'There's no good in having a policy if people do not know about it', lawyer says
Singapore is set to introduce a new workplace fairness law in 2024, which will include a requirement for employers to have grievance handling processes in place to resolve disputes.
It comes after the Tripartite Committee on Workplace Fairness released its final report with recommendations of what the new law should entail. In addition to grievance handling processes, there were recommendations to strengthen protections against discrimination.
The government said the new law would benefit employers and employees.
“Fair employers will benefit from a more productive and engaged workforce, a more harmonious workplace, and be better able to attract and retain talent, contributing to stronger business outcomes,” the government said in a statement.
In the lead up to the workplace fairness law, how should employers and HR teams prepare for the new grievance handling requirement?
Wendy Tan, partner at Morgan Lewis, explained that while there is currently no legal requirement for companies to have a grievance handling policy, companies can follow the guidelines by the Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices (TAFEP).
“They have, for years, put out guidelines on Fair Employment Practices,” Tan told HRD Asia. “And one aspect of Fair Employment Practices is grievance handling. The Tripartite Alliance has also published a Standard on Grievance Handling. By and large, I would say most organisations adopt that because they recognise the importance of having fair and inclusive practices in place to enhance attraction and retention of manpower.”
Tan highlighted that almost 60% of employers already have formal procedures to manage workplace discrimination, while almost 40% don’t.
“These were some of the key statistics that the Committee had in mind when they formulated recommendations for the workplace fairness legislation,” Tan said. “So with some 40% of firms still lacking formal procedures, we think the recommendation requiring employers to put in place a grievance handling process is to plug the gap.”
For companies that already have some form of grievance policy in place, Tan suggested updating it upon the new workplace fairness legislation.
“Companies with existing policies should look at renewing or updating their policies to make sure that they are relevant and they are up to date with best practices,” she said.
But for companies planning to implement a grievance policy, Tan pointed to four aspects the Committee has recommended: developing the policy, internal communication, protecting personnel and communication for closure.
The first step in the process is developing the policy and Tan outlined some of the key questions to consider when creating it.
“A grievance handling policy that perhaps includes definition of grievance, objective of a grievance process, and the grievance handling procedure,” she said. “You outline how employees can raise concerns, the way the grievances will be handled, who they can report the grievances to, when they can expect a response et cetera.”
Tan also suggested companies make it an easy process for employees who want to raise grievances, rather than making it difficult to navigate.
Tan described the second recommendation “inform internally” which involves internal communications about where to access the grievance handling policy and how to make a report.
“There’s no good in having a policy if people do not know about it or it's hidden somewhere,” she said. “The policy needs to be communicated and be available and accessible.”
Tan added that this should also extend to training and letting staff know what policies the company around grievance handling.
Third on the list is around “protecting personnel”, particularly if they fear negative repercussions from speaking up about their grievances, Tan said.
“We need to create a safe place for genuine grievances to be reported and to be resolved,” she said. “So ensuring that there's confidentiality is important.”
The fourth aspect Tan mentions is “communication for closure”, something she believes can be often overlooked by an organisation. This refers to communicating back to the employee the decision that is made after an inquiry happens or how the grievance has been dealt with.
“Many people can say, ‘We have this process and you can report to us’ and then you go through an inquiry, you meet the relevant individuals, but without a follow up response the affected employee is left wondering what happened,” Tan said. “It may make one feel worse, because it makes that employee feel that the concern raised is not taken seriously. So communications for closure is important.”
This aspect should also include timelines for the grievance to be handled, Tan said. She added that if it’s too short a timeframe, that can put pressure on the grievance handler but if the timeframe is too long, it defeats the purpose of handling the grievance.
“There should be a reasonable time for the grievance handler to look into it, come to a decision and communicate that to the affected employee,” Tan said.
“If there is a grievance that needs to be addressed, you would want it to be quickly dealt with rather than letting the situation continue at the workplace.”
Tan highlighted the importance of having proper training for line managers or grievance handlers.
“Empathy and active listening is critical,” she said. “Because if you have an individual who, with all good intent, does not have these skills, I think it can leave the affected employee feeling disrespected and defensive.”
Tan went on to emphasise the need to have fair practices in the workplace to help attract the best talent to join an organisation.
“If your organisation is one that does not have fair, inclusive practices in place, you’re not going to be able to keep the talent,” she said. “So at the end of the day, employers lose out.
“If you want to ensure that the organisation does well – have a productive workforce, a happy workforce and attracting the best people to join – you need to have these policies. You shouldn't wait for the law to tell you, you need something in place.”
