The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) will impose new licencing conditions on all employment agencies to strengthen fair hiring practices.
The ministry announced the conditions on 22 June 2020.
Concurrently, MOM will partner progressive employment agencies to help Singaporeans secure jobs and traineeships under the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package.
From 1 October 2020, the new licence conditions will require almost 3,900 employment agencies licensed by the ministry to comply with the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices (TGFEP) when recruiting on behalf of their clients.
Employment agencies must brief their clients on the fair recruitment requirements in the TGFEP; make reasonable efforts to attract Singaporeans for vacancies that they are trying to fill; consider all candidates based on merits.
Employment agencies must not assist their clients in discriminatory hiring, such as withholding applications based on age, race, nationality, gender and disability.
Agencies must also turn down requests or instructions from clients to carry out discriminatory hiring.
Failure to comply with these licencing conditions could result in the agencies having their licence suspended or revoked. The agencies may also be prosecuted.
Details of the conditions are on MOM’s website.
MOM will also award a new Human Capital Partnership (HCP) Mark to progressive employment agencies who have demonstrated a strong commitment to fair recruitment practices and have helped employers to strengthen their Singaporean Core.
This is an expansion of the tripartite HCP Programme which has recognised over 550 exemplary employers to date.
The HCP Mark will allow employers to identify the best-in-class agencies to help them grow their businesses.
MOM will also appoint selected employment agencies as placement partners to help local jobseekers secure jobs and traineeships under the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package.
The ministry will provide funding support to placement partners to place mature jobseekers, long-term unemployed jobseekers or persons with disabilities into jobs and traineeships.
This initiative will create additional pathways for more vulnerable local jobseekers to access professional career matching services and opportunities suited to their skills and aspirations.
