Committee of Supply (Speech 4)

Mr Hawazi Daipi, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Manpower and Health, Parliament

PROMOTING SAFE AND PROGRESSIVE WORKPLACES FOR ALL

(I) INTRODUCTION

(II) PROMOTING SAFE WORKPLACES

A. Productivity and Workplace Safety and Health

2. We must not overlook safety in our pursuit of productivity. In fact, a safe working environment can contribute to the productivity of employees. The DGUV, an association of the German accident insurance institutions, shared its pilot study on “Return on Prevention” with me at the end of last year. The study showed that accident prevention measures improved productivity. They reduced production stoppages, removed the need to replace and retrain injured staff and resulted in better staff satisfaction. In fact, the study estimated that every €1 invested in workplace safety and health, or WSH prevention measures, produced economic returns of €1.60!

B. Updates on Workplace Safety and Health performance in 2009

3. We have made steady progress in improving our safety and health outcomes, bringing down our workplace fatality rate from 4.9 per 100,000 employees in 2004 to 2.8 in 2008. While our workplace fatality rate is one of the lowest in the Asian region, we share concern on the stagnation of the pace of our progress in recent years. I would like to clarify that the workplace fatality rate increased marginally from 2.8 in 2008 to 2.9 in 2009 and the absolute number of fatalities increased from 67 in 2008 to 70 last year.

4. Our journey to improve WSH standards is a continuous one and we will face many challenges along the way. We will continue to push the boundaries to further improve our WSH performance, and stay the course to reach our long term goal of bringing our workplace fatality rate below 1.8 by 2018. This will put us on par with leading edge countries such as Sweden and the United Kingdom. A member has suggested the target of zero fatalities; this is something we should always strive for. In fact, we have reached out to CEOs of major firms in the construction and marine industry in pursuit of this objective. As one Member put it, one death is one death too many.

C. Workplace Safety and Health initiatives in 2010

5. Implementing WSH 2018, our national strategy for workplace safety and health, will remain a priority in 2010. I will now elaborate on our key initiatives this year.

6. The construction and marine sectors accounted for 63% of the workplace fatalities last year. We will continue to address the challenges in these two risky sectors in 2010. MOM and the WSH Council have developed sectoral plans to guide the construction and marine sectors in the implementation of WSH 2018. The plans have set a target of reducing the fatality rates in these two sectors by 50% by 2013, and eventually bring them below 1.8 by 2018. The finalised plans will be released later this month.

7. Besides addressing sector-specific risks, we will also work with industry to tackle riskier work activities conducted across several sectors. Last year, the industry took the helm and formed two taskforces to improve the safety of work at height and crane operations. The taskforces identified gaps in safety management and made recommendations ranging from capability building, promotion and outreach, to regulatory issues. We have been working closely with the industry to implement these recommendations. For example, the WSH Council had developed a new Code of Practice for Working Safely at Height. This new Code of Practice and the revised Code of Practice for the safe use of mobile cranes have been legislated as Approved Codes of Practice under the Workplace Safety and Health Act. The taskforces will be providing a detailed update on their progress later this month.

8. The WSH (Confined Spaces) Regulations came into force on 1 November 2009. To assist the industry in meeting the requirements under the Regulations, we had released the Confined Space Kit. It included materials such as a safety guidebook for supervisors and workers. The WSH Council has also developed a Technical Advisory on Work in Confined Spaces in consultation with the industry. We will continue to work with the industry to ensure that they can carry out work in confined spaces safely.

9. We agree that in most workplace accidents, the learning points may not be new. But we can do more to reach out to every worker, to ensure that they understand the workplace risks and the measures they can take to mitigate and remove such risks. We will ensure that our safety training framework is updated regularly to remain relevant to our workers. General WSH training is provided for all workers through one of the Employability Skills (ES) modules.

10. For WSH professionals, we developed a competency framework under the Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) system in 2008 to equip them with the relevant technical competencies. We are expanding the competency framework to provide workers in the construction and marine sectors with the technical skills to carry out specific tasks relevant to their industries safety. 13 trade-specific WSQ courses had been developed for the marine sector. For the construction sector, we are developing 6 new courses. The courses on electrical works and plumbing and piping will be launched this year. Going forward, we will look into developing WSQ courses for other sectors.

Amendment of the Workplace Safety and Health Act on the duties of principals and the duties of persons at work

11. In the course of MOM’s work, we have seen cases where stakeholders failed to engage their SME subcontractors to ensure that work was carried out safely. We would like to stress that whilst work can be outsourced, the duties of principals to ensure that work is done safely cannot be outsourced. Being the person who engages the contractor, the principal has the responsibility to hire the right subcontractor for the job, and ensure that it is able to carry out its work not only competently, but also safely.

12. We will thus be amending the Workplace Safety and Health Act, or WSHA later this year, to ensure that principals remain accountable for the safety and health of the employees of their contractors and subcontractors, whether or not they direct the work.

Extension of the WSHA to all workplaces

13. During the second reading of the WSH Bill in January 2006, then-Minister for Manpower announced our intention to progressively extend the coverage of the Act to all workplaces by 2011. This underscores our philosophy that all workers have a right to a safe and healthy workplace. With effect from September 2011, the WSHA will be extended to all workplaces. An estimated 1.4 million workers across 16 industry sectors, accounting for close to half of the workforce, will be brought under the ambit of the Act.

14. Businesses can be assured that MOM will be working closely with the WSH Council to engage the stakeholders to educate them on their responsibilities under the WSHA and what they need to do to meet these obligations.

WSH 2018 Fund

15. Members will be pleased to know that we have set aside close to $70 million to help companies achieve the objectives of WSH 2018. The initiatives will cover four broad areas.

16. First, the WSH 2018 Fund will be used to help companies develop the safety culture within their organisations.

17. Second, we will use the Fund to help companies tackle safety challenges within their industries, by developing programmes that take into account their distinct WSH and operating landscape. The construction and marine sectoral plans are one example.

18. Third, given the challenges SMEs face in managing WSH, we will also allocate funds to support SMEs in capability building efforts. This would include educating SMEs that will be brought under the ambit of the WSHA when it is extended to all workplaces in 2011.

19. Last but not least, we will provide funding to establish new drivers to bring our WSH performance to the next level. This includes the WSH Institute, which will conduct research into emerging WSH issues and provide top-class WSH education to WSH practitioners, business leaders and executives.

20. We will announce more details on the WSH 2018 Fund and its initiatives at a later date.

21. The collaboration of tripartite partners has been effective in bringing down our fatality rates over the years. MOM will continue to work with our tripartite partners on the various initiatives under WSH 2018. We will work with our tripartite partners to explore how we can improve stakeholders’ access to WSH resources.

(III) PROMOTING PROGRESSIVE WORKPLACES

22. Besides ensuring the safety of our workers, we will also focus our efforts on promoting progressive workplaces.

A. Encouraging flexible workplaces

Initiatives to support back-to-work women and recent retirees

23. Given our ageing workforce and declining birth rates, economically inactive residents constitute a sizeable pool that companies can tap on to meet their manpower needs. To encourage economically inactive women to re-enter the workforce, the Workforce Development Agency (WDA), supported by the Tripartite Workgroup on Enhancing Employment Choices for Women and the Community Development Centres (CDC), rolled out the Step-Out For Change Programme in July 2008. This induction programme involves a series of workshops to help participants overcome their inertia or fear of entering or re-entering the workforce.

24. Career consultants at the CDC Career Centres will advise the participants on training opportunities based on their interests and skills development needs. Interested candidates will be enrolled for training offered by Continuing Education and Training (CET) Centres. They range from generic skills courses on literacy or numeracy to vocational skills training for entry into growth sectors. The CET Centres and CDC Career Centres will also refer the trainees to the networks of hiring employers for job placements. In 2009, 520 women benefited from the programme, of which about 160 have been placed into jobs.

25. Over the past three years, the Tripartite Workgroup on Enhancing Employment Choices for Women, chaired by Mdm. Halimah, has also successfully placed more than 5,600 women in jobs through job fairs, recruitment drives and job matching services.

26. Flexibility is an important factor that economically inactive individuals look for when they transit back into the workforce.

Extension of the ‘Flexi-Works!’ Scheme

27. MOM has put in place initiatives that promote flexible working arrangements. We set up the ‘WoW! Fund’ and ‘Flexi-Works!’ to help employers kick-start their implementation of flexible work arrangements, such as part-time and other work-life initiatives. The ‘WoW! Fund’ and the ‘Flexi-Works!’ provide grants of up to $20,000 and $100,000 per company respectively. We are pleased to share that $10 million of the ‘WoW! Fund’ has been disbursed as at January this year. In addition, more than 180 companies have come onboard the ‘Flexi-Works!’ scheme and 1,900 workers have been recruited (as at February 2010) on flexible work arrangements since the inception of the scheme. I have circulated a fact sheet on the ‘Flexi-Works!’ scheme to Members.

28. SingPost is a company that has successfully tapped on the ‘Flexi-Works!’ to reduce its costs of recruitment, training and equipment purchase. SingPost provides its employees with various flexible work options. They include teleworking, part-time and job-sharing. These have benefited many of its female employees. In fact, most of SingPost’s neighbourhood postmen are actually “post-women” as the job gives them the flexibility to collect mail from the mail transit room near their homes and deliver them in their neighbourhoods.

29. Given the encouraging results, we are pleased to announce that we will extend ‘Flexi-Works!’ for another three years, from April 2010 to December 2012 at a cost of $10.5 million, and target to help another 4,500 individuals.

30. Employers in Singapore increasingly recognise the value of flexible work arrangements in attracting and retaining employees. Last year’s Influenza A (H1N1) episode also encouraged many companies to implement tele-working. According to MOM’s Conditions of Employment 2008 survey, 28% of private-sector employers in Singapore offered flexible work arrangements such as part-time and telework, compared to 21% in 2002. Among private-sector employees, 7.4% opted for flexible work arrangements in 2008, compared with 3.8% in 2002. Many companies also provide informal arrangements for their employees to work flexibly.

31. MOM will continue to study the ways which flexi-work has been successfully implemented in other countries and apply the learning points to businesses in Singapore.

Tripartite Committee on Work-Life Strategy – Homeshoring

32. With the ultra high-speed national broadband network coming onboard in 2012, companies will find it increasingly viable to have their employees work from home. Employers should take the opportunity to redesign jobs to allow more jobs to be done from home – in other words, “homeshore” these jobs. Homeshoring allows workers to achieve greater work-life harmony and enables businesses to better manage their manpower resources and reduce overhead costs such as office rental.

33. The Tripartite Committee on Work-Life Strategy has formed a workgroup on homeshoring. The workgroup is chaired by Mrs. Mildred Tan and comprises representatives from MOM, iDA, NTUC and SNEF. It will identify jobs that leverage on Singapore’s increased infocomm capacity and recommend measures to encourage companies to “homeshore” these jobs.

34. Separately, member has suggested tracking paid and unpaid overtime work and studying work-life patterns in Singapore. The Ministry regularly collects data on hours worked and publishes them in the quarterly Labour Market Reports and the annual Report on Labour Force in Singapore. In addition, data on workweek patterns are also publicly available in the biennial Conditions of Employment survey. However, we currently do not have statistics on unpaid overtime work as it would be difficult and onerous for employers to keep track of unpaid overtime hours.

Eldercare and childcare support for families

35. I will now address a member’s views on instituting eldercare leave and extending childcare leave to parents with children below 12 years old.

36. The Government recognises the importance of providing eldercare and childcare support for families. However, enhancing statutory benefits affects business costs and must be carefully considered. Currently, our employees’ leave entitlements are comparable to those in developed countries. Given that the Government had recently increased the leave entitlements for employees as part of the enhanced Marriage and Procreation Package in 2008, it would be untimely to impose additional requirements on businesses at this stage. Instead, we will continue to encourage companies to implement flexible work arrangements. Employers should work closely with their employees to work out appropriate work arrangements to achieve win-win outcomes. I am pleased to give some examples as of organisations that have implemented flexible work arrangements for their employees. WDA gives eldercare leave of five days per parent or parent-in-law per year. The Health Promotion Board (HPB) gives two days of full- pay, unrecorded leave to attend to the medical visits of his or her aged parents or parents-in-law. In IBM Singapore, Work-Life Leave Programme is made available to employees. Employees can take time away from work to attend to meet personal needs. In a social organisation like Yayasan Mendaki, employees have benefits like first day of school leave for parents who support children on the first day of pre-school or primary school. We would like to encourage more companies to come onboard to look after the needs of their employees so that they are more engaged and loyal.

37. The Civil Service places importance on promoting work-life harmony. Statutory Boards such as WDA, Health Sciences Authority (HSA) and HPB have provided eldercare leave for its officers. We have also implemented various flexible work arrangements to cater to civil servants at different life-stages, such as telecommuting, flexi-time and part-time employment schemes.

Portable Medical Benefits Scheme (PMBS)

38. A Member suggested that MOM take the lead to generate greater awareness and encourage employers to shift their current Group Hospitalisation & Surgical (H&S) company-based plans to the Shield-based Portable Medical Benefits Scheme, or PMBS for their employees. I would like to clarify that the CPF MediShield is already a portable scheme. It covers employees’ inpatient medical expenses during their employment, while they are in between jobs and after retirement. About 93% of our resident working population between the ages of 21 to 65 is covered either by MediShield or a private integrated Shield plan. Hence, the vast majority of Singapore employees are able to meet their medical expenses when they change employers or retire.

39. To ensure that employees have adequate Medisave savings to pay for Medishield premiums, the tripartite partners have been encouraging employers to enhance their employees’ Medisave savings. Employers can make additional Medisave contributions in place of company-based medical benefits. In 2009, 302 private sector companies made additional contributions to their employees’ Medisave Accounts, totalling about $6.5 million. This decision is best left to the employers in consultation with unions and employees, as they need to take into account their employees’ needs and the companies’ financial resources.

Encouraging cultural diversity at work

40. A National Integration Working Group for Workplaces, or NIWG, was set up in April 2009 under the auspices of the National Integration Council. The NIWG is pursuing measures to help employers understand the benefits of an integrated workplace, and build capabilities to manage diversity.

41. For instance, a tripartite conference will be held this April on fair and inclusive employment practices. The NIWG will also set up a database of best practices for managing workplace diversity and provide educational materials addressing common misconceptions about workplace harmony. This includes information on different cultural norms at the workplace.

42. NIWG’s intiatives augment ongoing efforts by the Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices, or TAFEP, to raise the capability of employers in responding effectively to the increasing diversity of Singapore’s workforce. TAFEP’s workshops, seminars and other educational materials are highly-subsidised and often free of charge. TAFEP also has a programme where employers appoint fair employment advocates who will help promote the adoption of fair and inclusive employment practices.

43. We agree that human resource (HR) practitioners and individual employees may need training on how to adapt to a diverse workplace. There are courses which are subsidised for Singaporeans and PRs. For example, HR practitioners may take the elective module, "Develop a strategy for managing diversity," in the WSQ Specialist Diploma in Human Capital Management. Employees may also enrol in the Employability Skills module on Learning and Personal Development offered by four CET centres. The module covers, among other areas, effective approaches to working within a diverse workforce, and facilitating staff to work in a diverse team.

44. The Government and our tripartite partners will continue to facilitate greater harmony in workplaces through funding promotional efforts and training. We encourage employers to do their part and drive change within their organizations. With the strong support of the tripartite partners and other stakeholders, we can achieve our objective of bringing about a cohesive workforce and social integration.

B. Protection and upgrading of vulnerable workers

45. I will now elaborate on our efforts to protect and upgrade vulnerable workers.

Better employment terms for contract workers

46. The number of casual and contract workers has been rising steadily. By June last year, the number of resident employees on term contracts rose by 4.3% over the year to 197,200. This includes workers on fixed-term contracts and casual employment. 53% of these workers have secondary or below qualifications, and about 40% have a gross monthly income of less than $1,000. Many of them are employed in services, in occupations such as cleaners and security guards.

47. Members have expressed concerns about the situation of part-time, casual and contract workers, especially the low-wage workers. MOM pays particular attention to this group of workers. The Tripartite Committee on CPF and Work Related Benefits for Low Wage Workers, which I chair, adopts a multi-pronged approach to raise their incomes, productivity, employability, and employment standards.

48. First, we seek to improve the income security of low-wage workers. We do this through the Workfare Income Supplement (WIS), which encourages low-wage workers to work, helps supplement their incomes and builds up their Central Provident Fund (CPF) savings. As announced by the Minister for Manpower, we will further refine and strengthen WIS.

49. Second, we aim to ensure that there are sufficient opportunities for low-wage workers to upgrade to better, more productive jobs and remain employable. To encourage employers to send these workers for training, the Minister for Manpower earlier announced that MOM is rolling out the Workfare Training Scheme in July 2010. Minister has also explained how self-sponsored, self-employed, casual and contract workers can benefit from WTS.

50. Third, we aim to enhance the employment conditions for these workers by ensuring compliance with our employment laws and working with employers to improve working conditions (such as work patterns and wage levels).

51. MOM has stepped up enforcement efforts against errant employers who do not provide employment terms and benefits to their workers according to the law. In 2009, MOM prosecuted 29 employers for various Employment Act offences. The CPF Board also prosecuted a total of 312 errant employers for CPF-related offences. The number of Employment Act-related claims by contract and casual workers has remained low despite the economic downturn, accounting for around 2.1% of claims in 2009.

52. MOM and the CPF Board also work closely with NTUC's Unit for Contract and Casual Workers to reach out to low-wage workers and inform them of their employment rights and avenues of recourse. We also reach out to service buyers, managing agents and employers to encourage them to adopt recommendations in the Tripartite Advisory for Responsible Outsourcing Practices. Between April 2009 and February 2010, MOM has conducted regular briefings or workshops for more than 100 employers, mainly from the cleaning, security and F&B sectors.

53. WDA and NTUC also launched the Best Sourcing Initiative (or BSI) Early Adopters Scheme in July 2009. Workers will benefit when companies adopt the BSI and compete on quality instead of cost, as they will then look at improving workers’ productivity by up-skilling, multi-skilling and re-skilling them. BSI therefore allows our workers, including the contract and casual workers, to be more productive through better job performance.

54. Lastly, MOM focuses on industries with sizeable numbers of low-wage workers, such as the security and cleaning sectors. For the security sector, MOM works with the Security Industry Regulatory Department (or SIRD) and the Union of Security Employees to encourage security guard agencies to raise the basic salary and improve the employment terms of security officers. MOM also encourages the agencies to include employment and training-related criteria in SIRD’s compulsory annual grading of security guard agencies. Similarly, for the cleaning sector, MOM and WDA are working with National Environment Agency (NEA) to include employment and training-related considerations in the voluntary accreditation framework for the cleaning industry. This was announced by the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources during its COS debate.

55. Our joint efforts have led to an improvement in the employment terms of these workers. For instance, the median gross monthly salary of security guards in full-time employment has increased from $1,278 to $1,379 from 2007 to 2008. The conditions and professionalism in the security and cleaning industries have also improved over the years. This was also alluded to by Minister Lim Swee Say and Mdm. Halimah Yacob earlier in the Budget Debate. We are also seeing companies improve their work conditions by adjusting their working arrangements, for example shortening shifts from 12 hours to 8 hours, to recruit and retain security personnel.

Training programmes for the disabled

56. Members have asked about training programmes for the disabled. The courses provided by the CET centres and other WDA Approved Training Organisations are open to all individuals who are willing and able to undergo training, whether able-bodied or disabled. Our CET infrastructure does not exclude any groups of people.

57. However, Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) have specific needs depending on the nature of their disability. We should tap on the expertise of the various Voluntary Welfare Organisations (VWOs) to provide customised assistance for them.

58. We need to develop the capabilities of our VWOs in assisting PWDs with their training and employment needs. We are prepared to do our part. WDA is working with Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) and the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) to equip NCSS with sufficient knowledge and skills to develop an employment facilitation function for the disabled. VWOs can also leverage on the Advanced Certificate in Training and Assessment (ACTA) under the WSQ framework for essential skills and knowledge to design and deliver competency based training programmes and assessments for the disabled. Ultimately, helping PWDs requires efforts from all parties, including the Government, VWOs and employers.

(IV) IMPROVING FOREIGN WORKER WELL-BEING

A. Improving foreign worker welfare

59. I will now talk about the management and protection of foreign workers. As I mentioned earlier, MOM has stepped up enforcement of the Employment Act which requires employers, including subcontractors, to provide their workers with minimum employment standards such as timely payment of salaries, overtime payment and rest days. In addition, all employers of foreign workers, including subcontractors, are subject to the Work Permit conditions under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act (EFMA). For example, they are required to pay their foreign workers' salaries promptly, ensure their foreign workers have acceptable accommodation, and bear the costs of their medical treatment. Employers who fail to do so may be fined up to $5,000 or jailed up to 6 months, or both. They will also be barred from hiring foreign workers.

60. Last year, the Ministry stepped up inspections to ensure compliance with the EFMA and took action against employers who did not comply. This stepped up enforcement accounts for the observation that the number of foreign worker and foreign domestic worker management problems per 1,000 foreign workers increased in 2009.

61. To expedite the settlement of employment disputes, MOM also offers mediation services to help parties resolve their disputes as quickly and as amicably as possible, to reach a settlement that is reasonable and fair to all parties involved. If an agreement cannot be reached, workers may refer their claims to the Labour Court for adjudication. More than 90% of the cases involving foreign workers were heard and concluded within two months from the commencement of the first hearing.

B. Improving foreign domestic worker welfare

62. We employ targeted measures to ensure the well-being of foreign domestic workers, or FDWs. At last count, there were 196,000 FDWs in Singapore. That means about one in every five households in Singapore relies on an FDW to help out in the home.

Standardised bio-data for FDWs

63. We agree more can be done to facilitate better matching between employers and FDWs. Among employers who engaged a new FDW last year, 28% of them terminated their employment contracts with their FDW within three months. It is likely that many of these terminations happened because employers thought the FDWs were not a good match for their family.

64. Most employers go through an employment agency to engage their FDW, but in 2009, the employment agency accreditation bodies, the Association of Employment Agencies (Singapore) and CaseTrust, received 154 complaints against employment agencies for poor job matching or inaccurate bio-data.

65. The accreditation bodies have identified the uneven quality of biodata used by employment agencies as one of the root causes of this problem. For example, the level of detail of bio-data varies across agencies, making it difficult for potential employers to compare FDW bio-data across agencies. The bio-data may not always contain all the information employers need to select an FDW. It is often unclear from the bio-data whether agencies have independently verified claims about the FDWs’ skills and experience. They may have extensively interviewed the candidate, or merely relied on declarations from the home country agents. These problems lead to employers hiring FDWs who do not meet their expectations.

66. The accreditation bodies have therefore proposed to create a standard bio-data template for the industry. The standard template could help distinguish more responsible employment agencies by requiring agencies to indicate if and how they had attempted to verify the information provided. A standard template will also help employers compare bio-data received from different agencies, and ensure they have enough information to select the best FDW for their family. We support the accreditation bodies’ efforts and will be working with them to develop this standardised bio-data template. We aim to have it ready by June this year.

Settling-in programme for FDWs

67. Working and living in a foreign country as a domestic worker can be challenging for new FDWs who have to adapt to a vastly different environment and culture.

68. Currently, all first-time FDWs are required to attend a Safety Awareness Course, which provides them an introduction to working in Singapore households, with an emphasis on domestic safety and safe practices in high-rise residences. First-time employers are required to attend an Employer’s Orientation Programme, which helps them understand what to expect from their new FDW, given that their FDW may be unfamiliar with Singapore and the demands of domestic work here.

69. To further help FDW employers ensure their FDWs are well-adjusted to working here, MOM will be engaging the Foreign Domestic Worker Association for Skills Training, more commonly known as FAST, to introduce a Settling-in Programme that includes lessons on Singapore’s culture and norms, financial management and stress management.

70. The courses will be held on weekends at selected community centres, and will run from this May onwards. All FDW employers who are interested in signing up their FDWs for the courses may visit FAST’s website from April onwards for more information.

71. Currently, FDWs are allowed to change employers with their employers’ consent. In most cases where the FDW wishes to change employer, her current employer will consent, as it is in neither party’s interest to carry on an employment relationship that has soured.

72. FDWs are also allowed to change employers if their employers have ill-treated them. To facilitate FDWs reporting employer malpractices, MOM operates a dedicated helpline for FDWs, informs FDWs of their rights and avenues for help during the Safety Awareness Course and conducts random interviews with first-time FDWs within the first few months of their arrival in Singapore. We currently do not see the need to relax the policy on changing employers.

(V) CONCLUSION

73. Our efforts to promote safe and progressive workplaces will enable us to maximise the potential of our workers. While we ensure that workers are provided with the basic standards of employment such as safety and health, we must also put in place fair and progressive employment practices for all members of our workforce, from casual and contract workers to foreign workers. This will help nurture a competitive workforce and make Singapore a great place to work for both local and foreign workers.

Factsheet on WoW!Fund

Factsheet on Flexi-Works!