Companies with Measures to Deal with Workplace Harassment

8 Assoc Prof Walter Theseira asked the Minister for Manpower whether the Ministry will start monitoring the number of employers who have adopted measures in the Tripartite Advisor for Managing Workplace Harassment, with such monitoring to include whether the employer has a policy explicitly defining harassment including sexual harassment, whether the policy details how harassment will be dealt with, and whether training is provided to employees on how to prevent and respond to harassment.

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Manpower (Ms Low Yen Ling) (for the Minister for Manpower): Mr Speaker, individuals who face harassment at the workplace should contact the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) for advice and assistance. If the facts suggest that an offence under the Penal Code or the Protection from Harassment Act (POHA) is committed, TAFEP will refer them to the Police or the Courts.

At MOM's Committee of Supply debate this year, in fact just two months ago, we announced that TAFEP would set up a centre for workplace harassment, so as to further enhance the support provided to individuals who come forward to report workplace harassment.

In 2015, the tripartite partners also agreed on a Tripartite Advisory on Managing Workplace Harassment. The tripartite partners affirm that all employers are expected to provide a safe and healthy working environment for their employees. They are also in agreement that for cases that do not constitute a criminal offence, the proper way to deal with it is through effective grievance handling procedures within the companies. To help employers put in place processes to prevent and manage workplace harassment complaints, TAFEP provides online resources such as a sample workplace harassment prevention policy and a list of training providers to train the supervisors in dealing with workplace harassment and complaints.

Tripartite advisories are meant to provide further guidance for employers and employees. We do not track how many companies implement the measures suggested in the advisories. However, when evaluating whether an employer has taken adequate measures in response to a complaint of workplace harassment, MOM and TAFEP will assess whether the employer has implemented an effective grievance handling procedure as well as the measures that are outlined in the Tripartite Advisory on Managing Workplace Harassment. If the employer failed to address a workplace harassment case fairly, TAFEP would advise the employer to review the case again. TAFEP would also engage the employer to put in place the proper measures as outlined in the Tripartite Advisory to ensure better prevention and also management of workplace harassment. For egregious cases where the companies fail to provide a safe environment for their employees, MOM will take actions against the company, including curtailing the work passes.

Assoc Prof Walter Theseira (Nominated Member): I thank the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the reply. I understand the Ministry is taking this issue very seriously. I appreciate those efforts very much.

The main concern here is if we are not putting in some effort to try to track, for example, the number of employers who are adhering to these guidelines, we would find it difficult to say anything credibly about how well we are addressing these concerns. If there were, for example, an incident of severe workplace harassment, let us say, not taken care of properly in the workplace, as what happened to students at NUS, then it would be difficult for the Government to say what is the actual state of affairs. That is my concern.

Ms Low Yen Ling: I want to thank Assoc Prof Walter Theseira for the supplementary questions. Maybe allow me to explain what is the difference between tripartite advisory vis-a-vis tripartite standard. But before that, allow me to again recap that two months ago, MOM announced that TAFEP will be made a resource centre of workplace harassment. One of the objectives is, like what Assoc Prof Walter Theseira has mentioned, to educate and also equip not just employers, but also employees, with the necessary information and resources when it comes to this topic of workplace harassment.

In the Tripartite Advisory, we have provided very clear, very comprehensive and free sample copy of the Workplace Harassment Prevention Policy. Very detailed information, which will cover guiding principles, definition of workplace harassment and also how to take pre-emptive steps and so on. TAFEP has also, within the last two months, produced a video, so that we can share with, not just employers but also employees, what constitutes workplace harassment – the definition I talked about; and the video outlines what the employers' fundamental responsibilities and policies should be.

I want to assure him that TAFEP is certainly stepping up efforts to extend the outreach to more employers and employees and also to advice more employers to implement the measures that are outlined in the Tripartite Advisory. Other than the education efforts, we are working with partners like the Labour Movement. We are also working with Singapore National Employers' Federation (SNEF) to organise workshops because we realised it is not just the boss in the company, we need to work with the supervisors. And the workshops are also targeted at the supervisors to help them understand how to smoothen the employer and employee relationship.

I have talked about the Tripartite Advisory, the objective of the Advisory is to outline comprehensive information and also sample copy of the Workplace Harassment Prevention Policy. It is also a way for us to develop the pipeline for companies that will come on-board Tripartite Standards. TAFEP has carried ads about the Tripartite Standard on grievance handling so as to encourage employers to adopt proper and specific practices in these areas, which also include workplace harassment. Allow me to share some numbers. As at end January this year, more than 960 employers – which collectively employ more than 498,000 people – have signed on the standard.

Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan (West Coast): Just a point and a suggestion for the Senior Parliamentary Secretary. In light of the amendments that you have seen in the last two days on the Penal Code as well as the POHA, can I request MOM to take the lead and work with our tripartite partners and review the Tripartite Advisory on Managing Workplace Harassment as well as the outreach efforts and materials.

Ms Low Yen Ling: I want to thank the Member Mr Patrick Tay for the suggestion and also I want to take the opportunity to thank him and the Labour Members in the NTUC Labour Movement for their efforts since the introduction of POHA. They have been doing very regular legal primers on this topic of workplace harassment in partnership with the Law Society of Singapore; they have done this since POHA was passed as law. I know that they have done this to better educate the employees, in particular, the union members and the non-union members as well.

To answer his question, this is a copy of the Tripartite Advisory. MOM and TAFEP, we will continue to work with our Tripartite partners to keep this document current and relevant. I must also say that the current focus is to go all out, to expand our outreach to even cover more employers and employees. We remain committed to keep this current and relevant, so that we can advise and bring on board more employers to keep our workplaces harassment free.

Ms Anthea Ong (Nominated Member): The Senior Parliamentary Secretary earlier mentioned that a centre will be set up for employees to report cases of sexual harassment at the workplace. That is not coming yet, that is actually in the pipeline. Could the Senior Parliamentary Secretary share more of that and what is the process for employees to come forward if they want to report cases at the centre?

Ms Low Yen Ling: I want to thank Ms Anthea Ong. As soon as it was announced in early March, during the MOM COS, the Resource Centre at TAFEP began its operations. Allow me to share the functions of the Resource Centre. Employees can choose to file the report with TAFEP and they will be advised on the appropriate actions that they can take against the perpetrator and also the avenues of support. Depending on the case details, TAFEP can link them up with the Police, or the Courts if it is an egregious case of workplace harassment which constitute offence under the Penal Code or POHA. For affected employees who need counselling services, TAFEP will also help advise them on where to obtain such support services and put them in touch with the relevant agencies. So, we also provide them the necessary support.