Mr Speaker, I stand in support of the Bill, which seeks to set out the key principles of discrimination, lay out fair employment practices, and prescribe the relevant dispute resolution processes and penalties for breaches.
Sir, my fellow Labour MPs have already spoken about NTUC’s support for this Bill, particularly in the areas of protecting vulnerable Professionals, Managers, and Executives (PMEs), and our older workers. My speech today will touch on the importance of protecting workers with mental health conditions, and to ensure that workers working in small businesses do not fall through the cracks during the transition period.
Timely to protect workers with mental health conditions
Sir, mental health issues at the workplace are becoming more commonplace. According to a June 2024 survey by Telus Health, almost half of the 1,000 workers surveyed in Singapore reported feeling exhausted after a day’s work. The company which commissioned the survey said that these findings point to the growing risk of burnout among workers and highlighted a need for greater mental health support.
According to a 2022 study by The Instant Group, Singapore was found to be the most overworked country in the Asia-Pacific region. The Straits Times also reported recently in November 2024, that “stress bragging”, that is bragging of overwork, was becoming more prevalent at the workplace, with negative consequences on workplace culture and relationships.
Despite this, unfortunately, many workers remain afraid to speak up or seek help for their mental health issues, because of the perceived negative attitudes and reactions from others. Some also worry that they will be discriminated against during employment decisions.
According to a survey by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on Fair Employment Practices, mental health discrimination was the most common form of discrimination faced by employees in 2022, and was one of the top four main forms of discrimination in 2023.
In NTUC’s own #EveryWorkerMatters Conversations, young workers shared with us that, while they felt mental health support was important, only about a quarter of them felt that there have been improvements in the way society and the workplace treat individuals with mental health issues.
Sir, I have repeatedly raised in this House about the importance of addressing the stigmatisation of mental health at the workplace, and I am very glad to see that the Government is making a timely move to legislate and to protect workers who face mental health challenges.
However, I have some questions and some suggestions.
Expanding the definition of mental health condition
First, clause 16 of the Bill states that the protected mental health condition, in relation to an individual, means that the individual has been diagnosed with any mental disorder by a medical practitioner registered under the Medical Registration Act.
In effect, this would mean that workers with mental health conditions are only protected from discrimination if they see and are treated by a psychiatrist.
I would like to urge the Government to review and expand this definition.
There is a wide array of mental health conditions, with a range of treatment options depending on how early someone seeks assistance. Beyond the clinical environment of seeing a psychiatrist, some workers with milder mental health issues would benefit greatly from seeing a therapist or a psychologist.
Could the Government recognise allied healthcare professionals in the mental health space, as part of our push to better protect workers from mental health discrimination?
The Singapore Psychological Society today already runs a voluntary register of psychologists. The Ministry of Health (MOH) could amend the Allied Health Professions Act to make registration among psychologists and counsellors mandatory, which would then allow us to expand the definition of a mental health condition under the Workplace Fairness Legislation to include diagnosis by these allied health professionals.
Tackling mental health stigmatisation requires us to understand that workers with mental health issues should be allowed to seek treatment beyond a clinical setting. I hope the Government will seriously consider this proposal.
Enquiring about employees’ mental health conditions
Sir, my next point pertains to employers enquiring about employees’ mental health conditions. Under clause 20 of the Bill, employers will need to have genuine job requirements in order to consider protected characteristics when making employment decisions.
I would like to seek clarification on how MOM will operationalise this. Would there be a whitelist of jobs provided by MOM, where certain protected characteristics, such as mental health conditions, should be considered? Without any clarity, I worry that some employers will insist on asking their current and prospective workforce in declaring mental health conditions, even when there are no good reasons to do so. How would the MOM police this?
Transition period for small businesses
Next, I would like to highlight the importance of ensuring that workers working in small businesses do not fall through the cracks during the transition period.
MOM plans to exempt businesses who employ fewer than 25 workers, from the requirements of the Workplace Fairness Legislation, for five years after the legislation comes into effect. This is to ensure that smaller companies have sufficient time to transition and adjust to the requirements of the legislation. I can understand this.
However, I would like to ask how the MOM would treat companies that deliberately set up multiple business entitles, all controlled by a single Director and his associates, to get around such legislative requirements during the transition period. Today, there exist companies that seemingly operate under a single brand name, but in reality, they are made up of multiple smaller business entitles. How would the MOM ensure that workers working for such companies have their rights protected during the transition period?
Conclusion
Sir, in closing, I would like to commend the Government, in particular the MOM, for working closely with the NTUC over all these years to better protect workers from discrimination. Mental health issues can be a difficult and complex topic, and I hope that the Government will consider an expanded definition of a mental health condition under this Bill, to safeguard more workers. I also hope that the MOM will work to protect workers working in small businesses, during the transition period.
Mr Speaker, notwithstanding my questions and suggestions, I support this Bill.
