Written by Dawn Lee

Set up in 2006 by the tripartite partners, Ministry of Manpower (MOM), National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and Singapore National Employers Federation, the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) aims to set out fair employment practices for adoption by employers.

TAFEP helps employers to build workplaces where employees are respected and valued while preventing workplace discrimination. Employers in Singapore are expected to abide by the principles of fair employment and adopt the recommended good practices.

Principles of Fair Employment Practices

• Recruit and select employees on the basis of merit (such as skills, experience or ability to perform the job), and regardless of age, race, gender, religion, marital status and family responsibilities, or disability.
• Treat employees fairly and with respect and implement progressive human resource management systems
• Provide employees with equal opportunity to be considered for training and development based on their strengths and needs to help them achieve their full potential.
• Reward employees fairly based on their ability, performance, contribution and experience.
• Abide by labour laws and adopt the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices.

Consistent and Fair Selection Criteria

Employers should apply relevant and objective selection criteria consistently for all aspects of employment, including recruitment, training, promotions, postings and retrenchments.

Additionally, the criteria listed should be related to the job requirements. This is so as to ensure that applicants and employees are assessed fairly and objectively on their suitability.

Job Advertisements

When stating the selection criteria on your job advertisements, employers must ensure that it is clear, and the criteria should be related to the qualifications, skills, knowledge and experience of the candidate.

As an employer, you should take precautions and ensure that the advertisement is not seen as discriminatory; certain words and phrases should be avoided (this will be covered in the coming slides)

If you as an employer require a candidate with specific attributes, you have to ensure that it is a necessary requirement and state the reason for this requirement in the advertisement. Job requirements should be written in a manner that would be well understood by potential candidates to avoid misconceptions about your organisation.

Job Interviews

Employers should also ensure that the interview process is fair and unbiased. As an employer, you should refrain from asking sensitive questions or make comments that are non-job related. However, if questions that may be seen as discriminatory are asked, the interviewer must make the reasons known to prevent any misunderstandings.

To ensure fairness, the employer should have the following:

• A list of selection criteria that are relevant to the job. These selection criteria should apply to all candidates consistently.
• A list of interview questions directly related to the selection criteria identified
• A proper record of the interview, assessment process and job offer made should be kept for at least a year.
• More than 1 interviewer, if possible, with all interviewers familiar with the principles of fair employment.

Adopting Good Hiring Practices
As an employer, it is important to abide by the guidelines provided by TAFEP as well as to communicate and educate both the management and employees on these guidelines. Adopting good employment practices will allow employees to perform at their best especially when an environment of mutual respect and understanding is established. For more comprehensive details, you may visit their website here.