How employers in Singapore can prepare for a more regulated hiring environment

Prudent employers should start laying the groundwork for future developments. It is far better to plan ahead than to take reactive steps in the rush to comply with the new legislative framework.

For example,

1. In anticipation of anti-discrimination legislation, it is perhaps time to review internal hiring practices – the way HR drafts job advertisements, the questions asked of candidates at interviews, selection criteria – do existing practices contain discriminatory elements which can be addressed early?
2. You may wish to start embracing policies on inclusion, equality and diversity in line with the global focus on the ethical workplace. This is a good start to developing workplace culture that will contribute to compliance objectives down the road.
3. Employers who rely heavily on platform workers may wish to start the process of engagement with their platform workers in meaningful conversations on how gaps in expectations may be filled. If platform workers attain protected status by way of future legislation, employers will benefit from early attempts to build trust and confidence for a mutually beneficial relationship in the long term.
4. Employers who rely heavily on foreign employees may wish to consider the following alternatives to higher payroll costs – investing in the training, promotion and upskilling its local employees, restructure its operations with a view to becoming less labour intensive and remote working from overseas.
5. With the increases to the minimum retirement and re-employment age, the wait-and-see approach may not serve employers as well. Career and succession planning, training and re-deployment will become key areas of focus. Employers should begin identifying areas of work which mature employees are able to take up and arrange for internal policies and management practices that continue to retain mature talent while also being able to engage newer talent within the workforce.

With the full-scale mandatory retrenchment notification requirement coming into effect and the growing theme of anti-workplace discrimination, employers planning retrenchment exercises should do so in accordance with the Tripartite Advisory on Managing Excess Manpower and Responsible Retrenchment. In our view, an employer’s ability to demonstrate that it has applied objective selection criteria and sensitive handling of the retrenchment exercise will be key to avoiding legal and reputational risks.

This article is produced by our Singapore office, Bird & Bird ATMD LLP, and does not constitute legal advice. It is intended to provide general information only. Please note that the information in this article is accurate as of 6 October 2021. We will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates on any changes as soon as these are communicated to us. Please contact our lawyers if you have any specific queries.