The Ministry of Manpower has assured the Singaporean parliament that employers do not and will not be allowed to discriminate against workers with medical conditions.
Minister Sam Tan said out of 2,100 complaints on unfair employment practices examined in the past four years by the MOM and the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP), just three were cases of discrimination against employees on medical grounds.
Investigation found that no actual discrimination happened in these three cases, reported The Straits Times.
The complaints had arisen out of miscommunication and misinformation, Tan said.
But Tan Wu Meng (Jurong GRC) said he remained concerned because he had spoken with Singaporeans who are worried that their mental health issues, or their treatments like dialysis, may prejudice their employers.
In response, Tan said workers should report cases of suspected discrimination to MOM and TAFEP.
“If really the discrimination is found to be justified, MOM will take strong actions to make sure that the employers will adopt proper recruitment and employment practices," he said.
Tan added that MOM and TAFEP will monitor the situation closely and actively engage employers to encourage fair and progressive employment practices.
He said more than 240 employers with over 245,000 employees signed up, last November, in support of the Tripartite Standard on Recruitment Practices.
These new standards prescribe that employers use relevant and objective selection criteria to short-list job applicants.
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