3 May, 2016
In measures announced in Parliament on 8 April 2016, the Ministry of Manpower ("MOM") will be increasing its focus on further strengthening the local workforce. The new measures that will be put into place will include refining the processing of Employment Pass ("EP") applications, as well as providing further assistance to unemployed Singaporeans and the employers who hire them.
The MOM will be tightening its scrutiny on "Triple Weak" firms – those with a weak Singaporean core, a weak commitment to develop locals, and a weak economic link or social impact with the country, while at the same time providing more support for "Triple Strong" firms, particularly firms related to the Smart Nation programme, advanced manufacturing and future services, which are deemed to be critical to Singapore's future growth.
Manpower Minister, Mr Lim Swee Say, announced that the MOM will refine the processing of workplace applications for EPs. At present, such processing only assesses "individual related" criteria such as the qualification, experience and salary of the applicant, however in the future more focus will be given to "company related" factors such as:
- how strong the Singaporean core is in the company;
- whether firms with a weak Singaporean core have a commitment to nurture and
- strengthen the core in future; and
- how relevant these companies are to Singapore's economy and society.
The assessments will be carried out by the Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices and "Triple Weak" companies will be added to a watchlist. Companies who do not pass a review to be held after six months may have workpass privileges suspended, and renewals of existing EPs and processing of new applications will be affected.
Additionally, the Government has announced that from May 2016, Singaporeans under 40 years of age looking for employment as professionals, managers, executives and technicians ("PMETs") after being made redundant, and who have been unemployed for more than six months, will come under an expanded scheme known as the Career Support Programme. Employers who hire under this programme can have the employee's salary subsidised by 20% for six months and then 10% for a further six months. Singaporeans aged 40 years of age and above looking for employment as a PMET will not have to wait for six months of unemployment but will automatically come under the programme. A career conversion programme will also be expanded to sectors such as pharmaceuticals, logistics and retail to help workers change jobs within and across sectors.
On 1 July 2017, the re-employment age will be raised from 65 to 67. From this date, employers will be obliged to offer re-employment to eligible workers up to the age of 67 years. The present provision permitting employers to reduce the wages of workers turning 60 by up to 10% will be removed. It is contemplated that pay should reflect the job scope and values, rather than the employees' age. These workers can be employed by a related or subsidiary company, as long as the employee agrees. In situations where re-employment is not possible, the worker will receive a one-off Employment Assistance Payment ("EAP"). There will also be changes to the EAP amounts and age coverage. More details on the changes to the re-employment landscape will be set out in the soon to be released Updated Tripartite Guidelines on the Re-employment of Older Employees.
It was also announced on 12 April 2016 by the Minister for Social and Family Development, Tan Chuan-Jin, that unwed mothers will soon be given the same 16- week maternity leave that is given to married mothers. Currently, unwed mothers are only entitled to eight weeks of paid maternity leave. Children of unwed parents will also qualify for the Child Development Account ("CDA"), including the S$3,000 CDA First Step grant, which at present they do not qualify for. As legislation will need to be amended before this can happen, it is likely that the maternity leave benefits will apply to children born from early next year, although the CDA entitlement will likely apply to children born from the third quarter of this year.
Together with the new Employment Claims Tribunal which is expected to be set up later this year, significant changes to the employment landscape are expected. Our article, Consultation on the Establishment of an Employment Claims Tribunal to Address Salary-Related Claims, discusses the proposed Employment Claims Tribunal in more detail.
For further information, please contact:
Jenny Tsin, Partner, WongPartnership
jenny.tsin@wongpartnership.com
