Statistics on Age Discrimination Complaints Lodged with TAFEP and Sectors Most Frequently Implicated

10 Dr Charlene Chen asked the Minister for Manpower (a) in the past two years, how many complaints of age discrimination have been lodged with the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) and the Ministry; (b) how many of such cases are detected beyond formal complaints received; (c) which sectors are most frequently implicated; and (d) when is the Workplace Fairness Act expected to take effect.

The Senior Minister of State for Manpower (Dr Koh Poh Koon) (for the Minister for Manpower): The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) received an annual average of 61 complaints of age discrimination in 2023 and 2024. The top three sectors with the most number of complaints were administrative and support service activities; wholesale and retail trade; and accommodation and food service activities.

In addition to the complaints received, TAFEP partners Workforce Singapore (WSG) to proactively review job advertisements posted on MyCareersFuture (MCF) portal to detect potentially discriminatory job advertisements. In 2023 and 2024, TAFEP identified an annual average of 90 job advertisements containing words or phrases that were potentially discriminatory on the basis of age.

TAFEP had engaged the employers that posted these job advertisements to make the necessary amendments to ensure alignment with the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices (TGFEP). To further assist employers to better understand their obligations under the TGFEP and build merit-based and fair workplaces, TAFEP has also provided the employers with resources, such as guides and clinics.

We plan to table the second Workplace Fairness Bill in Parliament by the end of the year. If passed, we intend to implement the Workplace Fairness Act sometime in 2026 or 2027.

Mr Speaker: Dr Charlene Chen.

Dr Charlene Chen (Tampines): I thank the Senior Minister of State for his response. I would like to know what trends or patterns MOM has observed in age discrimination cases. For example, is there any data that happens more of hiring promotions or retrenchments?

And the second supplementary question is, how will MOM ensure that older workers, especially those less familiar with reporting channels, feel safe and supported to surface cases of discrimination?

And my last supplementary question is about the Workplace Fairness Act. When it comes into force, are there any safeguards that will ensure that enforcement is not just reactive, but also proactive in deterring unfair practices before they occur?

Dr Koh Poh Koon: Sir, I thank the Member for her questions. In terms of trend, our annual fair employment practice reports have not shown an uptrend over the past five years. In fact, the average annual number of age discrimination complaints received was about 77 during the period from 2018 to 2022, as cited in the Tripartite Committee on Workplace Fairness Final Report, and 61 over the period 2023 to 2024, as I shared in this Parliamentary Question response.

On the second question of how we ensure that there are adequate avenues, especially for those who may have challenges navigating the resources, I would say there are several avenues. One, of course, is we try to encourage those who have grievances to approach TAFEP, because there will be a team of mediators and staff who can help take the case into consideration and advise them on what recourse and avenues are open to them. Failing which, of course, you can always email directly to MOM and we will then work with TAFEP to investigate further.

And finally, what is the approach we are going to take for cases like this, I think our emphasis is always on taking a more educational approach to make sure that both employers and employees understand what are discriminatory practices in the workplace. That is a proactive way to ensure that there are no misunderstandings on what is required. Oftentimes, we see that when complaints surface, it may not necessarily be that the employers are egregious in trying to discriminate against a particular age group. But sometimes, the choice of words, the phrasing and the type of words they use in advertisements, for example, are probably not well considered enough, and that can create a misunderstanding and the impression. So, with the educational approach, we hope that this will prevent more of such occurrences from taking place.