Greater effort needed to end workplace discrimination

Age, race and gender workplace biases are just as critical an issue as foreigners displacing locals unfairly

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Workplace discrimination has come to the fore, with the Government announcing tougher penalties against it. Independent research data by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) indicates the range and scale of the issue, and that more effort is needed outside of the Government to make Singapore's meritocracy real.

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) revealed recently that from 2014 to 2018, it and the Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices (Tafep) followed up on more than 2,000 complaints, taking action against employers in 680 cases, with 280 resulting in debarment from hiring new foreign workers as punishment. While half of the cases were for discrimination on the basis of nationality, the other half were for that on the basis of age, race and gender.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on February 03, 2020, with the headline Greater effort needed to end workplace discrimination. Subscribe