SINGAPORE: There is “no clear evidence” that cases of irresponsible retrenchment are on the rise in Singapore, said Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say in Parliament on Monday (Nov 7).
He was responding to questions from Member of Parliament (MP) Dr Tan Wu Meng, who had asked how the ministry is planning to address rising cases of “disguised retrenchments” where a company avoids treating a displaced worker as a retrenchment so as to evade paying fair benefits.
According to Mr Lim, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) received 94 cases from employees with retrenchment-related issues last year. Out of which, 15 appeals came from employees who have been dismissed but felt that they were retrenched and deprived of their retrenchment benefits. For the first nine months of 2016, the MOM saw 14 appeals out of 63 retrenchment-related cases.
Overall, these cases make up a “small proportion” of the total number of layoffs in 2015 and 2016 so far, Mr Lim said.
He added that in all but one appeal, the workers were either not entitled to retrenchment benefits as they have less than 2 years of service or there were no retrenchment benefits specified in their contracts or collective agreements. For the remaining appeal, the MOM is helping the worker to resolve the issue, Mr Lim said.
Under the Employment Act, an employee who has served less than 2 years is not entitled to retrenchment benefits. For those who have served more than 2 years, payment of retrenchment benefits will be mandatory if it is specified in their individual employment contracts or the collective agreements negotiated by their unions.
As to how the Government will continue to ensure that the public sector agencies do not engage in “disguised retrenchments”, Mr Lim said: “Public sector agencies have signed the Employers’ Pledge of Fair Employment Practices since 2007. They will continue to abide by tripartite guidelines to carry out restructuring responsibly and in consultation with public sector unions.”
MOM TO STRENGTHEN RETRENCHMENT REPORTING FRAMEWORK: LIM
Amid faltering economic growth and ongoing restructuring in some business sectors, Mr Lim said he expects retrenchment figures in Singapore this year to be higher than 2015’s.
According to the preliminary labour market data for the third quarter released last month, 11,890 workers have been retrenched for the first three quarters of 2016, compared with 8,590 in the same period last year. In total, 13,440 workers were retrenched last year.
Given the likelihood of rising layoffs, Mr Lim said in response to a supplementary question from MP Seah Kian Peng that the MOM has been working with tripartite partners to provide more support for retrenched workers.
“We recognise that retrenchment will be a difficult experience for our retrenched workers and that’s why our tripartite has put in place a special task force since early this year. As and when there’s any retrenchment exercise, our taskforce will engage the employer, workers and the union… to first ensure that the retrenchment is carried out in a fair manner,” he added.
Negotiations for retrenchment benefits have been held with unionised companies, while the task force tries to do mediation with non-unionised companies as well, Mr Lim explained. Apart from that, the special task force has also helped employers and unions to organise career fairs for these displaced workers.
Under this special arrangement, the MOM has provided assistance to around 3,300 workers for the first three quarters of 2016. Nearly 2,000 have secured new jobs, he added.
“We are trying to support retrenched workers the best we can… Our main objective is to ensure retrenched workers will be able to go back to work as quickly as possible because the longer you stay out of job, the harder it’ll be to come back to work.
“And that’s the reason why the MOM is now exploring with the unions and employers to strengthen the retrenchment reporting framework because we believe with more timely reporting, we will be able to reach out to these retrenched workers earlier and help them even more,” Mr Lim said.
