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The Ministry affirmed that Agoda had complied with a requirement to submit a Mandatory Retrenchment Notification within five working days after informing affected employees of their retrenchment.
Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has weighed in on the recent controversy surrounding Agoda’s severance agreements, in a parliamentary query that spotlighted concerns over clauses discouraging employees from seeking union or government support.
MOM affirmed that the Agoda team had complied with the requirement for all employers with 10 or more employees to submit a Mandatory Retrenchment Notification (MRN) to MOM within five working days after informing affected employees of their retrenchment.
"Employers are not required to submit an MRN before retrenching workers."
"This strikes a balance between allowing employers sufficient time to finalise their decisions and collate the required information for submission, while still allowing for the prompt provision of career facilitation services and programmes to assist the affected workers."
In light of the incident, MOM added, the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) has proposed that the Government consider advance notification of retrenchments to allow for earlier intervention and support.
As a refresher, it was reported in September 2025 that Agoda had carried out a retrenchment exercise in early August 2025, in which 50 local employees were affected.
In a separate statement, an MOM spokesperson confirmed that discussions with Agoda, TAFEP, and NTUC had since taken place on retrenchment terms and support measures for affected workers.
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