The Ministry of Manpower announced a review of the Employment Act in April 2012 as Singapore’s workforce demographic profile has changed over the years with a growing proportion of professionals, managers and executives (PMEs) and a more diverse working population.
The Employment Act (EA) was introduced in 1968 and was last reviewed in 2008 so the Labour Movement feels that it is indeed timely for the Act to be reviewed given the changing workforce profile. After getting feedback from the unions, the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) is proposing changes to certain areas of EA to increase the scope of coverage for Professionals, Managers and Executives (PMEs), as well as protect the vulnerable groups of workers, among other areas (see Annex A for the proposed changes).
More than 300,000 PMEs can be Protected from an Increased Scope of Coverage
Today, the total number of resident PMEs form 32 per cent of the total resident workforce, standing at 630,000. This is an increase from 27 per cent a decade ago, in 2001. Currently, PMEs have access to the Labour Court for salary claims only, if their basic pay is less than $4,500. NTUC wants even more protection of PMEs under the EA.
In addition, Part IV of the Act that looks into issues such as overtime payments and payment of retrenchment benefits, only non-workmen (office workers) who earn less than $2,000 are covered. In comparison, workmen (blue-collar workers) who earn $4,500 or less are covered under Part IV of the Act.
The median monthly salary has increased since the last amendments in 2008. To keep pace with the evolving nature of work, rising salaries and changing workforce profile, NTUC is proposing to the tripartite partners to explore doing away with the distinction between workmen and non-workmen. To move towards this end and to avoid affecting existing workers who are covered by Part IV, it is proposing that for a start, the salary ceiling of non-workmen be increased from the current $2,000 so that more can workers can enjoy the Part IV benefits.
Whilst these proposals are made to allow more PMEs to be protected under the EA, NTUC is mindful that the proposed changes should not prejudice existing workers covered by the Act. The Act should also be reviewed on a regular basis to ensure that it keeps up with the changing employment landscape and workforce profile of Singapore.
Protecting Vulnerable Groups of Workers
Besides the focus on PMEs, the Labour Movement is also proposing the following changes to ensure that vulnerable groups of workers receive greater protection from the EA review. These include:
These enhancements will benefit about 1,350,000 of the total resident workforce (1,998,900) who are non-PMEs (public sector employees not covered by EA).
Other Possible Enhancements
The Labour Movement is also proposing enhancing other areas of protection for workers, such as better protection for outsourced workers, short-term contract staff, freelancers, as well as on priority of claims of salaries and wages, retrenchment benefits and ex-gratia when a company winds up.
