced by the Singapore Institute of Directors and Gallup, and we are studying its findings.”
“The Taskforce for Responsible Retrenchment and Employment Facilitation (Taskforce) actively reaches out to all retrenched local employees. In 2025, 77% of Mandatory Retrenchment Notifications (MRNs) were submitted at least seven days ahead of the employee's last working day and 73% of MRNs were submitted at least two weeks ahead.”
“From 2022 to 2025, vacancy rates for technical maintenance roles in the real estate services sector, which includes facilities management, have been lower than the overall job vacancy rate, except in 2025 (see Table 1).”
“The Skills and Workforce Development Agency (SWDA) works with sector agencies to determine the courses which are required by the respective industries. The SWDA currently funds more than 100 courses, spanning a wide range of mental health-related fields.”
“In the first quarter of 2026, the profile of retrenched residents aged 50 to 59 was broadly similar to the profile of all retrenched residents, predominantly comprising professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) and were mainly from wholesale and retail trade, manufacturing, financial and insurance services and profession…”
“In 2025, around 4,200 resident professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) aged 45 to 59 were retrenched, higher than 3,200 in 2024 and 3,500 in 2023. Their six-month re-entry rate remained stable at 48.5% in 2025, compared with 48.9% in 2024 and 50.1% in 2023.”
The complete record
Every one of 2,238 lines we hold for Tan See Leng, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 21 of 45.
“Businesses and talent will find Singapore less attractive. As a result, we will create fewer good jobs for Singaporeans and incomes will stagnate. You have seen this story play out in other mature economies, whether in Europe, Asia or elsewhere. However, Singapore has a chance to write a different story. There are exciting developments on the horizon. With the accelerating pace of transformation, there will be more opportunities in new areas, like the green economy and AI. Mr Edward Chia asked about how we plan to improve the productivity and competitiveness of our workforce. I could not agree with him more that maximising our human capital is key. This means improving the skills profile of both the local and the foreign workforce and ensuring that our employers put these skills to the fullest use. As our economy transforms, we must also channel more workers to the more productive areas of the economy. We have to rally and unite our employers and workers towards achieving a new Forward SG social compact. I will elaborate on these points further. In my MTI speech, I spoke about how the Government will support businesses in unlocking resource constraints. I will build on this in my MOM speech by sharing how the Government will work hand-in-hand with workers and employers for a brighter future. Our priorities for this year are centred on three themes: strengthening you, uplifting you and caring for you. Our first focus is to "strengthen you", by helping businesses become more productive and helping workers to take on better jobs. I will provide an update on our efforts to spur business transformation through our foreign workforce policies.”
“Mr Chairman, I thank Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) MPs and others who have deep interests in MOM's work and spoken in support of our workers and our employers. Let me first give an overview of the labour market. Overall, the labour market expanded in 2023. Resident employment grew in sectors with higher productivity or pay, such as financial and professional services. Resident unemployment rate remained low at 2.7%. This is one of the lowest among OECD countries. Real income fell slightly last year due to higher inflation, similar to what many other countries also experienced. However, businesses are more optimistic this year. Our recent surveys indicate an improvement in hiring and wage growth expectations from employers. Nevertheless, the risks of near-term headwinds remain, and this will weigh on our labour market in the year ahead. Beyond the near-term headwinds, we will continue to face tight labour market constraints. Our population is ageing. Our birth rate continues to fall, despite our best efforts. We have to confront a slowing local workforce growth. If we continue on this trajectory, our workforce will taper off and decline. In the next decade, it will become harder for us to sustain high economic growth primarily from workforce growth. The only sustainable approach is to pursue productivity-driven growth and that is enabling our local workers to move up the value chain and taking in foreign workers who can complement our local workers. Many people have asked me what keeps me awake at night. Members of the House, keeping our competitive edge is what we should all be concerned about. If we do not succeed in sustaining our productivity in the next 10 years, my worry is that we will suffer real declines in economic growth.”
“In any dynamic labour market, it is not uncommon for retrenched workers to encounter frictions before taking on new job opportunities. However, several indicators highlight that skills mismatch is not a major issue in Singapore. First, the majority of our retrenched resident workers re-enter employment within six months. Based on the latest available data for the first three quarters of 2023, the re-entry rate was 64.8%, higher than or comparable to the annual rates in the pre-pandemic years of 2018 (62.9%) and 2019 (64.4%). Among those who did not re-enter employment within six months, some may have chosen to voluntarily leave the labour force for reasons, such as taking a break. Second, the resident long-term unemployment rate (LTUR) remains low. As at September 2023, the LTUR was 0.7%, comparable to the pre-pandemic average (0.7%). To help our workers upskill and reskill for new job opportunities, we have proactively assisted workers through Workforce Singapore's programmes, such as the Career Conversion Programmes and Mid-Career Pathways Programme. Such programmes play important roles in preventing retrenchments upstream and facilitating smoother transitions for retrenched individuals downstream.”
“I thank Mr Chua for his question. The three combined cycle gas turbines (CCGTs) – one from Keppel, one from Sembcorp, and the third one that I just mentioned, YTL PowerSeraya – are all capable of taking up to 30% hydrogen. So, today, this is the new breed of CCGTs that, if there is any planting and so on, we envisage that they should make that transition pathway. 3.45 pm To the Member's point in terms of hydrogen, today, in countries particularly where they have a favourable geographical advantage, where they have solar power or wind or tidal, they can produce green hydrogen. The logistics and transportation of the hydrogen is very, very costly today because the boiling point of liquid hydrogen is very, very low. A significant amount of energy is needed to keep it at that kind of low temperatures. So, it does not make it economically viable. Having said that, we are not resting on our laurels. Hence, we have the ammonia pathfinder project, where we started to see how, on a very small scale, we can conduct a pilot. We are also working through our initiatives to see, in terms of the supply chains, what kind of technological advancements and developments we can go further in, to make the transportation of hydrogen a lot more cost effective. In terms of central procurement, obviously, at a point in time, when we have arrived at that technological maturity, we can certainly consider that. But at this particular point in time, even if you have nuclear power, to use it to do the electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen, it is still not green hydrogen. So, that is a technical specification that is needed. I hope that it clarifies your query.”
“And when we did the projection with the increase in terms of our consumption, the second LNG terminal would not run a significant risk of asset stranding, even if we were to completely transition into all renewable energy, which is unlikely to be the case. I hope that answers the Member's query and his apprehensions as well.”
“I thank Mr Liang for his supplementary clarification. Today, Mr Chairman, about 95% of our power generation needs come from natural gas. And we have two main sources – piped natural gas, which is from our neighbours, and LNG. As I have shared earlier on in my COS speech, the energy needs, the electrification needs, with the newer industries, FDIs coming in with the growth of our industries, as well as the SMEs' growth, these energy needs will continue to increase and not decrease. If Members look at the time horizon, our imports – at 4.2 GW for the conditional approvals that we have given – would constitute about 30% of our overall energy needs, and that is by 2035. So, as we ramp up from now to 2035, we will need to factor in the building of a second LNG terminal, in part, due to our own need for energy security, because that second LNG terminal would then allow us, supplemented by the existing LNG terminal that we have today, to be completely non-dependent on piped natural gas, and all of the LNG that comes in through ships and so on, can then fulfil 100% of our gas energy needs. So, that gives us an added measure of security. On top of that, as I have also shared earlier on energy transition in the COS speech, a number of the other pathways and initiatives that we are pursuing, whether it is the Low Carbon Energy Research (LCER) programme for hydrogen, or embarking on pathfinder projects for ammonia and hydrogen, these are actually still relatively nascent. There are also the other measures that we are looking at whether it is geothermal, or also other types of advanced nuclear energy technology, including fusion energy. So, for us, energy security, reliability and our resilience are of utmost importance.”
“The tripartite partners are committed to making sure that unreasonable employment contract clauses do not become a norm in our workplaces. We are working together to develop a set of tripartite guidelines to shape norms and provide employers with further guidance on the inclusion of such clauses in employment contracts, especially for jobs where the impact to the worker's livelihood is potentially greater and where the nature of the job is unlikely to have a nexus with legitimate proprietary business interests. These guidelines are currently being finalised and are targeted for release in the second half of this year.”
“The enforceability of restraint of trade clauses, also known as non-compete or non-competition clauses, is subject to adjudication by the Courts and dependent on the facts of the case. The Courts have held that restraint of trade clauses are enforceable only if there are legitimate business interests to protect. Restraint of trade clauses must also be reasonable in terms of scope, geographical area and duration – they must balance employers' needs to safeguard their businesses and employees' ability to earn a living and should not be used simply to stymie business competition or gain an unfair advantage. The application of these principles by the Courts thus already ensures that restraint of trade clauses do not adversely impact Singapore’s labour market flexibility and mobility; and that smaller firms, such as startups, are not unfairly disadvantaged by their competitors' use of restraint of trade clauses. There are genuine business reasons why employers may need to include restraint of trade clauses in their employment contracts, such as to protect trade secrets and trade connections. The facts of each case are different and it is not possible for the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) to anticipate the future tendency of employers to enforce such clauses. However, in a tight and competitive labour market, employers would be wise to carefully weigh their use of such clauses, against their ability to attract prospective employees. Employees who believe that they have been subject to unreasonable employment clauses may seek assistance from their unions, the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) or the MOM. In recent years, the number of complaints received by TAFEP over restraint of trade clauses has remained low.”
“I thank the Leader of the Opposition for seeding that question. I hope to address more of this in about three days' time. But the intent, first and foremost, is that this is not an unemployment insurance. So, retrenchment benefits will still continue. What we are intending to do is to provide this support so that the involuntarily unemployed workers can take a little bit more time in finding a right fit for the jobs that would come their way, rather than rushing into any job that they can find. Like I said earlier on, we are close to finalising the parameters. I do not want to front-run the entire scheme itself. We will be announcing the details later on this year. But the Member can take heed that, to his point, the retrenchment benefits today will still move, as it has always been moving along.”
“Of course, we already have those slew of initiatives, but prevention is always better and taking an active interest, taking an active constant investment in upgrading his own skillsets and keeping him on top of the game, that is still key to preserving the longevity of the career path. I hope that addresses the Member's point.”
“I thank Mr Saktiandi for his supplementary question. As I have shared earlier on, the long-term unemployment rate – currently, it is about 0.7%, so, it is quite low. And if you look at the fact that about two-thirds of those that we help, typically get into a new job within six months of leaving an earlier job, whether it is because of retrenchment or voluntarily becoming unemployed in terms of looking for pivots. So, to the Member's question about what are some of the reasons, the common survey findings that we get from people who find difficulty in terms of getting a new job beyond the six-month period, comes from a host of factors, in terms of their own expectations of what they want to do and, particularly, if they need to pivot to a different industry, the type of skillsets that is required. As a result of getting some of this feedback, we have also rolled out at the beginning of last year, I think at MOM's Committee of Supply in 2023, a new initiative called Career Health, where we typically encourage, when the worker himself is still in active employment, to take an active interest in continually keeping his skills updated and always staying on top of the entire sector in which he is working in. On top of that, we have also added on the CareersFinder within the MyCareersFuture portal, for this particular worker or for any worker, to seek out skills adjacencies that he could continue to upgrade and, at the same time, find opportunities to prolong career longevity and also to move on to a different career trajectory if he so wishes. So, those are parallel efforts that we are doing, because we believe in that rather than wait till the worker gets unemployed or retrenched and then you start to do that.”
“I thank the Member for his supplementary questions. The sectors that are facing significant global headwinds, are usually the outward-oriented sectors. So, electronics, manufacturing, wholesale trade and some parts of information and communications technology (ICT). Because retrenchment numbers have come off from a low of, I think, 2022 to last year, we started off on a low base. The retrenchment numbers have not hit the same high as what we experienced during the pandemic itself. It has just gone back to pre-pandemic levels. What we are doing, in terms of prioritising, we encourage businesses to prioritise retraining and redeployment. The fact is that, in terms of reskilling the workers, we have rolled out a significant number of initiatives, working with our Tripartite Partners to do so to encourage businesses to take on these initiatives and also to invest in reskilling the workers. But we recognise that these initiatives can be costly for businesses. So, because of that, we provide support to co-share costs with employers to reskill existing workers for new or enhanced job roles. For instance, I will be talking more about the enhancements to the CCP on Monday at MOM's Committee of Supply. But as of the outset, CCPs organised, with Workforce Singapore supports up to 90% of the costs of the training and also the opportunity costs for these workers itself. This is something that we are very forward-leaning on. On top of that, we also fund NTUC through the set-up of the company training committees, and they also work with companies to develop and work with their human resources departments to develop these company training committees to help reskill, upskill and also retrain the workers of these companies as well.”
“The upcoming Workplace Fairness Legislation will provide additional protections against age discrimination at the workplace.”
“When a company reports a retrenchment exercise, the Taskforce for Responsible Retrenchment and Employment Facilitation goes in and offers support to affected workers. This task force is led by Workforce Singapore and it includes representatives from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), NTUC's Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) and Enterprise Singapore (ESG). The task force will work with the company to offer employment facilitation services and information kits on career resources. Retrenched workers can make use of WSG's programmes, such as the Career Conversion Programme (CCP) and the Mid-Career Pathways Programme to explore job switches and reskill for new opportunities. At MOM's Committee of Supply on Monday, I will share how we are enhancing our programmes to support jobseekers. Finally, I recognise that retrenchment can cause a shock to the household finances, and this will make it difficult for the jobseeker to focus on finding a new and suitable job. We will be introducing a support scheme to empower involuntarily unemployed jobseekers to bounce back into employment. We are close to finalising the scheme parameters, and more information will be announced later this year. Mr Yip Hon Weng also asked about how we are supporting senior workers to get re-employed. My earlier points on equipping workers with industry-relevant skills, keeping the labour market tight, and providing employment facilitation support apply equally to senior workers. Many of SkillsFuture Singapore and Workforce Singapore's programmes provide a higher level of support for mature workers aged 40 and above. In addition, the Government supports the hiring of seniors through the Senior Employment Credit.”
“Mr Speaker, the increase in retrenchments in 2023, including several high-profile retrenchment exercises, has understandably sparked concerns. Business reorganisation and restructuring are an inevitable part of a healthy, competitive economy. Even so, being retrenched can be a shock and cause disruption to the lives of affected workers. I empathise with these anxieties. How can we help affected workers? Firstly, the onus is on employers to be fair and responsible when conducting retrenchments. In my earlier replies to Parliamentary Questions filed in February this year, I had set out our tripartite approach to ensuring that retrenchment is carried out responsibly. We educate employers on being responsible via the Tripartite Advisory on Managing Excess Manpower and Responsible Retrenchment (TAMEM), with non-compliant employers referred to the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP). I will not repeat the same points here. Secondly, we must also ensure that those who are retrenched are able to get back on their feet relatively quickly. We do so by equipping workers with industry-relevant skills through the education system and through SkillsFuture and by keeping the labour market tight through complementary foreign workforce policies. By and large, most retrenched workers are able to bounce back quickly. Our data shows that about two-thirds of retrenched workers re-enter into employment within six months, and the resident long-term unemployment rate remains low at about 0.7%. However, some retrenched workers do face greater difficulties in finding a new job. We lean forward to assist them.”
“From 2021 to 2023, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) investigated about 210 cases per year for alleged kickback offences. However, after investigations, about 70 employers were taken to task each year for receiving kickbacks from migrant workers. The corresponding number of migrant workers affected was about seven per employer, with each worker paying about $2,000 to $7,000 in kickbacks.”
“The Insurer's Manual issued by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) contains detailed technical guidelines to assist in processing work injury compensation (WIC) claims, which are specific to designated WIC insurers and not relevant to members of the public. Information that employers and claimants require to understand their responsibilities and eligibility with respect to work injury compensation claims is already available on MOM's website.”
“I think it is important, Members of the House, to understand that the closure of the SA is not aimed at saving interest monies. I will provide a fuller explanation and clarification at the Committee of Supply speech on Monday. I would urge Members to stay in the House and listen to that part of that speech, in particular. I want to put this in perspective. First and foremost, we are going to expand the ERS to four times of BRS. With that, the migration and the right-siting of the SA monies in excess of whatever they have beyond their FRS today, can then go over to the enlarged ERS and that should cover more than 99% of members. We have many, many esteemed financial experts in this House. I do not think that there is any system in the world, any financial institution in the world, any banks in the world that will pay a long-term, assured interest rate and allow you the flexibility to withdraw like an ATM machine. I think it is one of those policy moves that we are now doing to ensure that the monies that are meant for long-term savings be sited in a long-term retirement account. And for those members who want the flexibility after 55, they can always have the option to leave it in the OA. For the many people who feel that they have that ability to invest the monies wisely, they still have the option to invest their OA monies, whether it is in T-bills, in more secure investments. I think it is the option given back to them. So, this is not about saving money. It is not about locking up money. In fact, if anything at all, at age 70, CPF Board does not have any option for members to continue to retain monies indefinitely. If there is such a word, by 70, everyone has to decumulate. I hope that clarifies.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, with your permission, I would like to respond to Mr Leong's point on the closure of the SA.”
“Under the Foreign Employee Dormitories Act (FEDA), dormitory operators must take reasonable measures to ensure that food delivered is protected from contamination until collected by residents. Based on feedback from the Ministry of Manpower and residents, improvements introduced by some dormitory operators include the installation of properly secured shelves, the use of insulated storage containers and enhancements to the food collection processes. We encourage dormitory operators to continue looking into ways to improve the food storage and collection situations in their respective dormitories.”
“The intent of raising the compensation limits under the Work Injury Compensation (WIC) Act is to keep pace with wage growth and rising healthcare costs, rather than to incentivise employers more to prioritise investments in safety measures. To incentivise employers to prioritise workplace safety, employers' past WIC insurance claims data and safety records have been made available to WIC insurers since 2021. This facilitates insurers to differentiate insurance premiums, so employers with better safety records can enjoy lower premiums. The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has observed that insurers are indeed differentiating premiums accordingly, where companies with poorer safety records are paying higher WIC insurance premiums. Apart from cost considerations, it is important for top management to prioritise investments in safety practices and injury prevention efforts for better workplace safety and health (WSH) outcomes. To align business interests with WSH outcomes, chief executives or board of directors of companies in higher-risk industries will be required to attend the Top Executive WSH Programme to enhance their WSH capabilities from 1 March 2024. Enhancements to the WSH requirements in public sector construction and construction-related projects, which will take effect for tenders called on and after 1 April 2024, will also align incentives among developers, main contractors and sub-contractors to collectively improve safety practices. These enhancements include a WSH Bonus Scheme for public sector projects with project sum at or above $50 million to incentivise strong safety performance and culture throughout the construction phase.”
“The grievance-handling process should provide a safe environment for employees to raise workplace concerns. Employees should be reassured that their complaints are handled fairly and effectively. Individuals who are part of this process should be trained to manage and investigate grievances independently and objectively, regardless of their nationality or background. Employers should put in place different levels of appeal so that grievances can be raised to appropriate parties if they are not resolved or if there are perceptions of partiality. Employers who need guidance on how to implement grievance handling processes can access resources, such as the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices and the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices' Grievance Handling Handbook and workshops.”
“As at 31 December 2023, there were 23 judicial officers in the Community Courts and Tribunals Cluster trained and assigned to hear employment disputes in the Employment Claims Tribunals.”
“The Ministry of Manpower started tracking injuries sustained during work-from-home arrangements since the start of the Circuit Breaker period in April 2020. The number of work injury compensation claims received for such injuries from April 2020 to 2023 is in Table 1 below.”
“A Collective Agreement (CA) is a formal agreement between the union and employer, which states the employees' terms and conditions of employment. Whether or not a CA should be put in place is a matter for the union and employer to decide on mutually. Reasons why some unions and employers do not enter into a CA include, having a small number of unionised workforce or that unions and employers prefer to start off with a less-formal arrangement that focuses on specific areas of cooperation, such as training and grievance handling, to build greater mutual understanding and a stronger relationship before moving towards a CA when both parties are ready.”
“Over the past five years, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) received a total of eight cases over whether to enter into a Collective Agreement (CA). For four of the cases, following MOM's conciliation with the companies and unions to explain the roles and responsibilities of entering into a CA, they agreed to continue with bilateral discussions. The remaining four cases were withdrawn before MOM's conciliation. Parties can seek MOM's further assistance if required. None of the eight cases had to be escalated to the Industrial Arbitration Court for arbitration.”
“Under the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Investment Scheme, CPF investments and proceeds from using Ordinary Account (OA) savings and Special Account (SA) savings are segregated. CPF members can invest their OA savings in a wider range of investment products when compared to investment using SA savings which are safeguarded for members’ retirement. Accordingly, CPF members can only invest in shares and corporate bonds using OA savings. These products typically have a short settlement period. Hence, agent banks are appointed by CPF Board to maintain members' CPF Investment Account to facilitate members’ investment transactions using their OA savings and reduce the processing time required for reinvestments. Nonetheless, members who have no intention to reinvest their OA savings may instruct the agent bank to refund their sale proceeds from their CPF Investment Account into their OA. The agent banks will also automatically transfer the cash balances held in the CPF Investment Account back to the OA if the Investment Account has been inactive for two consecutive months.”
“As of 30 September 2023, about 1.01 million or 23% of 4.49 million Central Provident Fund (CPF) members1, have opened a CPF Investment Account. Of these 1.01 million members, around 50% have active investments using their Ordinary Account via the CPF Investment Scheme and around 4% are currently investing their Ordinary Account savings in Singapore Government Securities and Treasury Bills.”
“Professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMET) employment for those aged below 30 decreased from 222,000 in 2021 to 191,400 in 2022. This may be attributed to a higher share of young tertiary educated residents staying outside the labour force to pursue further education, leading to more youths entering the workforce at a later age.1 PMET employment for those aged 40-59 increased from 620,100 in 2021 to 725,300 in 2022. The increase may be due to the tight labour market in 2022 as companies increased their workforce sizes in line with the post-pandemic economic recovery.”
“This question has been answered as part of the Minister for Manpower's oral reply to Parliamentary Question Nos 1 to 3 on 6 February 2024. Members may refer to the transcript for the reply. [Please refer to "Protection for Employees from Unfair Retrenchment Practices and Exploitative Employment Contracts", Official Report, 6 February 2024, Vol 95, Issue 121, Oral Answers to Questions section.]”
“This question has been answered as part of the Minister for Manpower's oral reply to Parliamentary Question Nos 1 to 3 on 6 February 2024. Members may refer to the transcript for the reply. [Please refer to "Protection for Employees from Unfair Retrenchment Practices and Exploitative Employment Contracts", Official Report, 6 February 2024, Vol 95, Issue 121, Oral Answers to Questions section.]”
“I think Assoc Prof Lim is just making a comment. I do not think I need to respond to that.”
“I thank the Member for his supplementary question. As I have mentioned earlier on, our CPF system, indeed, has quite a number of important features which are not comparable to bank deposits. And because of this, these features actually provide CPF members with a much higher interest rate, compared to the local banks' computational methods. Because over a long period of time, the method in which we have actually been using for our CPF members has resulted in them having higher interest rates. Let me explain to Members. Not to sound repetitive, but it is important for us to appreciate because the numbers are actually quite important. First, the Government has paid 2.5% minimum interest on the Ordinary Account savings and 4% floor rate for the SMRA savings over the past two decades, in spite of the protracted low interest rate environment. If you do a like-for-like comparison, without the 4% floor rate, the SMRA interest rate would have been an average of 3.2% per annum or about 0.8% points lower. So, on that basis, we review constantly, but periodically, of course, and in terms of trying to see how we can continue to optimise returns for CPF members; and also address the volatilities as well as the uncertainties in the current geopolitical environment. The reassurance that I want to give to the hon Member and also Members of the House is that this is a more sustainable method of computation over the longer haul, compared to investing in shorter-term, more volatile instruments.”
“Mr Speaker, over the past two decades of protracted low interest rate environment, the Government has continued to pay the 2.5% minimum interest on Ordinary Account savings and the 4% floor rate for savings in the Special, MediSave and Retirement Accounts (SMRA). With the SMRA-pegged rate currently exceeding the 4% floor rate, Central Provident Fund (CPF) members will receive 4.08% per annum interest on their SMRA savings in the first quarter of 2024. In addition, the Government continues to pay 1% of extra interest on the first $60,000 of combined CPF balances for all members, as well as an additional 1% extra interest on the first $30,000 of combined CPF balances for members aged 55 and above. The CPF Board's current practice of computing monthly interest payments should be seen in the context of the above-mentioned features of our CPF system, which do not apply to bank deposits. Furthermore, premature withdrawals from banks' fixed deposits would, in many cases, result in the forfeiture of the potential interest earned. While changing the computation method can translate into some marginally higher CPF interest payments, the features that I have just laid out already provide our CPF members with much higher interest and a greater boost to their CPF savings. The Government will continue to review CPF interest rates periodically to ensure their relevance in the prevailing operating environment.”
“MediSave is intended to help Singapore Citizens and Singapore Permanent Residents meet their healthcare needs especially in old age. It cannot be used to pay for bills incurred by their Migrant Domestic Workers (MDWs). Employers of MDWs are required to purchase medical insurance with an annual claim limit of at least $60,000. This is sufficient to cover about 99% of all hospital bills for MDWs. Employers can also purchase more comprehensive medical insurance to cover larger hospital bills. The Ministry of Manpower informs prospective employers of the requirement at the point of work permit application and during the mandatory Employer’s Orientation Programme. We also remind current employers through various channels, such as the media, our website, employment agencies and electronic direct mailers.”
“There is no single Retirement Account (RA) savings amount which would determine whether payouts would last for 20 years after the Payout Eligibility Age (PEA) under the Retirement Sum Scheme (RSS) because there are many factors which would affect the payouts. These factors include whether and when members receive further inflows to their RA after the PEA. Members on the RSS can check their payout duration and quantum by logging into their individual Central Provident Fund (CPF) account. Members turning 65 in 2023 who had set aside the Basic Retirement Sum will be automatically included on CPF LIFE1 and receive lifelong payouts2. To help more Singaporeans attain basic retirement adequacy, we are introducing the Majulah Package and will be enhancing the Workfare Income Supplement, Silver Support Scheme and the Matched Retirement Savings Scheme. More details will be announced at Budget and the Committee of Supply debates 2024.”
“The Government offers various programmes that support individuals to switch to new jobs, including Workforce Singapore’s Career Conversion Programmes and Career Trial and SkillsFuture Singapore’s SkillsFuture Career Transition Programme. We do not track whether participants in these programmes were full-time platform workers.”
“The Tripartite Standards (TS) enable employers with good workplace practices to distinguish themselves as progressive employers. Employers adopt the TS on a voluntary basis and use the TS logo in publicity and recruitment materials, such as the MyCareersFuture job portal, to be seen as a progressive employer. MOM and the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) continue to work with tripartite partners to reach out to employers through promotional campaigns, briefings and clinics to encourage the take-up and implementation of TS. When TAFEP receives a complaint on an employer’s non-adherence to any TS, they will work with the employer to realign company policies and practices to the TS. Organisations will need to provide documents and information about their practices to demonstrate that their practices meet the TS requirements. If the organisation does not do so in a timely manner, TAFEP will remove the public listing of the organisation as a TS adopter.”
“The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) regularly reviews Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) measures to address the risks faced by outdoor workers. In November 2022, the WSH Council worked with platform operators, employers and the National Delivery Champions Association on a set of guidelines to enhance the safety of delivery platform workers, including in adverse weather. For example, delivery riders would be permitted to seek shelter, without being subject to penalty or bonus arrangements, during bad weather. MOM also recently introduced new measures to reduce heat stress for outdoor workers, such as requiring employers to identify and redeploy workers vulnerable to heat stress in extreme hot weather. MOM regularly disseminates information on such workplace safety measures through channels, such as MOM’s website and social media platforms, unions, the WSH Council and industry partners. Employers are also encouraged to disseminate information to their workers.”
“The occupations on the Non-Traditional Source (NTS) Occupation List were selected carefully based on sector agencies’ recommendations, taking into account factors, such as the impact on local employment and wages, and the potential for automation. The Ministry of Manpower will work with sector agencies to assess whether healthcare cleaners should be placed on the NTS Occupation List as part of our regular review.”
“And there are e2i and Workforce Singapore (WSG) to help these workers. We believe that a very comprehensive holistic solution is much better than trying to understand and pick out which one particular company is going to have retrenchments and and try to stop it. I hope this reassures the Member.”
“I thank Mr Yip for his question. I think, in an ideal world, we would like to have information available to us at our fingertips all the time. But, as I have shared earlier on, retrenchments typically are one of the last resort measures that a company would resort to. And not just retrenchment as an exercise, the number of retrenched employees is also one of those fluctuating numbers; and again, it is something that I believe for the senior management of any particular company, if they should even eventually contemplate going down that route, it would be a very painful measure. So, for MOM or the tripartite partners to have advanced knowledge, I do not think that it is possible. However, having said that, there are other proxy indicators, for instance, like market disruptions, geopolitical uncertainties, disruptions in terms of transformation, new technology – these are things that we face as an open economy. Hence, our preventive, pre-emptive and very proactive stance has always been to make sure that all of our workers continue to be equipped to have that resilience to withstand all of these disruptions by upskilling and reskilling. And we do not just support the workers. We have indeed rolled out significant number of measures to support our businesses as well to help them transform. So, you have the Industry Transformation Maps (ITMs), pari passu with that with the Job Transformation Maps, we have rolled out Career Conversion Programmes to help businesses and employees with conversions in terms of their careers. And we also work very closely with our Labour Movement, our brothers and sisters, in rolling out Company Training Committees, which is spearheaded by the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC).”
“What we have undertaken is a nuanced approach where any senior-level employee, in terms of the negotiation, can always reach out to TADM and if it exceeds beyond certain claim limits, there is also the civil courts for them to take action. Assoc Prof Lim was saying that this group of mid-level employees may not have the ability to do so. Generally, we will help them but in the negotiation of RSUs, stock options, in lieu of actual wages and so on, I think most of them are at a different level of seniority, maturity and experience when they negotiate and enter into such contracts. I hope that we should not think of smearing across as a one-size-fits-all policy because I think that would be setting ourselves back.”
“I thank Assoc Prof Jamus Lim for his supplementary question. First, we do not have intention to introduce more regulations. So, let us be clear on that part of it. We have, prior to this incident, planned quite extensively and worked on various initiatives with our tripartite partners to come up with guidelines on such clauses. And as I have said, it so happened that the Lazada retrenchment happened at this time. But even before news of this broke out, we were already planning to see how we can establish guidelines to offer higher knowledge, understanding between companies and employers, and also to elevate the level of understanding for these non-compete clauses and restrictive type of covenants for our workers. That has resulted in a set of new guidelines which is worked out with all of the tripartite partners and which we will be releasing in the second half of this year. So, you can understand that when you set up a new set of guidelines, a lot of pre-work thinking, thought process, engagement and dialogues would have gone on behind the scenes in coming up with this set of guidelines. We are very clear in terms of RSUs or non-compete clauses that, in general, manual workers, workmen who are not involved in strategic budgets, operations and so on, will be protected against these restrictive clauses. Having said that, it would not be possible for us to regulate every single negotiated contract because the nature of businesses, from financial services, fintech to manufacturing, to all kinds of professional services and so on – if there is a one-size-fits-all solution, I would really like to hear how that could ever be possible.”
“The terms of the settlement are indeed confidential. We respect the tripartite agreement and the conciliation that has been reached. We respect the wishes of all parties. But the Food, Drinks and Allied Workers Union (FDAWU) will be able to represent Dr Tan's resident in this particular instance. So, I hope that that gives you that reassurance that, indeed, in this retrenchment exercise, MOM has been actively, pre-emptively and proactively working behind the scenes with each of our tripartite partners to ensure a swift resolution to this very unfortunate incident.”
“I thank the Member for his supplementary questions. I want to reassure the hon Member that MOM takes care of all workers, in addition to his Clementi resident. In terms of TAMEM and TAFEP, we cover every constituency, every division and every Group Representation Constituency (GRC), including from the west to the east, from the south to the north. That includes residents living in Sengkang and Aljunied GRCs. From 2019 to 2023, MOM received around 16,300 MRNs. The important point to note is that the compliance rate over the years has continued to improve. I do not have the entire spectrum of statistics, but this five-day MRN period strikes a balance between allowing employers sufficient time to finalise their decisions and collate the required information for submission, while still allowing for the prompt provision of career facilitation services and programmes to assist the affected workers. For the hon Member, when you run a business, most companies do not want to retrench their employees at will. For them, retrenchment is always a last resort. Plans are extremely fluid, and plans can change just before retrenchment. Because employers can and would want to adopt other or alternative cost-cutting measures, perhaps the redeployment of affected employees to other roles; hence, we have to strike that very fine balance. When you talk about whether there have been late submissions, it is important to note that today, from 2019 to 2023, from our MRN data, nine in 10 eligible employees received retrenchment benefits. For the rest who do not, we continue to work with them. There is TADM, and the unions will continue to represent them, so long as they are unionised. To the hon Member's resident who was affected, he has also written to me. We have replied.”
“The Government will also continue to work closely with tripartite partners to protect workers’ interests and ensure at the same time that Singapore remains a competitive global hub that continues to provide good jobs.”
“We understand that overly restrictive restraint of trade clauses can disadvantage retrenched employees and create difficulties in finding employment. MOM and the tripartite partners are, hence, also developing a set of tripartite guidelines to provide guidance on the reasonable use of such clauses. This will help educate employers and shape norms, similar to how TAMEM is used. These guidelines are currently being finalised and we target to release them in the second half of this year. On RSUs, under the Employment Act, only non-workmen, which means those who are not mainly involved in manual labour, may be paid salary via stock options such as RSUs. Such matters are best discussed between the employer and employee as part of their employment contract negotiations. Employment contracts should clearly indicate the conditions under which unvested RSUs are forfeited. As these RSUs are typically given to employees in senior positions, they would be able to negotiate the terms with their employers. Hence, MOM does not track the prevalence of RSUs issued. Employees with disputes over RSUs may file a claim with the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM) for mediation, failing which the claim may be referred to the Employment Claims Tribunals for adjudication. For claims that exceed the claims limits of the Tribunals, employees would need to start a civil claim at the Courts. In conclusion, we understand that for employees, the loss of employment is a much more destructive and disruptive process that goes beyond the loss of wages. We will continue to work with companies to educate them on possible cost-saving measures, so that retrenchment remains a last resort.”
“Unionised companies, in particular, have an interest to maintain a good working relationship with their unions as it is a long-term partnership and should not need penalties to do so. Let me assure Members of the House that the majority of unionised companies have a good relationship with their unions to secure win-win outcomes. We also work with tripartite partners to assist the affected workers in a timely manner, after we receive the mandatory retrenchment notifications (MRNs). MOM has not received any cases of unionised companies who have not submitted MRNs after carrying out a retrenchment exercise. More importantly, we continue to help workers upskill, reskill and remain employable. This is so that they can find new and better jobs even when they face disruptions. Assoc Prof Jamus Lim raised questions on non-compete clauses and restricted stock units (RSUs). To be clear, MOM will not, will never, and does not condone any exploitative employment contracts. On non-compete or restraint of trade clauses in employment contracts, the civil courts have clear established principles on when such clauses are acceptable and can be upheld in court; and when such clauses are unreasonable, unjustified and thus, declared void. The civil courts will assess if there is a genuine business need and whether the company has scoped the clause reasonably based on sector, geographical areas and duration. The courts will also balance employers’ needs to safeguard their businesses and employees’ ability to earn a living and take into account that the clause should not be used to help businesses gain unfair advantages. Employees who believe that they are affected by unreasonable or unjustified restraint of trade clauses can seek assistance from their unions, TAFEP or MOM.”
“This builds on my response to retrenchment-related issues at yesterday’s Sitting. Dr Tan Wu Meng and Mr Christopher de Souza asked about the measures to ensure responsible retrenchment practices and actions that can be taken against recalcitrant employers. Let me first re-emphasise that Singapore’s approach is a balanced one that protects workers, but, contemporaneously, we also want to give businesses the flexibility to adjust to market conditions. This balanced ecosystem ultimately creates more good jobs and sustains them for Singaporeans. And it ensures that even when workers are retrenched, the chances of them finding another good job are high. This is demonstrated by our low long-term unemployment and high labour force participation rates. On responsible practices, we worked closely with the tripartite partners to formulate clear guidance for employers when undertaking cost-cutting measures. This guidance is contained in the Tripartite Advisory on Managing Excess Manpower and Responsible Retrenchment (TAMEM). TAMEM also guides unionised companies to notify their unions early about an upcoming retrenchment exercise. Where it is provided for in the collective agreement, the norm is one month before notifying the employees. If an employer does not follow the TAMEM, the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) will engage the employer to adhere to the advisory. Most employers are cooperative when approached by TAFEP or the Ministry of Manpower (MOM). This shows that our tripartite advisories are working well without the need for additional penalties, which may negatively affect the wider business environment in Singapore.”