Singapore’s Workplace Fairness Act — passed in two Bills in January and November 2025 — is the country’s first dedicated anti-discrimination employment law, protecting employees and job seekers across five umbrella categories spanning eleven specific characteristics. Slated to take effect at end-2027, it applies to all Singapore employers, with limited transitional exemptions for firms with fewer than 25 employees.
For leaders in high-stakes sectors like healthcare, logistics, and government, the introduction of new fairness rules can feel like just another layer of regulation, tighter restrictions, and the threat of penalties for employment-related discrimination. The end-2027 commencement gives employers time to adapt, but the smarter move is to step back now, evaluate current organisational policies for compliance, and ask a different question: what if this legislation isn’t merely a compliance hurdle, but a rare opportunity for a strategic reset?
What is the purpose of the Workplace Fairness Act?
| Age | Marital status |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Pregnancy |
| Sex | Race |
| Religion | Language |
| Disability | Mental health conditions |
| Caregiving responsibilities |
The Act also reflects Singapore’s emphasis on fair and harmonious workplace norms. By thoughtfully embracing Singapore’s fair hiring practices, your organisation can transform regulatory compliance into an opportunity to enhance your employer brand.
Today’s candidates evaluate prospective employers against substantive benchmarks: role fit, long-term sustainability, flexibility, and the alignment between employer promises and the actual employee experience. As a multi-industry workforce partner across healthcare, logistics, and tech, OAI sees this shift play out across every brief — candidates increasingly test employer credibility against transparent, demonstrable practice rather than brand size or prestige. The Workplace Fairness Act formalises that expectation in law, and the Tripartite Guidelines on Flexible Work Arrangement Requests, which took effect on 1 December 2024, reinforce flexibility as a baseline rather than a differentiator.
Transparent, active policies that protect employee well-being help organisations stand out in an increasingly competitive talent market.
The human side of the Workplace Fairness landscape
The Workplace Fairness Act goes beyond the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices, covering every phase of an employee’s journey with you — from the job advertisement posted to performance appraisals and exit interviews.
One of the most practical changes is the requirement to formalise a grievance resolution process. Grievance handling procedures allow organisations to identify and address unacceptable or unlawful practices early — before they escalate into formal claims. The pressure is real: the overall incidence of employment claims and appeals lodged with MOM and TADM rose to 3.12 per 1,000 employees in 2024, up from 2.53 in 2023, with 11,685 claims filed in total. A well-structured internal grievance channel materially reduces the likelihood of disputes reaching that stage.
The process is not about encouraging complaints, but about creating a formal, structured procedure where your employees feel safe and heard before a misunderstanding escalates into a crisis.
While companies with fewer than 25 employees will be temporarily exempted from the WFA’s full obligations as they may not yet have the corporate capabilities to comply, the agenda is clear: fair consideration is no longer optional. The Fair Consideration Framework remains a strict mandate for all employers — including exempted firms — when applying for Employment Pass or S Pass.
Turning the Workplace Fairness Act into a retention strategy in healthcare
Singapore’s healthcare sector faces a unique set of challenges.
As of Q1 2026, Singapore’s Ministry of Health has set a target of growing the public healthcare workforce to 82,000 by 2030, requiring approximately 6,000 nurses, Allied Health Professionals, and support care staff to be recruited each year to keep pace with the country’s expanding healthcare capacity.
The healthcare sector is expected to transform to meet the demands of a rapidly ageing population. Under current National Population and Talent Division projections, around one in four Singapore citizens — approximately 24% — will be aged 65 and above by 2030.
Yet, supply is struggling to keep pace. Singapore’s nursing and midwifery workforce stood at 50,389 in 2024 — a substantial base, but one operating under intense pressure. Professionals in the sector often juggle heavy patient load, exhaustion, and fatigue. Respectful workplace conditions, better operating environments, and adequate rest hours are consistently identified as factors that help attract and retain staff.
Workplace conditions are not improving on their own. Between 2022 and 2024, the number of abuse and harassment incidents reported by public healthcare institutions doubled — from approximately 1,500 cases to 3,000 cases annually, according to figures released by the Ministry of Health in February 2026. The Workplace Fairness Act’s grievance handling and anti-retaliation provisions arrive in this context as a structural lever for healthcare leaders, not a paper exercise.
When hospital administrators and clinic directors hear about the new Workplace Fairness Act mandates, it is easy to view them as just another administrative burden. But in a candidate-short market, the WFA can be one of the most powerful retention tools available — particularly for tackling situations like:
- ‘Silent quitting’ — when employees who experience unfair treatment do not feel safe raising it. The consequence is rarely a single resignation; it is a slow erosion of trust. MOM’s 2022 fair employment survey found that among employees who experienced discrimination but chose not to seek help, 23.1% feared being marginalised at work or damaging working relationships, and 21.5% feared repercussions on their career. In high-turnover sectors like healthcare and logistics, that unspoken caution translates directly into avoidable attrition.
- Legal protection of employees from retaliatory acts such as wrongful dismissal, salary deduction, or being deprived of benefits. When employees feel secure in their jobs and career progression, and confident they can call out unfairness, trust and loyalty toward leadership deepens.
- Safeguarding your most valuable assets by preventing premature resignation of senior staff who are working parents or caregivers. A workplace that legally and culturally protects employees from being sidelined because of caregiving duties or mental health conditions significantly reduces turnover.
Balancing safety with inclusive hiring in the logistics sector
In the logistics and supply chain sector, operational safety is non-negotiable. When leaders hear about new anti-discrimination laws, a fair question often arises: “Does this mean I can’t filter candidates based on their physical ability to safely manage warehouse equipment?” The short answer is that you can — provided the requirement is genuine and properly documented.
The Workplace Fairness Act was drafted with operational reality in mind. It introduces the genuine occupational requirement exemption: where a specific physical capability or characteristic is strictly necessary for the safe and reasonable performance of a job, or for preserving health and safety, hiring based on that requirement is not considered discrimination.
The strategic advantage here is clarity. Logistics leaders who take the time to properly document these genuine requirements in their job descriptions protect themselves from unnecessary disputes.
Leaders are also encouraged to view non-manual roles — supply chain coordination, tech integration, planning — as opportunities to tap into older workers and people with disabilities. This unlocks an entirely new talent pool that widens the hiring funnel without compromising operational safety requirements.
Raising the standard in the government and public sector
For government agencies and public sector leaders, the mandate is different: the public sector sets the baseline for the rest of the nation.
Under the Workplace Fairness Act, all organisations must implement a formal grievance handling process and preserve the confidentiality of those who step forward. When organisational leaders successfully implement transparent, impartial grievance systems, they build profound public trust.
Furthermore, strict adherence to the Fair Consideration Framework ensures the Singaporean workforce is always given fair opportunity.
By mastering these frameworks early, government agencies not only create highly secure, harmonious environments for their own civil servants — they establish the exact compliance standards they will eventually demand from their private-sector vendors and contractors.
When managing high-volume recruitment for public sector initiatives, ensuring meticulous, unbiased screening across hundreds of applications can easily overwhelm internal HR teams. This is where a strategic partnership with a multi-industry workforce partner provides a critical pressure release.
OAI began as an Aviation talent specialist and has since grown into a comprehensive talent solutions firm spanning Logistics, Pharma, Tech, and the public sector. Through OAI’s Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) services, government bodies can embed regulatory compliance directly into the architecture of their hiring process — ensuring the Fair Consideration Framework, which requires the local workforce to be fairly considered for all job opportunities, is strictly adhered to from the very first screening call.
By taking on the heavy lifting of compliant, high-volume sourcing, OAI allows leaders to scale their teams rapidly without compromising on regulatory integrity or public trust.
Transforming guidelines into a culture of trust
The ultimate intention behind the Workplace Fairness Act is to preserve the harmonious, non-litigious culture Singapore values in its workplaces. Rather than fixating on the fear of WFA penalties, far-sighted leaders are already making structural shifts:
1. Reviewing the language used. Audit job descriptions to ensure they focus strictly on skills and experience, removing subtle biases regarding age or nationality.
For example, instead of writing: “Seeking an energetic, digital-native fresh graduate for a highly dynamic team” — language which explicitly tells mature PMETs not to apply, violating WFA guidelines on age discrimination —
You can write: “Seeking candidates proficient in Python and agile project management who thrive in fast-paced product cycles.” This focuses strictly on the required skills and work environment.
2. Building safe channels. Implement that formal grievance handling process — not because you have to, but because building trust retains your best people.
A vital part of a sustainable grievance channel is to explicitly state that employees will not be penalised, demoted, or treated unfairly for raising issues. Employees should also be informed of the follow-up process that promotes accountability on the employer’s end.
Employers can also go further by creating multiple reporting avenues, so that no single individual or department holds gatekeeping power over grievances.
Looking for a thoughtful sounding board to evaluate your current talent frameworks against the Workplace Fairness Act, or to build compliant resilience into your workforce? OAI’s comprehensive talent solutions — spanning recruitment, RPO, payroll, and HR consulting — help organisations navigate Singapore’s evolving regulatory landscape securely and strategically, with the keystone talent that strengthens every team. Send us an enquiry to consult with our team.
Frequently asked questions about the Workplace Fairness Act for Singapore employers
1. When exactly does the Workplace Fairness Act take full effect?
2. My logistics role requires physical fitness — am I at risk of a disability discrimination claim?
Not necessarily, but the requirement must be carefully framed. The Workplace Fairness Act permits employers to take into account a protected characteristic (including disability or a mental health condition) where it constitutes a genuine and proportionate job requirement linked to health and safety. This means you can legitimately require that candidates be physically capable of performing specific tasks.
For example, safely operating heavy machinery or lifting loads above a specified weight is an acceptable requirement, provided it is directly tied to the operational demands of the role and applied consistently. What you cannot do is impose a blanket exclusion of persons with disabilities without assessing whether they can perform the role with reasonable adjustments. Document your rationale clearly on a role-by-role basis to establish your genuine occupational requirement defence.
3. What counts as an 'adverse employment decision' under the Workplace Fairness Act?
- Pre-employment: shortlisting, interviewing, and hiring decisions; job advertisement criteria
- During employment: appraisals, training opportunities, promotions, remuneration changes, and transfer decisions
- End of employment: dismissal, retrenchment, and termination
4. What happens if an employee files a Workplace Fairness Act discrimination claim against us?
Under the Workplace Fairness (Dispute Resolution) Bill (passed November 2025), the process works as follows:
- The employee must first attempt mediation through the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM).
- If mediation fails, the employee can file a claim at the Employment Claims Tribunal (ECT) for claims up to S$250,000.
- Claims exceeding S$250,000 go to the General Division of the High Court (GDHC).
- Hearings before both the ECT and the GDHC are conducted in private, though judgments may be published in the usual course.
As the employer, you will need to demonstrate that the employment decision was based on legitimate, merit-based grounds, not on a protected characteristic. This is why maintaining thorough, written documentation of all employment decisions is critical. Note that the Workplace Fairness Act also prohibits retaliation against employees who file complaints — acts such as wrongful dismissal, salary deductions, or harassment of the complainant are themselves separate breaches.
5. What does the Workplace Fairness Act mean for retrenchment exercises?
Retrenchments are fully covered under the Workplace Fairness Act. Employers cannot use a protected characteristic — such as age, nationality, or disability — as a selection criterion for retrenchment. MOM’s responsible retrenchment guidance requires employers to:
- Make selections based on objective, merit-based factors such as ability to contribute to the company’s future business needs
- Not discriminate against any employee or group of employees
- Treat affected employees with dignity and respect
- Consult with the union if the company is unionised
In practice, this means your retrenchment selection criteria must be documented, consistently applied, and demonstrably tied to business needs — not to characteristics like age or nationality. Selecting older workers or foreign workers disproportionately without documented justification is a key risk area under the WFA.
6. Does the Workplace Fairness Act apply to my company if I have fewer than 25 employees?
Small firms with fewer than 25 employees are temporarily exempt from the Workplace Fairness Act’s full legal obligations, counted at the entity level, not the group level. This exemption is in place for the first five years after the WFA takes effect, to give smaller businesses time to build HR capabilities. However, there are two important caveats:
- All employers, regardless of size — including those with fewer than 25 employees — must still comply with WFA requirements around the Fair Consideration Framework before applying for an Employment Pass or S Pass.
- All firms, regardless of headcount, remain bound by the TGFEP, which is actively enforced through work pass restrictions.
Tripartite partners will also review the small-firm exemption within five years of the WFA commencing, meaning smaller employers should use this window to proactively build compliant HR processes.
7. Can I still advertise roles as 'Singapore Citizens only' under the Workplace Fairness Act?
- “EP / S Pass / Work Permit holders preferred”
- “Filipinos preferred” — or any specific foreign nationality
- “Native English speaker required”
- “Italian Chef” (implies nationality preference)
- Companies with fewer than 10 employees
- Positions with a fixed monthly salary of S$22,500 and above
- Short-term roles of one month or less
- Roles filled by an internal local transferee
