In a landmark piece of legislation, the Singapore Parliament passed the Workplace Fairness Act 2025 (WFA) on 8 January 2025. Expanding on the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices, the WFA provides a more robust legal framework to combat workplace discrimination and unfair employment practices, while also preserving employers’ flexibility to address legitimate business needs.
Once the WFA takes effect, which is expected to occur by 2027, it is intended to apply to most workplaces. However, it will not apply to certain employers, such as employers with fewer than 25 employees (although this may be subject to review in 5 years). In addition, contracts for service (i.e., independent contractor arrangements) and platform work agreements (e.g., arrangements where an individual provides freelance services through a digital platform, such as a food delivery or ride-hailing app) do not constitute employment.
Under the WFA, making an employment decision (e.g., hiring, promotion, demotion, dismissal or retrenchment) based on a protected characteristic (e.g., age, nationality, sex, marital status, pregnancy, caregiving responsibilities, race, religion, language ability, disability or mental health condition) is prohibited. In addition, an employer may not publish a job advertisement that expressly or impliedly mentions a protected characteristic as a criterion or ground for disqualification for employment.
However, an employment decision is not discriminatory in the following instances, among others:
The WFA also sets out fair employment practices which employers must abide by, including giving fair consideration to all candidates before hiring foreign manpower, developing a grievance handling policy and prohibiting retaliation against employees who report WFA breaches.
Under the WFA, discrimination or a breach of fair employment practices is a civil contraventions. More severe cases – such as repeated or systemic discrimination, dismissing an employee in retaliation, or retaliating against the same employee twice or more within a year – are classified as serious civil contraventions.
For civil contraventions, authorities may issue a contravention notice, impose administrative penalties (to be detailed in subsidiary legislation) and direct employers to stop, address or prevent further breaches.
For serious civil contraventions, the regulator may (with the Public Prosecutor’s consent) seek civil penalties in court – for entity offenders, up to SGD50,000 for the first breach or SGD250,000 for subsequent breaches and for individual offenders, up to SGD10,000 for the first breach or SGD50,000 for subsequent breaches.
Before the WFA takes effect, employers should take the opportunity to review and update their employment handbook and policies to comply with the WFA, ensure that they have a clear and fair grievance handling mechanism, train their management and staff on anti-discrimination measures and fair employment practices and promote an inclusive workplace environment.
OrionW regularly advises clients on employment matters. For more information about employment regulations in Singapore, or if you have questions about this article, please contact us at info@orionw.com.
Disclaimer: This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice.
