Forum: Demeaning comments on employees reflect badly on companies
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I agree with former president Halimah Yacob that the Standard Chartered chief executive’s description of retrenched workers as “lower-value human capital” is disturbing (StanChart CEO reassures staff after backlash over ‘lower-value human’ remark, May 20).
To many business owners, human capital is a cost of production that can be replaced if it is cost-inefficient.
Yes, firms do not take retrenchment exercises lightly and would have tried their best to save any job that they could.
But retrenchment exercises affect both employers and employees. Families are affected as the retrenched employees could be the main breadwinners. The exercises should be done humanely.
Companies must notify the authorities promptly so that affected employees can have timely support and outplacement services.
Demeaning comments and delayed notification reflect badly on the companies and their leadership.
Employers must take late retrenchment notices seriously. Fines of $1,000 for the first contravention and $2,000 for subsequent lapses are financially immaterial to most companies.
Fines of a month’s salary of every affected worker should be levied instead. The collected fines could then be distributed to these retrenched employees.
Foo Sing Kheng