Review of Safe Management Measures at Workplace

6 Mr Seah Kian Peng asked the Minister for Manpower when will the next review of safe management measures at the workplace be conducted and what will be the considerations in such a review.

The Senior Minister of State for Manpower (Mr Zaqy Mohamad) (for the Minister for Manpower): Speaker, in January, safe management measures (SMMs) in the general community setting were tightened. This was due to a rise in the number of community cases then, and in view of the anticipated increase in social activities during the Chinese New Year. The tripartite partners decided to defer any updates to the SMMs for the workplace. The Multi-Ministry Task Force will monitor the COVID-19 situation for a few weeks after the Chinese New Year period to assess when public health measures, including SMMs for the workplace, can be adjusted.

Adjustments to SMMs for the workplace will consider the public health risk, level of community cases, as well as employee and business interests. As we have seen from the resurgence of infections in some countries in the region, we must remain vigilant in our approach to managing the transmission risks.

For now, work-from-home remains the default working arrangement. Employers must ensure that no more than 50% of employees who are able to work from home are at the workplace at any point in time, and that these employees work from home for at least half their working time.

Mr Speaker: Mr Seah.

Mr Seah Kian Peng (Marine Parade): Mr Speaker, Sir, I just have some supplementary questions for Minister of State Zaqy. First, the reason why I raised this is because I know that many businesses, employers in various workplaces, they are still suffering. We all understand the need to be conservative and to stay vigilant. And hence, my first supplementary question is could Minister of State give an indication of when this review will take place? Is there a specific timeline and whether vaccination is going to be a factor in the considerations?

Obviously, I hope that in weighing the interests between business and health, both are equally important that we strike the right calibration.

Mr Zaqy Mohamad: I thank the Member for his question. Sir, we fully understand and recognise that some employers do feel that the work-from-home requirement hinders collaboration, productivity and sometimes, even the building of team spirit. So, that changes the corporate culture a bit. At the same time as well, we have seen employees, many have adjusted well at home with the new arrangements. But at the same time as well, some also still prefer to work in the office if their home environment is not conducive.

Therefore, we are constantly monitoring, and as I mentioned in my earlier response, we stand guided by the Multi-Ministry Task Force. They will review a few weeks after the Chinese New Year period.

This is quite key because, how we adjust the work-from-home requirement will have to take into consideration the public health risks. At the same time as well, we need to also look at how community cases develop, especially after the Chinese New Year period. We will monitor the situation and try to balance as much as we can the employers' as well as the employees' interests.

On the Member's question on whether vaccination will play a role in our measures, the key thing is this, until enough people are vaccinated, vaccinated employees should continue to practice public health measures such as Workplace SMMs. We are still monitoring the duration of the vaccine's protection and its effectiveness in preventing transmission of COVID-19. Therefore, there are few factors still in play, as vaccinations are still on-going. So, let us what with the Multi-Ministry Task Force and see how best we can manage and adjust and cater to both employers and employees.