Response to Adjournment Motion by MOS Dinesh at Parliament

Dinesh Vasu Dash, Minister of State for Manpower, Parliament House

1          I thank the Member, Mr Melvin Yong, for his continued passion in championing safety and well-being for workers across their diverse life circumstances.

2          Indeed, efforts to strengthen workplace safety and health are not limited to prevention and enforcement. They include helping workers to maintain or re-enter employment after a serious injury or health episode.

1. Notwithstanding Singapore’s low fatal and major workplace injury rates, MOM is keenly aware that there are also workers who experience health-related setbacks or other types of injuries that impact their functional capacity.

    

2. As people live longer and have longer working lives, it will become increasingly important to support individuals through their careers, including during periods of recovery from injury or ill health.

    

3. Our survey data shows that on average, over the last five years, there were about 3,800 unemployed residents who had left their previous jobs due to health-related reasons. These jobseekers have the potential to regain meaningful employment if given appropriate and adequate support.

3          MOM therefore shares Mr Yong’s interest in strengthening Return-to-Work pathways, which can contribute to workforce well-being and productivity. When implemented effectively, all stakeholders stand to gain.

1. Return-to-Work services aim to support individuals as they resume employment after illness or injury in a safe and sustainable manner. This requires vocational rehabilitation and coordination across healthcare providers, employers, and workers, and involves personalised plans based on functional ability and job requirements.

    

2. For workers, this reduces the risk of re-injury or relapse and facilitates psychological readiness to work. It also provides income security and prevents early attrition from the workforce.

    

3. For employers, effective Return-to-Work policies not only demonstrate a genuine commitment to employee well-being, but also safeguards valuable human capital by retaining trained and experienced workers.

4          There are different pathways to return to employment.

1. One could return to the same role with the same employer, and with modifications to support the recovery process.

    

2. Alternatively, the worker could return to the same employer but undertake a different role more suited to his or her current capabilities.

    

3. Or, as the Member had mentioned, some workers may need to be matched with a different organisation or consider a new career path.

5          Beyond medical treatment and rehabilitative therapy, MOM recognises that workplaces play a crucial role too.

1. Success hinges on having workplaces that are committed to facilitating workers’ reintegration – recognising workers’ strengths and enabling them to fulfil their potential at work. This means fostering a supportive workplace culture and implementing practical accommodations so that workers can perform their roles effectively despite their limitations.

6          Over the years, MOM had worked with our partners to strengthen the spectrum of Return-to-Work pathways in Singapore.

7          To support workers returning to their previous employment after a work injury, MOM conducted a pilot with the Workplace Safety and Health Council (WSHC) from 2017 to 2021 to establish Return-to-Work capabilities in seven public hospitals.

1. Back then, MOM observed that Return-to-Work services were typically limited to multinational corporations with in-house capabilities.

    

2. We worked with hospitals to develop workflows and to train Coordinators to support injured workers in navigating them back to workthem back to work.

    

3. Besides undergoing occupational therapy and rehabilitation, workers received support from Coordinators who engaged their employers on implementing a customised return-to-work plan.

8          The pilot enrolled a total of 3,700 workers whose employers were committed to supporting their participation in the programme. It was found that the workflows managed by the Coordinators and their orchestration of support enabled 95% of these workers to successfully return to work.

9          With the experience from the pilot, hospitals continue to offer Return-to-Work services today. For work-related injuries, Return-to-Work expenses are claimable under the Work Injury Compensation Act (WICA).

10        We agree with the Member that beyond this group of workers resuming their previous employment after a work injury, Return-to-Work pathways should be made more available to other workers facing non-work-related conditions, or who cannot return to their previous jobs. To this end, MOH rolled out an inter-agency pilot called the Bounce Back Lab from 2023 to 2025.

1. The pilot involved a partnership between Workforce Singapore (WSG) and Public Health Institutions, targeting workers who were recovering from a recent health setback and had been assessed as fit to re-enter the workforce. Participating workers received personalised career coaching services, alongside targeted health advisory and emotional support from medical and community social workers. Coordination between career coaches and social workers was facilitated through a shared case management platform.

11        Following the Bounce Back Lab pilot, healthcare clusters have implemented processes to strengthen integrated healthcare and employment support.

12        Additionally, the healthcare clusters have fostered partnerships with organisations beyond Workforce Singapore to provide a wider range of referral options for patients seeking employment support.

13        The pilots I have highlighted set forth our initial efforts to lay the foundation for the Return-to-Work ecosystem in Singapore. Even so, MOM recognises that more can be done, including through learning from best practices in other countries as suggested by Mr Yong.

14        First, we can do more to raise awareness and utilisation of existing Return-to-Work services.

1. For example, hospitals’ Return-to-Work programmes provide an established and proven pathway to support workers in returning to their former employment post-injury. Greater awareness of these programmes among healthcare professionals, workers and employers would facilitate early intervention, which is important for optimal Return-to-Work outcomes.

15        Second, to remain effective, Return-to-Work service providers must strengthen their competencies to better integrate workers’ safety and health needs with employment support, especially as our workforce composition and working conditions evolve.

1. For example, familiarity with industry-specific job tasks and new assistive technologies would enable service providers to better engage employers on job redesign and modification.

 16        Third, we can better encourage and equip employers, especially SMEs, to implement practical work arrangements for recovering workers to support their gradual resumption of work responsibilities.

 17        The Ministry will be conducting a review of the Return-to-Work landscape in Singapore, and will consider the Member’s suggestions carefully.

18        As a first step, MOM is looking to partner with the industry and crowdsource innovative ideas to improve Return-to-Work outcomes. As announced at the Committee of Supply debate last month, we will be launching an Alliance for Action on Safety and Health for Employment Longevity (or AfA-SHEL) together with NTUC and SNEF in the second half of 2026.

1. The AfA-SHEL will catalyse ground-up solutions to common workplace safety risks and concerns, and facilitating injured workers back to work is one of the focus areas.

    

2. Drawing from the learnings from the previous pilot with hospitals, as well as the Bounce Back Lab pilot, proposals could include innovative job redesign approaches for common injuries or health conditions, initiatives to build SMEs’ capabilities in supporting Return-to-Work, or new partnership models that better match workers to jobs based on their functional abilities.

    

3. We encourage the public to participate in these ground-up solutions, later in the year. Promising prototypes can be scaled for wider adoption, while insights from the AfA process will also inform our policy reviews.

19        While there are areas for improvement, I would like to acknowledge the current Return-to-Work efforts of healthcare professionals, career and employment agencies, employers, unions and workers themselves, who have contributed to helping workers overcome health-related setbacks so that they can continue on their career journeys.

20        Ultimately, further strengthening Return-to-Work pathways will require the commitment of all relevant stakeholders in the ecosystem. Let us continue working together to maximise the employment potential and longevity of all workers, for a thriving economy and an inclusive Singapore.