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EMPLOYMENT LAW
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SPECIALHR & COMPLIANCE HR & COMPLIANCE
parents flexibility around child-care
responsibilities.”
“Businesses and their staff can try to
reach a mutual agreement to minimise
long-term absences, which in turn,
can help reduce the impact on critical
business operations.”
Deep mastery of foreign employment
The Fair Consideration Framework is
another major aspect of HR compliance
in Singapore.
It details fair recruitment requirements
for firms in Singapore, including
advertising on the national Jobs Bank and
inspection of organisations with suspect
hiring procedures.
One recent change in terms of the Jobs
Bank advertising is that for Employment
Pass applications filed from October last
year, the accompanying advertisements
must include published wage ranges.
Those who do not comply, and proceed
to make an application to recruit a
foreign professional, will have those
applications turned down by the Ministry
of Manpower.
Wai says Hawksford Singapore ensures
that job advertisements are placed on the
official Jobs Bank website and that it makes
strong efforts to interview local candidates.
“A web tool is used to determine if the
foreign candidate qualifies for a work pass
before we offer the job,” she explains.
T
he recent announcement by Senior
Minister of State Josephine Teo that
the government will legislate a second
week of funded paternity leave for all
fathers of Singapore citizen children born
from January 1, 2017, has been the latest
in a series of compliance-related issues
facing HR departments in Singapore.
Weeks earlier in March, the Ministry
of Manpower also revealed that from
April 1 this year, all organisations have
had to issue itemised pay slips and Key
Employment Terms (KETs) to all staff
covered under the Employment Act.
Coupled with other significant
compliant-related issues such as
Employment Passes and the Fair
Consideration Framework (FCF), it
is no coincidence that meeting these
strict compliance requirements is at the
forefront of HR departments’ minds.
Placing paternity leave in the spotlight
Lynn Pua, Head of HR, Southeast Asia,
Jardine OneSolution, says as part of her
organisation’s continuous efforts in
ensuring that it stays true to work-life
balance, it has offered the additional
paternity leave allowances since the
announcement.
“HR communicated to all staff about
this enhanced benefit, as our top
management are advocates in fostering
an environment where parenthood is
celebrated and that it needs the collective
effort of all,” she says.
Pua says her company acknowledges
that its business unit heads may be
concerned about the extra leave affecting
manpower needs and, to a certain extent,
productivity levels.
“Thus, we require our father-to-be
employees to give at least three months’
advanced notice to their superiors and
HR for work arrangements and staffing
schedules,” she explains.
“We are mindful and underline to the
eligible staff that the added paternity
leave needs to serve the purpose of
allowing fathers to be more involved in
bringing up their children.”
While this is based on the trust and
integrity of male employees, Pua says the
company will take firm action against
those who misuse the advantages.
Serene Wai, HR and Administration
Manager at Hawksford Singapore, says
her firm also implemented the two-week
paternity leave even before it has been
made into law.
“The team heads and relevant
employees will ensure that work is handed
over properly before going on leave. This
is particularly important since we are in
the client service industry,” she states.
“In this society where it is very common
for both parents to be working, we felt that
fathers should get the two-week leave so
as to spend time with the newborn and to
share the load of parental care,” says Wai.
Jaya Dass, Country Director, Randstad
Singapore, explains the increased paternity
leave will likely not have any substantial
impact on either larger organisations or
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
She says companies are increasingly
aware that the costs of replacing
staff outweigh the costs of retention
initiatives, and are already looking at
improving retention rates.
“This is even more common for
companies operating in industries with
skill gaps,” she says.
“Paternity leave is also likely not
going to be taken in larger blocks, but
instead spread out over the year, offering
Sham Majid
sham@hrmasia.com.sg
TOE
THE LINEAs organisations are subjected to tougher manpower and
employment laws in Singapore, HR departments are having to
quickly get to grips with more complex and technical compliance
issues, as HRM finds out
“Ensuring compliance is a key
aspect of the HR function and
cannot be viewed as just any
other administrative task”
Jaya Dass, Country Director, Randstad Singapore

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Nevertheless, Wai says it is hard for
her company to ensure that whatever the
candidate has declared is true and factual,
especially with regards to qualifications.
Hence, she reveals that her
organisation encourages internal
promotions and transfers.
“We also have referral programmes
in place to encourage employees to refer
someone they know to work for our
organisation,” she says.
“We have always given fair
consideration to locals and more than
80% of our workforce is Singaporean or
a permanent resident. We have followed
the required procedures when hiring
foreigners and will give opportunities to
locals by advertising on the Jobs Bank.”
Likewise, Pua says her organisation’s
hiring managers are mindful of the
clear expectations for them to consider
Singaporeans fairly for job opportunities.
“While we expect to take a longer time
to fill up positions, especially in our sector
where local talent is lacking, we do not
compromise by disproportionately hiring
foreign professionals. This is particularly
important as the ratio of local and foreign
employees is one of the key considerations
in our manpower reports to ensure we
comply with the rulings,” she states.
Dass stresses that an Employment
Pass application is not just about the
paperwork. Rather, it’s about ensuring
that an organisation has looked for local
talent for the role and is able to justify
hiring outside of the local workforce.
“The corresponding submissions must
reflect this justification,” she says.
“Secondly, understanding tax
implications as well as work rights,
from the salaries and notice periods to
what aspect of the labour law applies to
each hire is important. The application
forms are simply reflective of this
information.”
She says it all boils down to companies
being familiar with Ministry of
Manpower guidelines and regulations.
For example, if companies depend
on foreign talent for their expertise,
they need to have a member of their HR
division properly qualified on legislation
and the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and
Progressive Employment Practices
(TAFEP) policies in this area.
“Ensuring compliance is a key aspect
of the HR function and cannot be viewed
as just any other administrative task. Not
appointing a HR function to this process
will only backfire on an organisation
if they approach the employment
and application without sufficient
understanding of work visas,” says Dass.
Pua explains Jardine OneSolution
ensures that the Employment of
Foreign Manpower Act is understood by
both its HR department and individual
hiring managers.
“Necessary education is given should
any party be unsure of the guidelines or if
there is anyone trying to beat the system,”
she says. “HR observes all regulations and
overrules any non-compliant acts. Our
internal audit ensures compliance towards
employment acts and it is the company’s
philosophy that all stakeholders
understand the laws and regulations.”
Nevertheless, Pua says one of the issues
her firm is observing is the potential
validity of job advertisements in the Jobs
Bank being open to Singaporeans. She
says the advertisements can appear less
attractive to locals.
“Another possible issue could be the
trick enacted into meeting the eligible
criteria, such as incorporating a variable
component into monthly fixed wages
to qualify for the minimum salary,” she
explains.
Difficulties ahead
According to Wai, smaller SMEs may find
it difficult to be compliant in terms of the
key recent changes to the Employment
Act, (such as the issuance of itemised
payslips and keeping employee records)
since they may have tighter controls on
budget and manpower.
“Singaporeans may need to lower
their expectations and contribute more
in order to stay competitive in the
diversified labour market,” she adds.
From Pua’s perspective, while the
Fair Consideration Framework was
implemented to force organisations to seek
out Singaporeans first, it is questionable if
the requirement is sufficient and effective
enough to nudge employers to take the
step to hire more Singaporeans.
She says this is because, there is no
obligation for employers to share their
placement data; hence, the postings in
the Jobs Bank may not be genuine.
On the other hand, with the
Singapore workforce largely made up
of professionals, managers, executives
and technicians (PMETS) of varying
backgrounds, Dass says this means
the country is made up of a workforce
that is diverse, with differing hiring
packages available.
Job advertisement
blunders
The Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive
Employment Practices (TAFEP) has listed words
and phrases on its website for companies to avoid
when it comes to posting job advertisements.
These include aspects such as nationality,
language and gender, among others.
Nationality
Avoid using:
• Non-Singaporeans and [specific nationality]
“preferred”, “welcome” or “only”
• Singaporeans and [specific nationality]
“preferred”, “welcome” or “only”
• Singaporeans and permanent residents or
locals “preferred”, “welcome” or “only”
Language
Avoid using:
• Bilingual in English and Mandarin, Malay,
or Tamil
• Native English language-speaking
• Mandarin, Malay, or Tamil-speaking
• Mandarin, Malay, or Tamil-speaking is an
advantage
• Tagalog or Thai-speaking
Gender
Avoid using
• “Strong guys needed”
• “Preferably female”
• “Female-working environment”