TRW & Co · Employment law
Workplace Fairness Act in Singapore: Employer Compliance Checklist
The Workplace Fairness Act in Singapore is expected to take effect at the end of 2027. Employers with 25 or more employees must stop adverse decisions based on protected characteristics, adopt a written grievance process, inform staff of it and avoid retaliation. Claims will pass through mediation before reaching the Employment Claims Tribunals or High Court.
Key pointFailing to have a written grievance process, or failing to tell all employees about it in writing, is itself a civil contravention, regardless of whether any discrimination occurred.
At a glance
Expected end-2027 start
Both Bills have passed, in January and November 2025, and MOM aims for the Workplace Fairness Act to take effect at the end of 2027.
25-employee threshold
Employers with fewer than 25 employees are exempt from most provisions, with the exemption to be reviewed five years after the Act commences.
Five characteristic groups
Age; nationality; sex, marital status, pregnancy and caregiving; race, religion and language; and disability and mental health conditions are protected.
Written grievance process
Employers must commit in writing to inquiring, reviewing, informing outcomes, keeping records and protecting confidentiality, and tell all employees in writing.
Claims capped at ECT
After mandatory mediation, claims up to and including S$250,000 go to the Employment Claims Tribunals, heard in private without legal representation.
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The short answer: what employers must have in place
As of October 2026, the Workplace Fairness Act in Singapore has been passed but is not yet in force. Parliament passed the first Bill on 8 January 2025 and the Workplace Fairness (Dispute Resolution) Bill on 4 November 2025, and the Ministry of Manpower has said it aims for the Act to take effect at the end of 2027. That leaves roughly a year for employers to get ready.
When it commences, employers with 25 or more employees must not make adverse employment decisions because of a protected characteristic, must have a written grievance handling process and tell all employees about it, and must not retaliate against anyone who raises a grievance or brings a claim. Discrimination claims will go first to internal grievance handling, then to mandatory mediation, and only then to the Employment Claims Tribunals or the High Court.
This checklist translates the Act into the practical work HR, legal and line managers need to complete before commencement: mapping decisions, fixing policies and advertisements, building the grievance process, training managers and preparing for claims.
Legal framework: two Acts, one regime
The Workplace Fairness Act 2025 sets out the substantive protections and employer obligations. The second statute, from the Workplace Fairness (Dispute Resolution) Bill, sets out how individuals bring claims, including mediation and the role of the Employment Claims Tribunals. MOM has said the two are intended to come into force together, and together they form the Workplace Fairness Act in Singapore regime.
The Act complements, rather than replaces, the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices. Those guidelines will continue to cover forms of discrimination outside the protected characteristics, and they continue to apply to small firms that are exempt from most of the Act.
The Act also puts the Fair Consideration Framework job advertising requirement on a statutory footing: employers applying for Employment Passes or S Passes must first advertise on MyCareersFuture and fairly consider local candidates. That obligation applies even to employers with fewer than 25 employees. Our guide to the Fair Consideration Framework covers it in detail.
Who and what is covered
| Element | Position under the Act | Practical note |
|---|---|---|
| Employers covered | Employers with 25 or more employees; smaller employers are exempt from most provisions | The exemption will be reviewed five years after commencement; small firms must still follow the tripartite guidelines and FCF rules |
| Protected characteristics | Age; nationality; sex, marital status, pregnancy and caregiving responsibilities; race, religion and language; disability and mental health conditions | MOM has said these account for more than 95% of discrimination complaints it and TAFEP receive |
| Decisions covered | Hiring, in-employment decisions such as appraisals, promotion and training, and dismissal | Covers the full employment lifecycle, not just recruitment |
| Policies and advertisements | Discriminatory directions, instructions, policies and job advertisements are prohibited | Audit templates, handbooks and recruitment copy |
| Grievance handling | Written process to inquire into, review and inform on grievances, keep records and protect confidentiality | All employees must be told about the process in writing |
| Retaliation | Employers must not retaliate against employees who raise grievances, give evidence or bring claims | Covers dismissal, salary deductions, harassment and other detriment |
| Not employment | Contracts for service and platform work arrangements are not treated as employment | Contractor and platform models need separate review |
Permitted exceptions
The Act preserves flexibility for genuine business needs. MOM has described four circumstances in which a protected characteristic can be a genuine occupational requirement: for the reasonable performance of the job, for health and safety, for privacy, and for legal or regulatory reasons. A language requirement for an interpreter, or a minimum age required by a licensing rule, are typical examples.
Employers may also continue to prefer local employees, and may choose to favour persons with disabilities and older workers. Religious organisations are permitted to make employment decisions based on religion. Each exception should be documented at the time the decision is made, not reconstructed after a complaint. Under the Workplace Fairness Act in Singapore, the burden of explaining a decision will in practice fall on the employer that holds the records.
The grievance handling obligation
The grievance obligation is the part of the Workplace Fairness Act in Singapore most likely to catch out well-intentioned employers, because it is procedural and easy to evidence either way. The employer must develop a process under which it commits in writing to inquire into each grievance in a stated manner, review it in a stated manner, inform the employee of the outcome, keep written records of every inquiry and review for a stated period, and not disclose the employee's identity or information about the inquiry unless reasonably necessary.
The employer must then inform all employees of the process in writing. Failing to develop the process, or failing to inform employees, is itself a civil contravention. TAFEP released a Grievance Handling Toolkit in July 2026 with a handbook, policies, templates, forms and checklists aligned with the Act.
Do not wait for commencement to test the grievance process. Run it now on real but low-stakes grievances, check the written records it produces, and confirm that managers know when to escalate. A process that exists on paper but has never been used will be hard to defend in mediation or before the Tribunal.
Pre-commencement checklist for the Workplace Fairness Act in Singapore
The steps below are the work plan we recommend for employers with 25 or more employees. Groups close to the threshold should count carefully and plan as if covered. The policy elements overlap with our employment policies practice and our guide to employee handbooks.
- Confirm coverage. Count employees by legal employer, not group. Identify entities near the 25-employee threshold and any contractor or platform arrangements that fall outside the Act.
- Map employment decisions. List every point where a decision affects a jobseeker or employee: sourcing, screening, interviews, offers, appraisals, bonuses, promotion, training selection, redeployment and dismissal.
- Audit policies and advertisements. Remove references to protected characteristics that are not genuine occupational requirements, including age ranges, nationality preferences and gendered language in job advertisements.
- Build and publish the grievance process. Adopt a written process covering inquiry, review, outcome, record-keeping and confidentiality, using the TAFEP toolkit as a base, and notify all employees in writing.
- Add anti-retaliation controls. Flag employees who have raised grievances so that later adverse decisions are reviewed by HR or legal for an independent, documented business rationale.
- Train decision-makers. Train hiring managers and supervisors on protected characteristics, genuine occupational requirements and how to record reasons for decisions.
- Review automated tools. Check screening software and AI-assisted hiring tools for criteria that act as proxies for protected characteristics.
- Prepare for claims. Set up a document retention protocol, nominate a mediation lead and assess insurance coverage for discrimination claims.
Documents to have ready before commencement
Preparation for the Workplace Fairness Act in Singapore is easiest to track as a document set. By the time the Act commences, we suggest employers can produce each of the following on request, with an owner and review date for each.
- A written grievance handling policy that mirrors the statutory elements, and evidence that every employee received it in writing.
- A grievance register and template inquiry and review records, with a stated retention period.
- A recruitment pack: approved job advertisement templates, interview guides with objective criteria, and a short note on any genuine occupational requirements relied on.
- Appraisal, promotion and training selection templates that capture the reasons for each decision at the time it is made.
- A dismissal and redundancy checklist that includes a protected-characteristic and retaliation check.
- Training records for managers who make or influence employment decisions.
These documents matter because, in mediation or before the Tribunal, the employer's account of why it made a decision will be tested against what was written at the time. Contemporaneous reasons are far more persuasive than explanations prepared after a complaint.
How claims will be resolved
The dispute resolution statute emphasises amicable resolution. Workers are strongly encouraged to use the employer's grievance process first. If that fails, the worker and employer must attempt mediation before any claim can proceed to adjudication. Claims up to and including S$250,000 go to the Employment Claims Tribunals, which use a judge-led approach with simplified procedures and no legal representation; larger claims go to the High Court. All workplace discrimination claims are to be heard in private.
There are safeguards against abuse. Employers can apply to strike out frivolous or vexatious claims, judges may do so of their own motion, costs may be awarded against such claimants, and persistent litigants can be restrained. Separately, MOM can take calibrated enforcement action, from directions to administrative financial penalties and civil penalties for more serious or repeated contraventions. Our employment disputes team handles both tracks.
| Stage | Who handles it | Employer's focus |
|---|---|---|
| Internal grievance | Employer, under its written process | Prompt inquiry, fair review, written outcome, confidentiality |
| Mandatory mediation | Third-party mediator before any claim proceeds | Realistic assessment of exposure; authority to settle |
| Employment Claims Tribunals | Claims up to and including S$250,000; judge-led, no legal representation | Clear documents and witnesses who can explain decisions |
| High Court | Claims above the ECT limit | Full litigation planning, with counsel |
| MOM enforcement | Directions, administrative and civil penalties | Cooperation, remediation and policy fixes |
Illustrative scenario: a promotion decision
Illustrative only; generic parties. A regional technology company with 120 Singapore staff passes over an employee for promotion shortly after she returns from maternity leave. The successful candidate has similar ratings. The employee raises a grievance alleging pregnancy and caregiving discrimination.
Under the Act, the company must inquire into and review the grievance under its written process, tell her the outcome and keep records, without disclosing her identity beyond those who need to know. If the promotion panel recorded objective criteria and scores at the time, the company can explain its decision. If the reasons were informal and undocumented, it will struggle in mediation and before the Tribunal.
The company must also avoid any later step that looks like retaliation, such as a poor appraisal or exclusion from projects, without a clear and documented business reason. If facts are disputed, an independent review under our workplace investigations approach can help.
If the grievance is not resolved internally and the employee pursues a claim, the parties must first attempt mediation. The company should go into mediation with a frank internal assessment: what the records show, how the decision-makers will come across as witnesses, and what a sensible settlement range looks like. A mediated outcome may include non-financial terms, such as a fresh promotion review against stated criteria or a development plan, which can matter as much to the employee as compensation. Lessons learned should feed back into how promotion panels record their reasons.
Risks and common mistakes
Treating the Act as a recruitment-only issue
The Act covers decisions throughout employment, including appraisals, promotion, training and dismissal. Employers who only update job advertisements and interview guides leave the riskiest decisions untouched, because in-employment decisions generate the most detailed evidence of how managers think.
Map every decision point and assign an owner for documenting reasons.
Having a grievance policy that is not the statutory process
Many handbooks already contain a grievance clause, but it may not commit to inquiry, review, outcome, record-keeping and confidentiality in the way the Act requires, or may not have been communicated to all employees in writing. Both failures are civil contraventions.
Compare your current policy line by line with the statutory elements and the TAFEP toolkit.
Overlooking retaliation risk
Retaliation is defined broadly and includes dismissal, salary deductions, failure to fulfil contractual obligations, harassment and other detriment. A legitimate performance process started after a grievance can look retaliatory if it is poorly timed or documented.
Add a second-level review for adverse decisions affecting complainants, and see our guide to workplace harassment management.
Relying on the small-firm exemption without checking
The exemption applies to employers with fewer than 25 employees, but the count is by employer and the threshold may be changed by notification. Fast-growing businesses can cross it without noticing, and the work pass advertising rule applies regardless.
Review headcount quarterly and prepare the core process anyway.
Cross-border angle
Regional employers often run global HR policies that pre-date the Workplace Fairness Act in Singapore and are set from headquarters in the UK, the UAE, China or elsewhere. Those policies may meet home-country anti-discrimination law but not the Singapore Act's specific requirements, particularly the written grievance process and the defined protected characteristics. Local addenda are usually the cleanest fix.
Groups with Bangladeshi or other Asian operations should also check that recruitment through regional shared-service centres complies with Singapore rules for Singapore roles. Our employment contracts team reviews group templates against Singapore requirements, and our guide to AI in hiring covers automated screening.
What to do next
- Confirm which entities have 25 or more employees and plan for each.
- Adopt and publish a written grievance process before the end of 2027, and test it now.
- Audit job advertisements, handbooks and decision templates for protected characteristics.
- Document genuine occupational requirements where you rely on them.
- Train managers and put anti-retaliation checks in place.
- Prepare a mediation and claims playbook, including document retention.
Employers that prepare now will find the Workplace Fairness Act in Singapore largely codifies good practice. Those that wait risk discovering gaps in their first mediation. For a readiness review, contact TRW & Co. Where Singapore court or tribunal representation is required, we work alongside Singapore-qualified counsel.
Frequently asked questions
01When does the Workplace Fairness Act take effect?
The Act is not yet in force. Parliament passed the Workplace Fairness Bill on 8 January 2025 and the Workplace Fairness (Dispute Resolution) Bill on 4 November 2025. MOM has said it aims for the Act to take effect at the end of 2027, to give employers and workers time to prepare. The exact commencement date will be fixed by notification, so employers should monitor MOM and TAFEP announcements and aim to have their processes ready well before then.
02Does the Workplace Fairness Act apply to small businesses?
Employers with fewer than 25 employees are exempt from most of the Act. The exemption will be reviewed five years after commencement. Small employers must still follow the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices, and the statutory requirement to advertise jobs and fairly consider locals before applying for certain work passes applies regardless of size. Growing businesses should monitor headcount by employing entity and prepare a grievance process before they cross the threshold.
03What are the protected characteristics?
There are five groups: age; nationality; sex, marital status, pregnancy status and caregiving responsibilities; race, religion and language; and disability and mental health conditions. Employers must not make adverse employment decisions because of these characteristics, whether in hiring, appraisals, promotion, training or dismissal, unless an exception applies, such as a genuine occupational requirement. Other forms of discrimination continue to be addressed through the tripartite guidelines.
04What must a grievance handling process include?
The employer must commit in writing to inquiring into each grievance in a stated manner, reviewing it in a stated manner, informing the employee of the outcome, keeping written records of inquiries and reviews for a stated period, and not disclosing the employee's identity or related information unless reasonably necessary. All employees must be informed of the process in writing. TAFEP's Grievance Handling Toolkit, released in July 2026, provides templates and checklists aligned with these requirements.
05How will discrimination claims be resolved?
Workers are encouraged to raise disputes through the employer's grievance process first. If unresolved, the parties must attempt mediation before a claim can proceed. Claims up to and including S$250,000 are heard by the Employment Claims Tribunals, where legal representation is not allowed; larger claims go to the High Court. All such claims are heard in private, and there are safeguards against frivolous or vexatious claims, including strike-out and costs.
06What counts as retaliation under the Act?
An employer must not retaliate against an employee because they or someone else raised a grievance, brought proceedings, gave evidence or alleged a contravention, or because the employer suspects they intend to. Retaliatory acts include dismissal, salary deductions, failing to fulfil contractual obligations, harassment, certain refusals relating to re-employment, and any other detriment in employment. Retaliation is a civil contravention, so employers should review adverse decisions affecting complainants carefully.
Sources and official materials
- Workplace Fairness Act 2025 (Government Gazette, Acts Supplement) — Text of the Act, including application, grievance handling and retaliation
- MOM – Workplace Fairness (Dispute Resolution) Bill press release — Claims process, ECT limit, safeguards and end-2027 target
- MOM – Fact sheet on Workplace Fairness Bill — Protected characteristics, exceptions and small-firm exemption
- TAFEP – Workplace Fairness — One-stop resource page on the Act
- TAFEP – Grievance Handling Toolkit — Templates and checklists aligned with the Act
- MOM – Fair Consideration Framework — Job advertising requirements for work pass applications
General information only, current as at 20 October 2026. It is not legal advice and does not create a lawyer–client relationship. Singapore law and regulatory practice change; check current official sources and take advice on the facts of your matter.
