Definition of "Discrimination" under Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices
Ministry of ManpowerSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns Dr Shahira Abdullah’s inquiry regarding how the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) defines discrimination for its investigations and enforcement referrals. Minister for Manpower Dr Tan See Leng explained that discrimination occurs when employment decisions are based on non-job-related factors such as age, race, or nationality instead of merit. He stated that TAFEP refers breaches of the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices to the Ministry of Manpower for enforcement actions, including the suspension of work pass privileges. The Minister emphasized that employers must recruit and reward based on skills and experience, noting that current efforts focus on investigating unfair hiring and promotion practices. Finally, he shared that upcoming workplace fairness legislation will clarify discriminatory offences and enable a broader range of enforcement measures against offending employers.
Transcript
60 Dr Shahira Abdullah asked the Minister for Manpower how does the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices define 'discrimination' for the purposes of its investigations and referrals to the Ministry for enforcement actions to be carried out.
Dr Tan See Leng: Employers are required to abide by the principles of fair employment practices set out in the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices (TGFEP). These include recruiting employees on the basis of merit – such as skills, experience or ability to perform the job – and rewarding employees fairly based on their ability, performance, contribution and experience. Recruitment, in-employment promotion and rewards, and dismissals based on factors that are not relevant to the job requirements are breaches of the TGFEP.
The Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) looks into all reports of workplace discrimination. Employers found to have hired a foreigner without considering similarly qualified local candidates, or shortlisted candidates for reasons that are not related to job requirements such as age or race, are clearly in breach of TGFEP. In such cases, TAFEP would refer these employers to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) for further investigation and enforcement action to be taken, including suspension of work pass privileges.
When workplace fairness legislation is enacted, the offences on discrimination will be made clear, for which a wider range of enforcement actions can be taken against offending employers. Work and discussion on this are ongoing.