Impact of Upcoming Legislation for Fair Employment on Buyers of Outsourced Services

53 Mr Raj Joshua Thomas asked the Minister for Manpower whether the upcoming legislation enshrining the guidelines of the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices will include obligations on buyers of outsourced services to prevent them from including clauses in their service agreements that result in unfair or discriminatory working conditions for outsourced workers.

Dr Tan See Leng: All employers should abide by the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices (TGFEP), which require that jobseekers and employees be treated fairly and based on merit. We do not accept employers citing discriminatory requirements by their clients. Such employers will still be in breach of TGFEP. We do not expect that, in enshrining TGFEP into legislation, this position will be changed.

With respect to service buyers, as previously indicated in a reply to a Question for Written Answer, MOM and the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) will follow up on complaints of their discriminatory practices and engage them. If necessary, MOM will suspend the work pass privileges of the service buyers or their appointed agents.

The Tripartite Committee on Workplace Fairness will focus on workplace fairness in the context of employment relationships. The Committee aims to complete its work by the second half of this year.