MOM working ‘doubly hard’ to stamp out discrimination against locals

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is working “doubly hard” to ensure employers in Singapore do not discriminate against local workers.

Second Minister for Manpower Tan See Leng said in Parliament on August 31 that as the country continues to recover from its worst economic contraction, it is “all the more important” that Singaporeans are given fair opportunities to find meaningful work.

He also added that the MOM has also been stepping up their scrutiny and enforcement actions against those who blatantly practise it.

“Meritocracy is a foundational principle of Singapore society, and we must demonstrate this to the world by taking a stand against employers that discriminate against workers based on nationality, age, gender or other factors that are irrelevant to the job,” he said.

“We must always remember that our workers are the heart of our economy, and we must help our workforce to emerge stronger from this crisis.”

In fact, the MOM has placed 47 employers on the Fair Consideration Framework (FCF) watch list for potentially discriminatory hiring practices earlier this month.

The latest announcement came at the back of the decision to increase the minimum salary criteria for Employment Passes and S Passes in order to enable firms to access the manpower they need while ensuring a strong Singaporean core.