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SINGAPORE: The Tripartite Notice on Managing Surplus Manpower and Responsible Downsizing has been updated to provide more guidance on how employers should fire workers as more job cuts are expected amid the crisis of COVID-19.
The latest notice, released on Saturday (October 17), is jointly published by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), the National Trade Union Congress (NTUC) and the National Federation of Singapore Employers (SNEF).
It includes calls for companies to retain Singaporean workers, guidelines on how employers can break the news to their workers more sensitively, as well as for training programs to be part of the post-downsizing package.
Also added a checklist on how to properly perform staff reductions.
READ: Singapore staff cuts rise in first half of year, surpassing SARS peak: MOM
For example, in a new section entitled Maintaining a Strong Singapore Core, it is stated that the selection of employees to be laid off should be based on “objective criteria with primary considerations given to employee merit and retention skills to ensure the business sustainability “.
“Employers should also take a long-term view of their workforce needs, including the need to maintain a strong core of Singapore. Staff reductions generally shouldn’t result in a reduced proportion of local employees, ”he said.
When informing workers of layoffs, employers must notify them early, and this must be done in person unless it is impractical to do so, the notice said.
They should provide a longer notice period beyond contractual or legal requirements whenever possible, so employees can mentally prepare earlier, he added.
Employers should not ask affected employees to leave the workplace abruptly or have security officers escort them.
Businesses that fail to comply with the notice can be denied government support or have work pass privileges suspended. But so far, authorities have not had to do so, a MOM spokesman said.
A separate statement from MOM said that based on its investigations of downsizing cases, employers have generally not discriminated against Singaporeans.
Of the few complaints he received about discriminatory firings, he found that employers struggled to keep the core of Singapore.
READ: Businesses Should Report Cost Savings Measures Affecting Employee Wages: MOM
The warning was last revised in March, when the job market began to weaken.
Six months later, representatives from the ministry and the union hope that the economic situation will remain weak for some time and that the cuts will continue.
“What we have seen in the last, maybe three to six months, is that at the beginning, when COVID-19 hit, many employees, due to the job support that the government gave them, try as much as possible to retain all staff, because they … have no line of sight when this is going to end, “said Then Yee Thoong, director of MOM’s division of labor relations and workplaces.
READ: Businesses May Consider Temporary Pay Cuts to Minimize Layoffs: National Salary Council
“As COVID-19 drags on, I think some of the employers, particularly in the most severely affected sectors, are realizing that for some of them, recovery is a long way off and the painful decision must be made on whether to reduction really do happen, ”he added.
NTUC Undersecretary General Cham Hui Fong said it was “not uncommon” to hear of workers who were suddenly informed of their downsizing, or not given the reasons why they were being laid off.
“I don’t think that just because a guide is being published and therefore miracles happen (but) we could create a lot more awareness, both for employees and for employers,” he said.
The MOM spokesperson added that companies that implement cost-saving measures are more likely to undertake a reduction exercise, as the need for cost-saving measures could indicate some kind of financial hardship. At the same time, only a small minority of the companies that submitted savings action notifications proceeded to carry out a reduction exercise.
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