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Written Answer to PQ on Clarifying penalties for MRN non-compliance

NOTICE PAPER NO. 119 OF 2024 FOR SITTING ON OR AFTER 15 OCTOBER 2025
QUESTION NO. 353 FOR WRITTEN ANSWER

MP: Ms Gho Sze Kee

To ask the Minister for Manpower whether the Ministry will consider clarifying and defining the administrative penalties under section 126B(aa) of the Employment Act 1968 for breaches of section 96A, given that failures by employers to furnish retrenchment information are declared civil contraventions under section 126A(aa), which attracts no criminal liability and may lack sufficient deterrent effect.

Answer:

1. Employers are required to submit to MOM a Mandatory Retrenchment Notification (MRN) within 5 working days after giving the retrenchment notice to their employees. There are penalties for failing to submit MRN, delay in submitting MRN, and providing incomplete or inaccurate information under the Employment (Administrative Penalties) Regulations 2016; specifically, $1,000 for the first contravention and $2,000 for subsequent contravention.

2. Generally, when deciding whether to position a breach of the law as a civil contravention or an offence, several factors are taken into consideration including whether the breach is one of strict liability, or a technical breach of a rule.

3. An employer who continues to not submit MRNs may be subject to a criminal offence if he does not comply with a direction issued by an authorised officer under section 126D of the Employment Act. Such directions can be issued to the employer (in lieu of or in addition to the contravention notice) to bring the contravention to an end and to require the employer to take such action to remedy, mitigate or eliminate any effects of the contravention and to prevent its recurrence. It is an offence if the employer fails to comply with that direction, with a fine of up to $5,000 or imprisonment of up to 6 months or both.

4. Nonetheless, the majority of employers are compliant with the MRN requirements (with 70% having submitted on time between January 2021 to June 2025).