Debate on Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill – MP Lee Li Lian

By MP for Punggol East SMC, Lee Li Lian
[Delivered in Parliament on 19 Jan 2015]

According to Singapore Workforce 2014 by MOM, the number of resident PMEs has increased by an average of 4.0% p.a. over the past 10 years.[i]  Today, PMEs comprise about 31% of the workforce and this number is expected to continue to grow.[ii]  With the growing proportion of PMEs in the workforce, amendments made to this Bill to provide better protection for more workers is thus welcomed.

I have two clarifications on the Bill.

(1) According to Section 17, Sub-section 3, there is limited representation for executive employees.  This could possibly include employees who are in junior or mid level management, with job functions that includes managing, directing, legal, human resource and finance.

What could these employees do when they want to seek redress?

Given that employees in Singapore could be multi-tasking within the company; this could lead to many employees having limited representation under the Act. This could also lead to contractual manipulation by employers to restrict their employees’ rights. What can be done to prevent this?

In addition, is there any person or class of persons which the gazette had declared not to be employees for the purpose of this Act?

For class of persons with limited representation under the act, should their occupation be stated explicitly in the gazette or the act itself to avoid confusion and surprises? What can the Ministry do to help employees make an informed choice when accepting a job offer or taking on additional job scope? What does the Ministry intends to do to generate more awareness among employees about this Act, especially those with limited representation?

(2) The act also excludes trade unions which has not been given recognition by an employer to act on behalf of employees. In order to know if there is adequate representation, how many trade unions have applied to be accorded recognition by employers and how many have successfully done so.

In conclusion, I look forward to the Minister’s clarifications on the points raised.

Thank you.



[i] http://stats.mom.gov.sg/Pages/Singapore-Workforce-2014.aspx

[ii] http://www.industriall-union.org/sites/default/files/uploads/documents/ntuc_brochure_on_pmes_2014.pdf