On 8 January 2025, after two days of debate in Parliament, the Singapore government passed the Workplace Fairness Legislation (WFL) – Singapore’s first workplace anti-discrimination law.
Advocating for the optimisation of the WFL has been one of our top policy advocacy priorities here at DPA since plans for the law was announced in August 2021.
It is definitely disappointing that the WFL was passed without some very important provisions – one of the most prominent being that the WFL makes no mention of reasonable accommodations – something essential for us persons with disabilities.
However, the debate in Parliament in January emphasises that policy advocacy can make a difference in bringing attention to important issues. When we at DPA first begun advocacy work on the WFL in 2021, we often found ourselves as one of the only voices emphasising the importance of reasonable accommodation protocols in law. Yet, during the two days of debate on the WFL in January, out of the 28 members of Parliament (MPs) who spoke on the law, 9 spoke on the importance of reasonable accommodations – with several calling for a timeline for reasonable accommodation protocols to eventually be amended into the WFL.
We thank MPs who met with us leading up to the debate on the WFL and all MPs who spoke especially on the necessity of reasonable accommodations in their speeches during the two days of debates.
Additionally, we thank all who have journeyed with us on this over the last few years – whether it was sharing your thoughts and experiences with us on the topic of employment/workplace fairness and discrimination, joining us as we spoke with and wrote to policymakers and MPs, sharing our publications and recommendations on the topic, or supporting us in other ways.
What’s Next?
The WFL as it was passed in January does mean that persons with disabilities will continue to have limited recourse if we are denied reasonable accommodations in the workplace. However, we at DPA will keep advocating on this and for future amendments to the WFL to include important provisions like reasonable accommodation protocols.
Now that the WFL is passed, it will be another 1 – 2 years before the law goes into effect, and below is what we will be monitoring in the year ahead:
• Law on employment claims: Parliament is set to introduce a bill around the second half of 2025 that will spell out claims procedures under the WFL. DPA will be monitoring this and provide updates and commentary on this in the months ahead.
• Tripartite Advisory on Reasonable Accommodations and the TGFEP: In the coming year, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) will be working on the Tripartite advisory on reasonable accommodations and updating the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices (TGFEP) for the TGFEP to better complement the WFL. MOM has expressed interest in working with DPA on both of these items. We will be sharing more on this in the coming weeks and months as we receive more updates and information from MOM.
