published april 2023

Workplace Fairness Legislation Should Protect Everyone

Contributed by Remy Choo & Deryne Sim

We refer to the Tripartite Committee on Workplace Fairness’ Interim Report and the opinion piece entitled “Workplace Fairness Proposals Could be Fairer” by Corinna Lim, the Executive Director of AWARE. 

We write to support AWARE’s recommendation and express our concerns about the Tripartite Committee’s recommendations on tackling workplace discrimination. The approach proposed by the Tripartite Committee only covers five categories of characteristics for protection, and is under-inclusive. This approach will result in a “split-track” system that is inefficient and ineffective. 

The categories that will be protected under the Tripartite Committee’s recommendations are (i) age, (ii) nationality, (iii) sex, marital status, pregnancy status, caregiving responsibilities, (iv) race, religion, language, (v) disability and mental health conditions. All other characteristics are protected by mere guidelines under the existing Tripartite Guidelines for Fair Employment Practices (“TGFEP”). 

Several important categories are excluded from protection, including medical conditions, physical attributes and sexual orientation and gender identity. Employers do discriminate based on these characteristics. For example, in the aftermath of the 2019 data leak where 14,200 persons’ HIV-positive status was disclosed, news media reported incidences of employees who had been fired, not hired, or banned from interacting with customers because of their HIV-positive status. These aggrieved employees will not be able to seek redress under the new law. 

The existing TGFEP framework recognises, as a fundamental principle, that protection against all forms of workplace discrimination is important to promote a fair and merit-based employment ecosystem. This principle needs to be translated into the proposed legislation. 

This “split-track” approach ignores the reality that every employee possesses multiple characteristics. In theory, an aggrieved employee may have to split their claims into those which fall under the proposed Workplace Fairness Legislation and those which do not if they want to seek redress. In reality, workplace discrimination is often nuanced and multi-factorial and it would not be possible for the aggrieved employee to neatly split their claims. Further, as we have seen in the example of the HIV data leak, TGFEP guidelines are an ineffective deterrent for employers. 

Action for AIDS has previously called on the government to formulate the law to protect all employees from discrimination based on characteristics which do not impact the individual’s ability to work. The undersigned call on the government to legislate an all-inclusive anti-discrimination law to promote a fair and merit-based employment ecosystem to ensure that no worker is left behind. 

Action for AIDS

Oogachaga

Pink Dot SG

Q Chamber