Saktiandi Supaat on Workplace Fairness Bill

While the Workplace Fairness Bill will generally prohibit workplace discrimination on the basis of protected characteristics such as sex, caregiving responsibilities, disability and mental health conditions, it must be clear that it prescribes minimum standards and not exhaustive benchmarks, said MP Saktiandi Supaat in Parliament on Wednesday (Jan 8). Voicing support for the Bill, he stressed that the Government should go beyond these “minimum standards” in order to promote a diverse workforce that is fairly treated. He also wanted to know what is the employee characteristic that is allegedly discriminated against which is not covered by the proposed Bill, based on the roughly five per cent of complaint cases received by the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices. He also asked if the authorities will be conducting active investigation and enforcement if they catch wind of potential infringements of anti-discrimination laws, especially for errant employers where the aggrieved employees find it futile to come forward.