Singapore Workplace Fairness Act (WFA) - Employer obligations and implications

Whilst the standards for fairness in employment in Singapore are currently set out in the Tripartite Guidelines (“Guidelines”) on Fair Employment Practices issued by the Tripartite Alliance for Fair & Progressive Employment Practices (“TAFEP”), the proposed WFA shall form Singapore’s first comprehensive, binding law to combat discrimination in employment relationships. It marks a paradigm shift from a predominantly soft-law-based system to a codified, enforceable legal system. 

Although non-statutory in nature, the Guidelines already set out expected standards of fair employment, and if an affected employee makes a complaint against the employer, non-compliance with the Guidelines can trigger an investigation into the employer’s practices and the Ministry of Manpower may take enforcement action such as curtailing work pass privileges against the employer.  The Guidelines are anticipated to remain applicable after the WFA comes into force and are intended to operate alongside the new statutory framework, complementing it and further strengthening legal protection against workplace discrimination. 

The WFA will improve protection against discriminatory employment decisions across the entire employment lifecycle. This includes the pre-employment period with advertising, screening, and the final decision if the employer decides to hire an individual, as well as any decisions during the employment like appraisals, promotions, training, demotion, and also decisions at the end of the employment like termination or retrenchment.

The regime is designed to prohibit adverse unjustified decisions based on enumerated protected characteristics like age, nationality, sex, marital status, pregnancy, caregiving responsibilities, race, religion, language ability, disability, mental health conditions.

Not explicitly enumerated and therefore not protected by the WFA are a person’s gender identity and sexual orientation, criminal record and medical condition (insofar as this is not a disability or a mental health condition). These will however continue to be protected by the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices.

Based on the WFA possible workplace discrimination shall first be raised with the employer based on the company’s internal grievance-handling mechanism. If the internal process fails to resolve the dispute, a mediation request must be submitted by the employee or individual involved in a dispute with the employer. Only where mediation is unsuccessful a workplace discrimination claim may brought before the ECT or, if exceeding SGD 250,000, before the High Court. Proceedings before the ECT follow simplified, judge-led procedures and external legal representation is generally not allowed in ECT proceedings, whereas proceedings before the High Court are governed by full civil procedure and require external legal representation.

The WFA imposes comprehensive obligations on employers and robust documentation and record-keeping will be central to WFA compliance.

In the hiring process, employers must adopt merit-based recruitment practices and avoid direct or indirect references to protected characteristics in job advertisements, screening questions, or interviews, unless a legally permitted exception applies. Employers are expected to retain adequate selection documentation, including assessment criteria, interview notes, and scoring frameworks, to demonstrate that hiring decisions are fair and non-discriminatory.

During employment, all employment decisions must be based on objective factors and applied consistently across the workforce. Employers must also ensure that workplace policies or practices do not indirectly disadvantage protected groups, unless such measures are objectively justified by legitimate and proportionate business needs in accordance with the WFA.

Decisions to end employment, including terminations and retrenchments must not be influenced by protected characteristics. Employers should maintain clear, documented justifications for such decisions, supported by evidence such as performance records or redundancy selection matrices.

The WFA further requires employers to establish and maintain an effective, accessible and confidential internal grievance-handling mechanism for discrimination-related complaints.

Phase 1: Preparation
Employers should begin by mapping roles and processes throughout the employment lifecycle, from recruitment to termination, in order to identify points at which protected characteristics could unintentionally influence decision-making. Anti-discrimination policies and grievance policies should be drafted, reviewed, or updated as needed. In parallel, employers should plan targeted training for managers and HR professionals to ensure awareness of legal obligations and consistent application of policies.

Phase 2: Implementation
In the implementation phase, job descriptions and recruitment advertisements should be reviewed and standardized to eliminate biased language. Interview processes should be supported by structured interview guides and objective scoring systems. Employers should also introduce clear documentation standards for performance appraisals, promotion decisions, and training nominations to ensure transparency and traceability. Additionally, a formal grievance mechanism should be rolled out, including clearly communicated points of contact, confidentiality safeguards, impartial and timely investigative procedures, explicit assurances against retaliation, and robust record-keeping of complaints, findings, and remedial actions.

Phase 3: Monitoring and Response
Once the framework is in place, employers should continuously monitor its effectiveness. This includes tracking grievances, resolution timelines, and outcomes to identify recurring issues. A clear protocol for mediation should be established, defining who is involved, decision-making authority, and required documentation. Finally, periodic data and workforce analytics should be conducted to detect patterns in employment decisions that may indicate discrimination or structural issues, enabling timely corrective action. Please consult us on the use of such patterns and any implementation of policies following from the detection of such patterns, since there is an inherent risk that using such findings may lead to discriminatory practices e.g. reducing hiring of a particular group which the patterns revealed had been hired at a disproportionate rate.