Asia-Pacific employment law bulletin 2025

Singapore

The next few years are set to bring about further sea change in Singapore’s employment landscape, all targeted at enhancing the rights and benefits of employees and platform workers. Employers and platform companies would do well to take note of their greater responsibilities and changed considerations moving forward.

The Workplace Fairness Act 2024

Singapore is moving to introduce a new Workplace Fairness Act 2024. It will introduce a set of statutorily-protected characteristics, and proscribe employers from making employment decisions based on those characteristics (with some exceptions).

The proposed characteristics are (i) age; (ii) nationality; (iii) sex, marital status, pregnancy, and caregiving responsibilities; (iv) race, religion, and language ability; and (v) disability and mental health condition. The Act will also establish avenues of recourse for employees (and job applicants) who find themselves the subject of workplace discrimination – not just at the point of dismissal, which is covered under existing wrongful dismissal guidelines, but also during employment and even prior to that, at the point of recruitment. Also worth mentioning is the fact that the proposed Act will allow employers to consider a protected characteristic during the hiring process if it is based on a genuine job requirement. It will also allow employers to actively prefer the elderly (those above 55 years of age, for the purposes of the Act) and the disabled over other candidates, effectively marking Singapore’s first foray into the difficult area of affirmative action.

The Act is being proposed in two bills. The first of which, proposing substantive protections, was recently passed in Parliament on 8 January 2025. The second bill, which has yet to go before Parliament, is expected to address how claims can be made. Once both bills are passed, the Act is expected to enter into force in 2026 or 2027. Employers should keep a keen eye out for further developments in this area, and make good use of the period till then to prepare their approach and policies for the upcoming changes.

The Platform Workers Act 2024

Singapore’s new Platform Workers Act 2024 came into force from 1 January 2025. For the first time in Singapore’s history, the Act recognises a new class of workers - specifically platform workers - who are neither employees nor independent contractors.

Under this Act, platform operators (currently limited to those providing delivery and ride-hail services) must now provide Central Provident Fund (Singapore’s mutually funded pension and savings scheme) contributions to their platform workers. This better protects platform workers’ housing and retirement needs. Platform operators must also provide work injury compensation to platform workers, and new platform worker associations (akin to trade unions) will also be able to represent platform workers. Traditionally, these rights have only been afforded to employees.

Platform operators are already responding to this new Act, with some of the bigger operators raising consumer fees.

Parental leave enhancements

Enhancements to parental leave entitlements are also on the horizon. Two significant changes will take place from 1 April 2025: the paternal leave entitlement for eligible fathers will double from two to four weeks, and eligible parents will have an additional six weeks of leave to share between themselves under a new shared parental leave scheme (this increases to 10 weeks from 1 April 2026). The maternity leave entitlement for eligible mothers remains unchanged at 16 weeks.

Eligible parents are generally those who have been employed for at least three months, and who have Singaporean children. Those without Singaporean children will still be entitled to some maternity leave, but no paternal or parental leave beyond that. Exceptions and further criteria may apply depending on the type of leave.

Guidelines on restrictive covenants

A pair of Singapore High Court decisions in early 2024 saw the Courts declining to enforce non-compete restrictions, highlighting once again the need for restrictive covenants to be reasonable and to be directed at protecting an employer’s legitimate interests.

Regulators will now be introducing a set of guidelines on restrictive covenants. Anticipated guidelines are expected to build upon existing common law principles with the goal of shaping norms. They may also address particular situations such as where rank and file employees are concerned, and where the situation involves a retrenchment. These guidelines may be released in 2025, will influence future Court decisions, and will certainly be worth watching.

Guidelines on supporting mental health conditions

Yet another set of guidelines which are set to come into force in the first quarter of 2025 relates to how employers ought to provide support for employees with (and at risk of) mental health conditions. These guidelines encourage employers to implement mental health policies, establish a referral system, and also establish a return-to-work system for such employees.

Given the anticipated introduction of the Workplace Fairness Act 2024, it may be that these guidelines will influence discrimination claims – including whether an employer has done enough to support a mental health condition, or if the employer has discriminated against a person who has such a condition.

Retrenchment exercises

The spotlight continues to shine on retrenchment exercises in Singapore, with trade unions being particularly vocal where it appears that existing advisories and guidelines on retrenchment practices are not being complied with – notwithstanding that these are not statutory. Trade unions have even been public in voicing their disappointment notwithstanding that the companies concerned were not unionised, with negative publicity in the press invariably following.

Employers planning retrenchment exercises should continue to take into account Singapore’s retrenchment advisory, and engage relevant unions and employees early to control any risk of media backlash.

Conclusion

The evolving employment law landscape in Singapore reflects broader societal shifts towards fairness, inclusion, and mental well-being. As the new year has started, it would serve employers well to stay abreast of these current and upcoming changes and take proactive steps to align their workplace policies and practices.

Contributors: Ian Lim, Nicholas Ngo, and Amelia Tan - TSMP Law Corporation