Leong Mun Wai on Workplace Fairness Bill

In Parliament on Wednesday (Jan 8), NCMP Leong Mun Wai expressed support for the Workplace Fairness Bill, noting that it protects workers from discrimination on grounds of 11 "clearly designated protected characteristics". However, he raised several concerns and reservations, such as whether the new law will be sufficient to protect Singaporeans from discriminatory practices at the workplace and whether the exemptions granted in the new law will reduce its effectiveness. He also wanted to know what are the Government’s plans to extend the coverage of the Bill to platform workers, and to expand the list of protected characteristics in future. He also expressed hope for the Government to periodically review the Bill every two years after it is passed, to ensure that the protected characteristics are kept up to date and to keep up with new types of discrimination that may become prevalent.