Singapore's MOM shares measures taken to ensure EP applications remain fair and non-discriminatory

The Ministry affirmed its stance on discrimination, highlighting that it "will not hesitate to take action against errant employers, to uphold fair employment practices."

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) in Singapore has said in a Parliamentary query that in the last five years, an average of 29,200 approved new Employment Pass (EP) applications were subject to the Fair Consideration Framework's (FCF) job advertising requirements unless exempted and were initially posted on MyCareersFuture. 

The Ministry said: "MOM takes a serious view of discriminatory hiring practices. We have a robust set of checks to ensure that employers fairly consider all job applicants, in particular local workers that apply through MyCareersFuture."

MOM also shared that it has implemented certain measures to ensure that EP applications are fairly considered by employers to all job applicants.

First, MOM has systems in place that block EP applications that do not meet the FCF job advertising requirements from submission. 

For instance, the minimum advertising duration of 14 consecutive days on MyCareersFuture.

For applications that meet the criteria, MOM will conduct further verification checks.

"Over the past five years, about 2% of all new EP applications were rejected for incorrectly indicating that they were exempted from the FCF job advertising requirements", The Ministry commented. 

Second, MOM and the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) work together to review EP applications using data analysis to identify employers who may have previously chosen foreign candidates for hiring without adhering to the spirit of the FCF advertising requirements.

"In the past five years, over 600 EP applications were withdrawn or rejected following investigations. MOM may also impose sanctions on errant employers, including debarring them from hiring foreign workers for up to 24 months."

"In addition to these measures, MOM takes every discrimination complaint seriously and will not hesitate to take action against errant employers, to uphold fair employment practices", MOM added. 

Addressing another Parliamentary query on job listings on MyCareersFuture, MOM said it looks into every discrimination complaint and takes appropriate enforcement action against errant employers.

This is in response to the query on the number of complaints received about job listings on MyCareersFuture differing from the perception that certain roles are already reserved for specific candidates in the hiring process.

The Ministry noted that in the past three years, MOM & TAFEP collectively received 446 complaints involving discrimination based on nationality. 

"After investigation, MOM took enforcement action against a total of 34 companies for selecting a foreign candidate without considering candidates who applied via MyCareersFuture. 

"Such enforcement action includes issuing a warning, mandatory corrective courses and debarment from hiring foreign workers", the Ministry shared. 

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