Employment 2025

SINGAPORE Law and Practice Contributed by: Kelvin Tan, Benjamin Gaw and Lim Chong Kin, Drew & Napier LLC

Damages for Wrongful Dismissal The normal measure of damages in a case of wrongful dismissal is for the amount which the employee would have received under the employment contract had the employer lawfully terminated the contract by giving the required notice or paying salary in lieu of notice. However, if the wrongful dismissal claim is brought to the Employment Claims Tribunal, the successful employee may be awarded compensation for harm suffered in addition to the employee’s loss of income. Reinstatement of Employment For employees covered under the Employment Act, an employee who considers that they have been dismissed without just cause or excuse may lodge a claim with the Employment Claims Tribunal for the reinstatement of their former employment, or com - pensation. However, under common law, the reinstatement of former employment is generally not granted and the former employee will typically be compensated by damages. 8.2 Anti-Discrimination Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices The Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practic - es (TGFEP) are issued by the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP), con - sisting of the MOM, the Singapore National Employers Federation and the National Trades Union Congress. The TGFEP is mainly guided by the following five prin - ciples of fair employment practices. • Recruit and select employees on the basis of merit (such as skills, experience or ability to perform the job), regardless of age, race, gender, religion, mari - tal status and family responsibilities, or disability. • Treat employees fairly and with respect and imple - ment progressive human resource management systems. • Provide employees with an equal opportunity to be considered for training and development based on their strengths and needs, to help them achieve their full potential. • Reward employees fairly based on their ability, performance, contribution and experience.

• Abide by labour laws and adopt the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices. Workplace Fairness Act 2025 The Workplace Fairness Act 2025 (WFA) was passed on 8 January 2025 and is expected to take effect in the next few years. The WFA seeks to strengthen efforts to ensure fair and respectful workplaces in Singapore. The WFA will complement the TGFEP to ensure no worker is left unprotected from workplace discrimina - tion, by: • strengthening protections for jobseekers and employees against workplace discrimination, while retaining flexibility for employers to meet genuine business needs; • promoting better communication and amicable resolution of workplace issues through requiring firms to have grievance handling processes; and • complementing the MOM’s education-first approach with calibrated enforcement levers to deal with egregiously unfair employment practices. The WFA prohibits adverse employment decisions on the grounds of any protected characteristic, which includes the following: • age; • nationality; • sex; • marital status; • pregnancy; • caregiving responsibilities; • race; • religion; • language ability; • disability; and • mental health condition. For workplace discrimination based on other charac - teristics, the TGFEP will continue to apply and com - plement the WFA to ensure fairness in the workplace. It is expected that a second Workplace Fairness Bill will be introduced in relation to the procedural rights and processes for individuals to make private claims,

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