Manpower Minister, Lim Swee Say has criticised Surbana Jurong, Temasek Holdings-owned consultancy for labelling retrenched staffers as “poor performers,” which is unacceptable. The way the company terminated close to 60 workers speaks of Surbana Jurong falling short of human resource practices, Lim said at the Parliament yesterday.
Lim said, “This is the first time that the employer has conducted such a major termination exercise and announced publicly that these workers are labelled poor performers. As a Manpower Minister, it is something that I do not find acceptable,” Yahoo! News Singapore reported.
Responding to questions from various members of the Parliament, seeking updates on the findings from the MOM investigation into the incident, it’s believed Surbana Jurong group chief executive Wong Heang Fine explained the termination to staffers in an email saying, it cannot allow a small proportion of poor performers to drag on the rest of the organisation.
Of the 54 terminated workers, 14 are members of the Building Construction and Timber Industries Employees’ Union (BATU).
According to a recent news update, Nasordin Mohd Hashim, president of the Building Construction and Timber Industries Employees’ Union (BATU), said in his Facebook post, that the way of providing fair treatment and due process for union members was “not observed”.
Usually, before a union member is terminated, the details of the case would be officially given to the union. Of the 54 terminated workers, 14 are members of BATU.
Hashim further added, “Eight of our members were re-employed staff who were offered re-employment or had their contract renewed. Why did the company offer them re-employment or renew their contract if their performance was not satisfactory to begin with? All we ask for is fairness, transparency and accountability for our members. These are universal principles which all companies and unions should stand by.”
Lim told the Ministry that he expects companies to conduct HR practices in a responsible and progressive manner. He further added that the company acknowledged this process could have been better managed. “This episode serves as a good reminder to employers that termination exercises should be conducted in a responsible and sensitive manner.”
Under the Employment Act, employers who terminate employees on grounds of poor performance must substantiate these claims based on documented incidents of poor performance. Employees who feel they have been unfairly dismissed may file an appeal with MOM.
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