Committee of Supply Speech (Part 4) by Mr Hawazi Daipi, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Manpower, 05 March 2008, 11:30 AM, Parliament
Mr Hawazi Daipi, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Manpower, Parliament
Building Great Workplaces
INTRODUCTION
Sir, the Minister of State has spoken about the policies and measures to facilitate the re-employment of older workers, as well as to encourage women to return to the workforce. I shall elaborate on the efforts to promote flexible work arrangements and fair employment practices, both of which can impact the employment of older workers and working mothers.
(I) FLEXIBLE WORK ARRANGEMENTS
2. First, flexible work arrangements. I agree with MPs who spoke during the Budget Debate, about the need to encourage economically inactive residents to join the workforce. Indeed, one of the key strategies to achieve this would be to facilitate part-time employment and flexible work arrangements. A study done by MOM in 2006 on economically inactive women of age 25 to 49 and older persons of age 50 to 64, found that more than 9 out of 10 of those intending to look for work in the next 2 years, were looking for part-time work1. In this tight labour market, employers can therefore address part of their staffing needs by encouraging more of the economically-inactive to take up jobs.
3. To address concerns about the legal protections for part-time workers, I would like to point out that part-time employees are covered under the Employment Act. Part-time employees enjoy similar benefits as full-timers, annual leave, sick leave and maternity leave, except that these are pro-rated based on their working hours. They are also entitled to CPF contributions from their employers.
4. MOM also conducted a study in 20052 to examine the obstacles preventing employers from offering flexible work. It found that some employers were ill-informed about work-life practices and sceptical about the benefits. We have therefore rolled out a series of promotional activities to raise awareness, including the Work-Life Harmony Week and the Work-Life Conference since 2005. MOM also works closely with the Employer Alliance, which is a group of employers committed to work-life promotion, to generate buy-in amongst CEOs and business leaders. The results have been encouraging. In a recent survey of four Asian countries (i.e. Japan, China, Hong Kong and Singapore) by Hudson3, Singapore companies were found to be the most likely to implement work-life policies.
5. To encourage more companies to employ new workers on part-time work or flexible work arrangement, MOM launched the Flexi-Works! Scheme in November last year. Administered by the National Trades Union Congress (or NTUC) and Singapore National Employers Federation (or SNEF), the scheme offers grants of up to $100,000 to help companies defray the cost of implementing flexible work arrangements. The Flexi-works! Scheme complements other work-life initiatives by the Tripartite Committee on Work-Life Strategy, including the Work Life Excellence Award, which recognises companies with excellent work-life culture and practices, and the Work-Life Works! Fund (or WoW! Fund).
6. Flexible work arrangements can lead to win-win outcomes for the employer and employee. Employees who are better able to balance their work and personal lives are likely to be more committed and productive in their work. One example is Terra Holdings, a small IT company with about 20 staff. With assistance from the WoW! Fund, Terra Holdings has put in place flexible work arrangements such as telecommuting and part-time work. This has led to an increase in productivity and staff retention -- Terra Holdings halved its turnover rate from 30% in 2006 to 14% last year, while improving year-on-year sales.
7. Going forward, we will continue to refine our programmes and funding schemes to encourage and facilitate more employers to implement flexible work arrangements and other work-life strategies, as well as build platforms to share and recognize good practices.
(II) FAIR EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES
8. Second, fair employment practices. We have often been asked if legislation would be effective in addressing workplace discrimination and preventing discriminatory job advertisements. The experiences of other countries have demonstrated that legislation has not effectively addressed the issue of discrimination. In some cases, the number of complaints has in fact increased after laws have been enacted. But far from addressing the problem, such legislative measures have resulted in a litigious labour-management climate.
9. On the issue of workplace sexual harassment; MOM hardly receives complaints of such nature. Notwithstanding this, as with cases of workplace discrimination, workers who experience sexual harassment problems could take up the issue with their management, or through their unions if they are union members. If necessary, they could also lodge a police report. Since there are already avenues of recourse and legal protections available, there is no need for additional legislation against workplace sexual harassment.
10. Sir, the real challenge is to positively shape mindsets and behaviour. In this regard, a promotional approach supported by the tripartite partners - unions, employers and the Government - is more effective in dealing with the issues of workplace discrimination and harassment. In 2006, we formed the Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices (or TAFEP), led by Mdm Halimah Yacob from NTUC and Mr Bob Tan from SNEF, to raise awareness of fair and responsible employment practices and facilitate the adoption of such practices among employers.
11. TAFEP has received strong support from employers, with the number of employers pledging to embrace the principles of fair employment doubling to more than 600 within the last year. Just last Thursday, TAFEP and the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises organised a breakfast session for CEOs of SMEs. By the end of the morning, more than 30 CEOs have signed the Employers' Pledge of Fair Employment Practices to signal their support for fair employment.
12. With respect to job advertisements, TAFEP will continue to work closely with the newspapers and employers to ensure that job advertisements are in line with the guidelines. Many of the discriminatory job advertisements arise from a lack of awareness, rather than blatant biasness. Often, it is a matter of helping employers phrase their requirements accurately. For example, some employers who advertised for fresh graduates when their intended message was that working experience was not a pre-requisite. Such advertisements not only turned away experienced graduates, but could also be viewed as discriminatory. At TAFEP's advice, these employers reviewed their job advertisements and removed the “fresh graduates” clause. Doing so enhanced their image as fair employers. But more importantly, it allowed them to reach out to a wider pool of candidates.
13. There is also a need to monitor discriminatory employment practices. Last November, the Tripartite Centre for Fair Employment or TAFEP Centre was launched. It offers a channel for the public to give feedback and seek advice on fair employment matters. The Centre will continually monitor the feedback received, and engage employers to review their employment practices and adopt the guidelines on fair employment.
14. I am confident that the tripartite efforts will encourage and facilitate fair and responsible employment amongst companies, and enable them to better attract and retain valued employees and talents.
(III) WORKPLACE SAFETY AND HEALTH
15. Let me now speak on workplace safety and health. The workplace fatality rate has continued its steady decline from 4.9 fatalities per 100,000 employees in 2004, to 2.9 in 2007. This is a 40% improvement over the past four years and we are on track to achieve our target of reducing workplace fatalities to 2.5 fatalities per 100,000 employees by 2015.
16. Specifically, high-risk sectors such as the construction and marine industries have also continued to improve their safety outcomes. The fatality rate in the construction industry fell from 9.4 per 100,000 workers in 2006 to 8.3 in 2007, while for the marine industry, the fatality rate dropped from 9.8 in 2006 to 7 in 2007. This translates to improvements of 12% and 29% for these two sectors respectively. The injuries rates have similarly fallen by 10% for the construction industry, and 39% for the marine industry.
17. Notwithstanding the progress made, the construction and marine sectors remain two of the riskiest sectors, accounting for over 50% of the total workplace fatalities in 2007. The recent NUS crane collapse which resulted in three deaths is a reminder that we cannot afford to ease up in our efforts. I agree that efforts to expand the coverage of the WSH Act to the six new sectors from 1 March should not come at the expense of the existing high-risk sectors. That is certainly not MOM's intention, as evident from the measures implemented in recent months. In July last year, MOM introduced a compulsory worker safety and well-being test for workers in the marine and construction industries. The test ensures that our workers understand their safety responsibilities, and can identify workplace hazards. In January this year, we also enacted the WSH (Construction) Regulations, which require all worksites to have an adequate safety management system and all construction supervisors to receive safety training.
18. On the safety of transporting workers to and from workplaces, a Work Group, co-chaired by the Land Transport Authority (or LTA) and MOM, will be formed to review the safety of workers transported on lorries.
19. There has also been concern that the competitive tender-bidding process may result in safety standards being compromised by some construction companies. As correctly observed, for any WSH improvements to be sustainable, there must be industry ownership of safety outcomes. It is in this context that the WSH Advisory Committee launched the Construction Safety Audit Scoring System or CONSASS last November to make safety an integral part of business. While it is a voluntary system, CONSASS has received widespread support from both developers and contractors. This will help foster a stronger WSH culture in the construction sector.
(IV) FOREIGN WORKERS MANAGEMENT
20. I will now turn to the management of our foreign workers and the protection of their well-being. Foreign workers play an important role in keeping Singapore competitive. As long as we have more jobs than locals can fill, and some jobs that locals are not keen to take up, we will have many foreign workers in our midst. This is inevitable for a small place like Singapore. As a result, when Singaporeans see such workers congregating in HDB areas or other public spaces, they are concerned about the management of foreign workers.
21. For foreign workers who commit public order offences or other offences like littering, government agencies like the Police and NEA have been actively taking enforcement action. Members of the public should report to the authorities if anyone or any group has broken the law or caused public disorder. However, I would like to highlight that the vast majority of foreign workers are law-abiding. Statistics from the Police show that foreign workers are no more likely to commit crimes than locals.
22. The solution, therefore, cannot be to segregate foreign workers from areas where locals frequent. Indeed we cannot completely keep them off our housing estates. Rather, we need to balance the housing and recreational needs of foreign workers, with the concerns of Singaporeans. And this will require Singaporeans to adapt and accept foreign workers within our society. We have to recognise this and not take a “not in my backyard” attitude. We need to bring this message to the heartlands.
23. This is a multi-faceted challenge that requires a whole-of-government effort. MOM therefore works closely with the relevant Ministries and Government agencies to identify and resolve the various issues concerning foreign workers. For example, to address the shortage of proper accommodation for foreign workers, an inter-agency committee led by MOM and MND was set up in 2006 to increase the supply, as well as to coordinate enforcement efforts against errant employers for housing their workers in unacceptable accommodation.
24. MOM will continue to work closely with various Ministries and Government agencies to proactively monitor and address the housing and recreational needs of foreign workers, as well as the concerns of Singaporeans.
25. Moving on to foreign domestic workers (or FDWs), there have been concerns about employers who illegally deploy their FDWs to work in other premises and those who do not pay salaries to FDWs. Under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act, FDWs are only allowed to perform domestic duties at the residential address stated in their Work Permits. Employers are also required to pay their FDWs monthly. Errant employers can be fined up to $5,000, and/or jailed up to six months, and barred from employing another FDW.
26. MOM is committed to safeguarding the well-being of FDWs and treats such offences very seriously. Last year, MOM prosecuted 229 employers for the illegal deployment of FDWs. During the same period, MOM helped to recover more than $270,000 in unpaid salaries for 276 FDWs.
27. To complement the enforcement efforts, MOM has also implemented a series of educational measures, such as the mandatory Safety Awareness Course and a bi-annual FDW newsletter, to inform FDWs of their employment rights and the available channels for recourse. In addition, we conduct random interviews with first-time FDWs during their initial months of employment to reiterate to them their employment rights, and determine if they have adjusted to their new work environment in Singapore.
(V) CONCLUSION
28. Our efforts to nurture a competitive workforce must go hand in hand with efforts to build workplaces that facilitate optimal performance. To maximize the potential of our workforce comprising both local and foreign manpower, our employment practices must be progressive, fair and equitable, based on an individual's merit and productivity. At a more fundamental level, basic standards for employment as well as safety and health must be complied with. The confluence of these factors will make Singapore a great place to work for both local and foreign workers.