Workplace Fairness (Dispute Resolution) Bill - Cai Yinzhou

Reposted from Source: MDDI Singapore (04 November 2025 - 5:24 PM)

Source: MDDI Singapore

Full Transcript

Mr Cai Yinzhou (Bishan-Toa Payoh): Deputy Speaker, Sir, this Bill is a landmark legislation towards creating fairer and more equitable workplaces. I stand in support of this Bill and offer three points for consideration.

First, I acknowledge MOM's rationale for expanding the ECT monetary jurisdiction to S$250,000 for discrimination claims, a positive step for many PMEs. However, non-unionised workers are disadvantaged due to the inability to have legal representation during mediation or ECT proceedings, especially given the complexity of proving discrimination. While union members in non-unionised companies have access to Tripartite Mediation Advisers, a proportion may not and may struggle to understand the discrimination and the experiences or articulate the details of unfair treatment. Can the Minister clarify specific resources to support non-unionised workers through the ECT procedures?

Second, I understand the position that Court proceedings would generally be held in private to foster open discussions without public misrepresentation. However, there is significant public interest in serious workplace discrimination cases and to hold employers accountable, the current Bill appears to offer limited discretion for the High Court to publish this information. Will the Minister confirm that the High Court's discretion to publish is flexible enough to ensure public accountability of employers found to have committed discriminatory acts, even without criminal prosecution, to avoid undermining the deterrence effect of this legislation?

Dr Tan See Leng (Minister for Manpower) (Excerpt): Last but not least, workers who are not union members. Mr Cai Yinzhou, Mr Shawn Loh, Mr Muhaimin Malik and Ms Yeo Wan Ling asked about the support for this group of workers.

As I had mentioned when moving the Bill, TAFEP should be their first port of call when they face workplace discrimination. Such workers can approach TAFEP for advice and assistance. Ms Mariam Jaafar suggested that TAFEP help workers understand their rights and options. 

I would like to reassure Members that TAFEP will provide advice on the provisions of the WFA, including an initial assessment of their claims and guidance on the WFA claims criteria. TAFEP will also help them with filing the mediation request as the next step of the claim process.

Dr Tan See Leng (Excerpt): Mr Saktiandi, Mr Cai Yinzhou, Ms Gho Sze Kee, Mr Louis Chua and Dr Wan Rizal called for WFA judgments to be published for transparency. I thank them all for the suggestion and would like to assure them that the requirement for hearings to be private does not mean judgments will be kept private.

The point they make is an important one, we agree. Making WFA judgments publicly accessible will help employers and workers better understand how the law is applied. We are working with the courts on making ECT judgments publicly accessible and this will include WFA judgments.

So, it is a work in progress, we have to work with the Courts.

Dr Tan See Leng (Excerpt): Mr Cai Yinzhou and Mr Muhaimin Malik also asked for outsourced workers and platform workers to be included in the WFA in the future. I have said it before, a couple of times, we want to take a sure-footed and prudent approach to implement the WFA. Hence, the WFA focuses on protecting workers in employer-employee relationships. Nonetheless, as I had shared in the debate on the Workplace Fairness Bill in January, the TGFEP will be updated to clarify that platform operators and corporate service buyers should not discriminate based on non-job-related characteristics.

Mr Speaker, Sir, to conclude, today is a pivotal moment as we pass the second and final Bill of the WFA. It has been a long journey since the legislation was first announced, I believe, it was during the National Day Rally in 2021. I want to take this opportunity to express our deep appreciation and our gratitude to our tripartite partners, NTUC and SNEF, for journeying hand in hand with us to safeguard fair and harmonious workplaces in Singapore. 

I also want to thank the various stakeholders who took the time and the effort to contribute to our engagements, including the employers, our HR professionals, our non-governmental organisations, the legal practitioners and members of the public. I want to thank Members, both from the past, in January, the past term of Government to the current term of Government, for the suggestions raised, and many of which are also ongoing in discussions still with tripartite partners. 

But I want to also be clear and like I said, sure-footed, and I also want to humbly put this across to everyone in the House that while this legislation is a new landmark in our journey towards a fair workplace, it is not the end of the journey. In fact, it is not even the beginning of the end, but the end of a beginning. I said before that we have only just begun. The real work starts now, with all of you supporting, as we turn our attention now to the task of implementation. 

As I shared earlier, efforts are already underway. These will continue once the Bill is passed so that when the WFA comes into force at the end of 2027, employers will fully understand their duties and workers will clearly know their rights. I invite everyone to continue working with us towards this goal.

I would like to end with a Chinese proverb from Laozi and a Malay pantun. 

"合抱之木，生于毫末；九层之台，起于累土；千里之行，始于足下." It means, a tree that can be embraced grows from a tiny sprout. The nine-storey tower rises from a mound of earth. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

"Bunga cempaka harum mewangi, Disiram embun di waktu pagi. Adil saksama asas harmoni, Tempat kerja makmur dan berseri." Just as the cempaka flower flourishes with the morning dew, a workplace thrives when fairness and equality are upheld. Justice ensures trust and respect, nurturing harmony and productivity amongst all employees.

Mr Speaker, I beg to move.

Links to Hansard:

Bill Speech: Official Reports - Parliamentary Debates (HANSARD)

Response from Dr Tan See Leng: Official Reports - Parliamentary Debates (HANSARD)