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Written Answer by Minister for Manpower Dr Tan See Leng to PQ on complaints from Singaporeans about being replaced by foreign labour in last five years

Employment practices

NOTICE PAPER NO. 1397 OF 2022 FOR THE SITTING ON OR AFTER 4 OCTOBER 2022

QUESTION NO. 2226 FOR WRITTEN ANSWER

MP: Mr Leong Mun Wai

To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) for each of the last five years, what is the number of complaints received from Singaporeans about being replaced by foreign labour; and (b) what percentage of the total number of complaints received by the Ministry do such complaints make.

ANSWER:

Between 2017 and 2021, the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) received an average of about 180 complaints each year involving discrimination based on nationality, including complaints against job advertisements. Complaints by Singaporeans on being replaced by foreign workers would form a smaller subset of these complaints but TAFEP does not track case count on such a basis. Overall, complaints over nationality discrimination make up fewer than 5% of employment-related complaints (including complaints over salary arrears) filed by local employees.

MOM takes every discrimination complaint seriously and will take appropriate enforcement actions against errant employers.