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1004 Oral Answer by Minister for Manpower Dr Tan See Leng to PQ on Re-employment Disputes

Employment practices

NOTICE PAPER NO. 1422 OF 2022 FOR THE SITTING ON OR AFTER 4 OCT 2022
QUESTION NO. 3447 FOR ORAL ANSWER

MP: Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song

To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) from 2016 to date, how many appeals on re-employment disputes has the Ministry received annually; (b) how many of these appeals are successful; and (c) what are the main reasons for unsuccessful appeals.

NOTICE PAPER NO: 1399 OF 2022 FOR THE SITTING ON OR AFTER 4 OCT 2022
QUESTION NO. 3550 FOR ORAL ANSWER

MP: Ms Sylvia Lim

To ask the Minister for Manpower regarding re-employment disputes reported in 2016 to 2020 (a) how many notifications have been received by the Commissioner for Labour under section 8A of the Retirement and Re-employment Act (RRA); (b) of these cases, how many and what proportion are subsequently referred to the Minister for decision under section 8B of the RRA after conciliation failed; and (c) what proportion of cases are found to be substantiated.

NOTICE PAPER NO: 1399 OF 2022 FOR THE SITTING ON OR AFTER 4 OCT 2022
QUESTION NO: 3551 FOR ORAL ANSWER

MP: Ms Sylvia Lim

To ask the Minister for Manpower regarding re-employment disputes reported in 2016 to 2020, of the cases where the employee succeeded in obtaining compensation under sections 8A and 8B of the Retirement and Re-employment Act, in how many cases was the errant employer a public sector employer.

Answer:

  1. MOM received about 80 re-employment disputes annually between 2016 and 2021.
  2. About 90% of the disputes were amicably resolved through the mediation process including instances where the employee subsequently withdrew his or her appeal. The remaining 10% were either escalated to the Minister for Manpower for a decision on unreasonable denial of re-employment, or to the Employment Claims Tribunals (ECT) for disputes over re-employment terms or quantum of employment assistance payment.
  3. On average, about 10 cases a year are decided by the Minister or the ECT. Of these, 60% were dismissed due to lack of merit – for example, the employee failed to meet re-employment eligibility criteria due to unsatisfactory work performance or the employer was able to prove that there were no suitable vacancies for re-employment. The other 40% of the cases were found to be substantiated and resulted in compensation to the employee from the employer – there was only one such case involving a public sector employer in 2018.
  4. To avoid disputes over re-employment, employers and employees should refer to the Retirement and Re-employment Act and the Tripartite Guidelines on the Re-employment of Older Employees. Employers should engage senior employees as early as possible to discuss possible re-employment arrangements. Senior employees should also be open to alternative jobs and reskilling opportunities to improve their long-term employability.