New guidelines on fair employment by TAFEP
By Ashraf Safdar, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 03 May 2007 1952 hrs

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SINGAPORE: Advertisements like "only females may apply" or "Indian workers wanted" may soon be a thing of the past.

A tripartite body representing government, management and workers has issued a series of guidelines to reduce discrimination in the workplace.

About 70 people complained of workplace discrimination last year.

Though the number has been relatively stable over the past three years, the Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices (TAFEP) is not sitting still.

"What we hope to see is a change in values, norms, mindsets... that people are being employed, people are being promoted, sent for value skills, training, upgrading, solely on the basis of merit, and not any other consideration," says Halimah Yacob, Co-Chair, TAFEP.

And so, Madam Halimah and her team have published a series of guidelines on fair employment practices.

For instance, criteria for employment should be specific to job requirements.

Things not relevant - like skin colour, sexual orientation, marital status and age - should be excluded.

"Some of them say that they do find it difficult to get a job because of their age, gender, discrimination or something. But it depends on the role as well. There tend to be some kind of practices, I should say, that are still out there. But as time goes by, we are seeing more and more clients open to hiring people not of a certain mould," says Jagjit Gill, Senior Manager of Operations, Kelly Services.

With these guidelines, the tripartite body hopes workers can look forward to more transparent hiring and employment practices. - CNA/yy