MOM Launch New Rules to Ensure Fair Hiring Practices

June 23, 20203:45 pm1104 views

MOM Launch New Rules to Ensure Fair Hiring Practices

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is introducing new rules to ensure fair employment practices. Under the new rules, employment agencies hiring candidates on behalf of employers are required to consider Singaporeans fairly for vacancies. The agencies will need to fulfil this and other new conditions in order to be licensed by from Oct 1, the ministry said in a statement on Monday (Jun 22).

This initiative comes as the government is working on strengthening job opportunities for local Singaporeans amid the more difficult labour market conditions due to Covid-19, The New Paper reports.

In a Facebook post, Manpower Minister Josephine Teo said that there are about 3,900 licensed agencies in the country and they fill about three in 10 job vacancies. While most agencies help to uphold fair hiring, but every year the ministry still receive about 20 complaints regarding workplace discrimination. Mrs Teo added that discrimination must not be tolerated anywhere, especially at the workplace.

Under the new rules, employment agencies must comply with the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices when recruiting for employers, who are their clients. These include having consistent and fair selection criteria throughout the recruitment process and developing a Singaporean core.

Employment agencies must also make “reasonable efforts” to attract Singaporeans to the positions they are trying to fill. To do this, the agency could advertise job vacancies through online job boards or work with Workforce Singapore or the National Trades Union Congress’ Employment and Employability Institute to search for local job seekers, for instance. Employment agencies must also consider all candidates based on merit and turn down requests or instructions from clients to carry out discriminatory hiring.

Agencies that fail to comply with the licensing conditions may be given demerit points, have their licence suspended or revoked, or face prosecution, said MOM. They can be taken to task under the Employment Agencies Act, Employment of Foreign Manpower Act and the Fair Consideration Framework, which was introduced in 2014 to specifically target discrimination against locals.

Under the framework, those found guilty of discriminatory hiring practices will not be able to apply for new work passes or renew existing work passes for between 12 and 24 months.

Ms Alena Salakhova, who chairs the Singapore executive committee of the Association of Professional Staffing Companies, which represents about 40 recruiters in Singapore, said that having such a clear regulatory framework provides a level playing field for employment agencies.

“It is important that employment agencies are going to play the part of partners of the ministry to educate employers that they can’t discriminate and must have fair hiring practices,” added Ms Salakhova.

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