Alternative Remedies to Reinstatement for Those Seeking Mediation for Unfair Dismissal
Ministry of ManpowerSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns inquiries by Mr Leon Perera regarding remedies alternative to reinstatement for employees seeking mediation for alleged unfair dismissal and the frequency of their application. Minister for Manpower Mrs Josephine Teo clarified that the Employment Act empowers the Minister to direct either reinstatement with back pay or financial compensation. She noted that over half of mediation cases result in settlements with payments, while 10% involve mutual agreements like converting dismissals into resignations or providing testimonials. For cases escalated to the Minister, compensation is generally preferred over reinstatement due to strained employer-employee relationships making the latter impractical. In substantiated cases over the last five years, the Minister has ordered compensation instead of reinstatement in every instance.
Transcript
30 Mr Leon Perera asked the Minister for Manpower with regard to persons undergoing mediation by the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM) for alleged unfair dismissal (a) whether there are remedies other than reinstatement that are provided in the law given that the complainant may prefer other forms of redress instead; and (b) if so, in what proportion of alleged unfair dismissal mediation cases have non-reinstatement remedies been applied in each of the past five years and what have been these remedies.
Mrs Josephine Teo: The Employment Act empowers the Minister for Manpower to direct an employer to reinstate an employee who has been wrongfully dismissed in his former job and to pay the employee for the loss of income, or direct the employer to compensate the employee.
An average of 200 employees sought assistance for wrongful dismissal each year, in the past five years. Following mediation, slightly more than half of the cases came to an amicable settlement with payments to the employee. Another 10% of cases were settled through other mutual agreements between employer and employee such as converting the employee’s dismissal into a resignation or the employer providing the employee with a service testimonial. A further 20% of the cases were withdrawn by the employee. These cases account for about 80% of the cases.
The remaining 20% of the cases were escalated to the Minister for Manpower for a decision. Where an employee is found to have been wrongfully dismissed, compensation is generally preferred to reinstatement at this stage because the employer-employee relationship would have been strained and reinstatement would not be practical. In the last five years, where wrongful dismissal is substantiated, the Minister has ordered compensation instead of reinstatement.