In 2024, Singapore will be codifying its first workplace anti-discrimination law known as the Workplace Fairness Legislation (WFL).
Since plans for the WFL were announced in August 2021, DPA has conducted research and held conversations with persons with disabilities to gather their insights and sentiments about workplace fairness and discrimination and have been actively sharing such feedback with the relevant government ministries, agencies, and committees over the past two years.
As the WFL heads to Parliament in 2024, DPA has recently put together the following report, entitled “Achieving Fairness in Employment for Persons with Disabilities in Singapore”, summarising and outlining our recommendations based on our research and conversations with persons with disabilities and relevant subject matter experts, on the topic of fairness in employment.
It is our hope and objective that the information and recommendations presented in this report will serve as a resource and assist in enhancing the discussions both amongst policy makers and the general public on matters of fairness in employment for persons with disabilities in Singapore for the upcoming year and beyond – not only for conversations around the WFL in 2024 but also in other dialogues on other areas pertaining to achieving fairness in employment for persons with disabilities in Singapore.
The report is divided into two parts. Part I outlines our recommendations on the WFL, and is divided into two sections – section 1.1 highlighting our recommendations on the need for the WFL to cover all forms of discrimination, and section 1.2 focusing on our recommendations on other areas of the legislation that are important to address for the WFL to be effective.
When gathering feedback from persons with disabilities on the topic of workplace fairness, persons with disabilities spoke of not only areas that directly related to the WFL but also of other areas in the employment landscape in Singapore that have a direct impact on achieving fairness in employment.
Part II thus highlights such other areas and outlines our recommendations based on such topics. Part II is divided into three sections – section 2.1 focusing on the topic of indicators of fair and gainful employment, section 2.2 focusing on the means by which disability-inclusive employment is promoted in Singapore, and section 2.3 focusing on the importance and need for strong protections and provisions in not only the WFL but in other areas of Singapore society that have a direct impact on employment.
Each of the above sections contains subsections where we begin with outlining the issue at hand followed by an explanation of DPA’s recommendations.
The report outlines a total of 14 recommendations. The recommendations are not designed to be exhaustive, and if anything, represent the bare minimum of what DPA believes, based on our research and conversations with persons with disabilities and relevant subject matter experts, is necessary in achieving fairness in employment for persons with disabilities in Singapore.
In addition to our on-going efforts in collaborating with existing partners, DPA continues to invite any new collaborations with individuals and groups from all sectors and the general public towards addressing such recommendations, outcomes, and objectives outlined in this report.
You can read the Executive Summary of the report here.
You can access the full report here.
