Pregnancy-related Discrimination Reported to Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices
Ministry of ManpowerSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the statistics and resolution of pregnancy-related discrimination complaints filed with the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) and the Employment Claims Tribunals (ECT), as asked by Mr Fadli Fawzi to the Acting Minister for Manpower. In response, Ms Jasmin Lau stated that TAFEP received 49 pregnancy-related complaints between 2019 and 2025, with substantiated cases referred to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) for enforcement actions such as suspending access to foreign workers. Additionally, between April 2019 and 2025, 387 pregnancy-related wrongful dismissal claims were filed at the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM), where 78% were resolved and 22% were referred to the ECT. At the ECT, 27 out of 72 filed claims (38%) were awarded compensation in favour of the employee. Under the upcoming Workplace Fairness Act taking effect by end-2027, pregnancy discrimination across all employment stages will be unlawful, empowering MOM to issue financial penalties and allowing affected individuals to claim compensation via TADM.
Transcript
28 Mr Fadli Fawzi asked the Acting Minister for Manpower for each year since 2017 (a) what is the number of complaints made to the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) in relation to pregnancy-related discrimination; (b) how many were escalated to the Employment Claims Tribunals (ECT); and (c) what percentage of TAFEP complaints and ECT cases, respectively, are resolved in favour of the employee.
Ms Jasmin Lau: Between 2019 and 2025, the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) received 49 pregnancy-related discrimination complaints. Where there is evidence of discriminatory employment practices, TAFEP will refer the complaints to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) for investigation. Depending on severity of the case, MOM could take enforcement action, such as requiring employers to rectify the lapses in their human resource processes or suspending their access to foreign workers.
Separately, employees who are dismissed because of their pregnancy may also file a wrongful dismissal claim at the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM). About 387 claims for compensation or reinstatement for wrongful dismissal during pregnancy were filed at TADM between April 2019 and 2025. Of these, 301 (78%) were resolved at TADM, while the remaining 86 (22%) were issued with case referral certificates which allowed the claimants to file claims with the Employment Claims Tribunals (ECT). ECT awarded compensation in favour of employees in 27 or 38% of the 72 claims filed.
Under the new Workplace Fairness Act (WFA), which is scheduled to take effect by end-2027, it would be unlawful for employers to make adverse employment decisions based on protected characteristics, including pregnancy. WFA empowers MOM to take enforcement action against discriminatory employers, including issuing directions to rectify breaches and imposing administrative financial penalties. Additionally, under WFA, individuals who experience pregnancy-related discrimination, across all employment stages, such as hiring, promotion, training and dismissal resulting in adverse employment decisions, can file claims for compensation with TADM.