2024 wrapped: The biggest manpower stories of the year, and what’s ahead for workers and bosses
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Mid-career workers were given a boost to their efforts to keep up with rapidly changing employer needs through the SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme unveiled in Budget 2024.
PHOTO: ST FILE
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SINGAPORE - New laws and protections for workers’ welfare were introduced in 2024, covering issues such as workplace discrimination, flexible work arrangements and job hunting after being retrenched.
Here are eight major changes and what bosses and workers can look out for in 2025.
Singapore’s first workplace fairness laws
Workers will have stronger protections against discrimination at work under new workplace fairness legislation, which is being introduced through two Bills.
On Nov 12, the first Bill was introduced in Parliament, making clear that employment decisions based on five groups of characteristics – such as race, age, disability, mental health conditions and pregnancy status and caregiving responsibilities – are unlawful.
If the Bill is passed, employers will need to set up a grievance handling process and inform their workers about the procedures. When a worker sends in a complaint, bosses must conduct inquiries, document the process and communicate the outcome, while maintaining confidentiality.
Why it matters: The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said the five groups of characteristics account for 95 per cent of workplace discrimination complaints made to the ministry and the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (Tafep).
The legislation, which prohibits retaliation from employers, will better protect workers who want to speak up against discriminatory practices in hiring, dismissals and appraisals. For the first time, penalties including fines and civil lawsuits filed by MOM can be meted out
Looking ahead: The first Bill will be debated in Parliament in 2025, and the second Bill will be introduced to spell out how workers can file private claims against discriminatory employers. This will expand the scope of the existing Employment Claims Tribunal. Both Bills are expected to come into effect in 2026 or 2027.
Landmark job seeker support scheme
Workers who lost their jobs involuntarily, such as those who were retrenched or whose companies went bust, will get up to $6,000 over a maximum of six months under a new scheme.
The SkillsFuture Jobseeker Support scheme
To qualify, workers must have been employed for at least six of the last 12 months and earning an average of $5,000 a month or less for that period, among other criteria.
The monthly payouts are also capped at an individual’s previous-drawn monthly salary, and they stop once the jobless person finds work.
Why it matters: About 60,000 jobless Singapore residents will stand to benefit each year from the scheme when it is fully in place. The scheme is meant to cushion these workers against cost pressures, buying them more time to seek out or train for more rewarding jobs with better prospects that they can hold on to for the long haul.
This comes amid more volatile and shorter economic cycles that increase the risk and frequency of job displacement.
Looking ahead: The scheme will be rolled out in April 2025 for Singapore citizens and from the first quarter of 2026 for permanent residents.
The Government will also provide a one-off concession to Singaporean job seekers who lost their jobs on or after April 1, 2024, and remain so even when the scheme kicks off in April 2025, despite them having not worked for at least six of the 12 months before their application.
SkillsFuture steps up for older workers
Mid-career workers were given a boost to their efforts to keep up with rapidly changing employer needs through the SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme unveiled in Budget 2024.
Under the programme, all Singaporeans aged 40 and above were given a $4,000 top-up of SkillsFuture credits
Those aged 40 and above will be given a monthly training allowance when they enrol in selected full-time courses, though this will not be applicable if they have been unemployed for more than a year. If they choose approved part-time courses, they can tap some of the training allowance too.
Workers who qualify for SkillsFuture Jobseeker Support payments can receive their training allowance on top of these payments.
The allowance will be equivalent to 50 per cent of one’s average income over the latest available 12-month period, up to $3,000 per month. Each person can receive up to 24 months of training allowance throughout his or her lifetime.
Why it matters: The programme is meant to encourage mid-career Singaporeans to refresh their skills by defraying the costs of training and partially offsetting income loss from taking time off work for those taking up select, quality courses with a longer duration.
Looking ahead: Workers covered by the level-up programme will also be given subsidies to pursue another full-time diploma at polytechnics, the Institute of Technical Education and arts institutions from the 2025 academic year.
Meanwhile, applications will open for the training allowance from early 2025, though more details are to come.
New platform workers Act
Cabbies, ride-hailing drivers and freelance delivery workers here who use online matching platforms to get jobs will have enhanced protection through increased Central Provident Fund contributions, a standardised work injury compensation regime and increased bargaining power over issues such as earnings and welfare.
Under the new Platform Workers Act,
The legal framework also means that some 67,600 platform workers here can soon negotiate for better working conditions as a group through platform work associations.
Why it matters: Platform workers are subject to daily risks such as fluctuating earnings, traffic accidents and limited CPF savings for housing and retirement, said MOM. They do not have full autonomy like self-employed workers do, including employment benefits such as paid vacation and sick leave.
The higher CPF contribution rates are mandatory for younger platform workers born on or after Jan 1, 1995, as they have a greater need for CPF savings to pay for housing, said MOM, and can benefit more from the compounding interest. Older platform workers can opt in.
Looking ahead: Come Jan 1, 2025, the new laws will come into force, meaning the CPF contribution rate for platform workers will rise by up to 2.5 percentage points. Savings will go into the Ordinary, Special and MediSave accounts.
With stepped-up increases over the next four years, platform workers will contribute at the same rate as employees by 2029. Platform operators will also be required to contribute their share to the CPF savings scheme, going up in steps to reach parity with what employers contribute in 2029.
The Platform Workers CPF Transition Support scheme will help offset part of the year-on-year increase in contribution rates from 2025 to 2028 for lower-income platform workers.
Overseas Markets Immersion Programme
Singapore workers interested in experiencing an overseas work posting can receive support from a government initiative called the Overseas Markets Immersion Programme (OMIP).
Under the scheme, companies can receive funding support of up to 70 per cent of an employee’s salary that is capped at $5,000 monthly. Companies can also be reimbursed for up to 70 per cent of an employee’s overseas allowance including food, transport and housing, capped at $3,000 monthly.
To qualify, companies must provide a monthly salary of at least $4,000 to the employee on overseas postings. Companies can receive up to $72,000 for every employee they send for an overseas posting for up to nine months.
Why it matters: As part of the Government’s commitment to support companies in their internationalisation efforts, the programme aims to help employers attract and retain talent.
“As a small island state, we have no other option. Our survival depends on us doing business with the world,” said Manpower Minister Tan See Leng at the launch of OMIP on Nov 15.
“To seize growth opportunities beyond Singapore, our companies require workers with experience in overseas markets... This is going to be crucial in how we maintain our competitive advantage moving forward,” he said.
Looking ahead: Over 100 companies and up to 250 local employees can benefit from the programme over two years. Workforce Singapore has set aside $16 million for the initial run
CPF changes
A slew of changes to the CPF set-up was introduced in Budget 2024.
Headlining them is the closure of the Special Account for members aged 55 and above from the second half of January 2025
The Enhanced Retirement Sum (ERS), which is the maximum amount members can save in their CPF Retirement Account to accrue interest and receive payouts, will be pegged to four times the Basic Retirement Sum starting Jan 1, 2025, up from three times now.
The ERS will hence be $426,000 in 2025, instead of $319,500.
The monthly salary ceiling will also increase to $7,400 from Jan 1 as part of stepped-up increases towards $8,000 come January 2026, though the annual salary ceiling of $102,000 remains.
Meanwhile, senior workers aged above 55, and up to 65, will see CPF contribution rates for their own contributions and those from their employers increase by a total of 1.5 percentage points from Jan 1, 2025.
The CPF Transition Offset for employers will be provided for another year, to cover half of the increase in employer contributions for 2025.
There will also be more retirement support for seniors under the Matched Retirement Savings Scheme and the Silver Support Scheme.
Why it matters: The revised ERS peg would allow more members aged 55 and above to commit their accumulated CPF savings to receive higher monthly payouts, said then Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong in his Budget 2024 speech.
The closure of the Special Account ensures only CPF savings committed towards long-term retirement needs earn the higher long-term interest rate, which will be 4 per cent from January to March 2025. CPF members who want to retain the flexibility to withdraw their savings can choose to leave the money in their Ordinary Account (OA) and earn the lower OA interest rate of 2.5 per cent.
Looking ahead: Further increases in CPF contribution rates for senior workers are set to take place over this decade, as recommended by the Tripartite Workgroup on Older Workers in 2019.
By 2030 or so, those aged above 55 to 60 will have the same CPF contribution rates as younger employees, a change that accounts for an ageing population with a longer healthy lifespan and working years.
A slew of changes to the CPF set-up was introduced in Budget 2024.
PHOTO: ST FILE
New guidelines on flexi-work requests
On Dec 1, new guidelines took effect setting out how workers can formally request flexi-work arrangements (FWAs)
Under the guidelines, employers must set up an internal process for workers to create such requests, where both parties can look at three types of flexible work arrangements consisting of flexi-time, flexi-load and flexi-place.
Why it matters: Flexi-work, which became more common after the Covid-19 pandemic, can play a key role in attracting and retaining workers, as well as support business continuity when work exigencies arise, said Tafep.
They can help to ensure more Singaporeans can continue working while juggling caregiving needs, especially as the population ages.
Looking ahead: Employees and employers can refer to the guidelines on Tafep’s website. Employees who need help with their formal requests for FWA can contact Tafep or, if they are union members, the National Trades Union Congress.
Work pass changes
It was announced in March 2024 that the minimum Employment Pass (EP) qualifying monthly salary will be raised from $5,000 to $5,600 for new applicants from Jan 1, 2025,
Those working in financial services will need to earn $6,200 a month, up from $5,500 now, in view of the sector’s higher wage norms.
Why it matters: This latest update to the qualifying salary is meant to ensure the cost of hiring an EP holder remains in line with what the top one-third of local professionals, managers, executives and technicians minimally earn.
Looking ahead: The S Pass qualifying salary and levy will also both be increased in 2025 as part of a series of stepped increases already announced in Budget 2022.
Tay Hong Yi is a correspondent who covers manpower and career issues, with occasional forays into fintech, trade and corporates.
Sharon Salim is a business correspondent at The Straits Times, with a focus on jobs, workplace culture and trends.
