Firms must report layoffs to MOM from January
Amid worries about jobs, dampened prospects on global trade, and the threat of a technical recession in Singapore, the Manpower Ministry (MOM), National Trade Unions Congress and Singapore National Employers Federation announced a new law requiring employers to notify MOM of retrenchments within five working days of informing affected employees
SINGAPORE — In a move aimed at enabling government agencies to provide help more promptly to affected workers, all companies — with the exception of micro enterprises — must notify the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) with effect from Jan 1 of any retrenchment exercises within five working days of informing the affected employees. They will face fines of up to S$5,000 if they fail to do so.
The mandatory requirement, which comes amid the rising number of layoffs in the economy, will apply to companies that hire at least 10 employees, and if five or more employees are retrenched within any six-month period from next year, announced the ministry, labour movement and the Singapore National Employers Federation on Friday (Nov 25). They added that this will allow government agencies to have “more complete and timely” information on retrenchment.
The companies will have to submit the size of their workforce before retrenchment, contact information, and the following details of retrenched workers: Their identification numbers, residential status, date of retrenchment and job titles.
Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say told reporters on a visit to the Lifelong Learning Institute that a “major shortcoming” today is that the vast majority of companies do not notify MOM before or after retrenching workers. They only do so during MOM’s quarterly census of all companies that hire 25 or more workers. “So now, there’s a time gap,” said Mr Lim. “The tripartite partners feel this is an area we need to improve because the sooner we are notified of the retrenchment, the sooner we know who are the workers who’re being affected, we can move in faster to provide support to various workers.”
Based on preliminary estimates, the number of layoffs has reached more than 13,600 in the first nine months of the year, the highest since the global financial crisis some seven years ago. The total number of workers laid off for the entire year is projected to surpass last year’s figure of 15,580 workers. The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), Resorts World Sentosa and Singapore Press Holdings were among the companies that have let go of their workers in recent months.
MOM has brought forward its periodic retrenchment benefits survey by a year to this year, and it covered companies hiring at least 10 workers.
The ministry decided to apply the same threshold to the new notification requirement, while being mindful that the reporting should not be too onerous for the companies.
On why companies are not made to notify the government before retrenchment, Mr Lim said any information leaks would dampen morale. Currently, unionised companies will inform the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) ahead of retrenchments, and the information is first kept confidential by the unions.
The tripartite partners are defining retrenchment as dismissal on the ground of redundancy or reorganisation of the employer’s profession, business or trade. The notification requirement applies to permanent employees and contract workers with full contract terms of at least six months.
Mr Lim said the new requirement does not violate the Personal Data Protection Act. Workers laid off in disguised or irresponsible methods may lodge reports for the MOM to investigate, he added.
Workers who were previously retrenched told reporters that the new notification requirement would allow agencies such as Workforce Singapore (WSG) to reach out earlier to those who are less educated or aware of help available.
Mr Victor Pang, 52, was laid off in January from his job as a supervisor of research and development engineers in the offshore and marine industry.
He tried in vain to find a job on his own, before he sought help at WSG in August. He is now a project manager in the water industry under the Career Support Programme, which helps Singaporean PMETs (professionals, managers, executives and technicians) who are made redundant and unemployed for six months to gain access to mid-level job opportunities. He said: “At least from the very beginning of the job seeking journey, you already know somebody is behind you and willing to help you... rather than like me fighting alone, ending up spending a lot of time but not getting any fruitful result.”
Mr David Lum, director of strategic accounts and chief compliance officer of Nityo Infotech Services, said the five-day notification rule is generous enough, as retrenchment exercises would have been planned in advance by companies for at least three to six months.
However, Association of Small and Medium Enterprises president Kurt Wee felt a notification window of 10 working days or two calendar weeks would give companies more breathing room to organise its paperwork and make the necessary filings. If the measure is aimed at fostering a more responsive environment to aid retrenched workers, it is something businesses can support, he said. But Mr Wee hoped it would not be a move to excessively scrutinise if an employee should or should not be retrenched, as companies do not frivolously lay off their workers.
Mr Patrick Tay, NTUC assistant secretary-general and member of the Taskforce for Responsible Retrenchment and Employment Facilitation, urged employers hit by labour market conditions to consult their unions as early as possible, so that NTUC can first work with employers to manage excess manpower before employers resort to retrenchment.
