How to Ensure Your Company Avoids Workplace Discrimination

These days, addressing the issue of work discrimination is discrimination. After all, Jobstreet’s Ultimate Guide to Work Trends for 2021 report states that 68.7% of Singaporean workers value diversity and inclusion. In fact, 51.4% would avoid companies that don’t share their convictions regarding this matter. 

As the statistics above illustrate, preventing work discrimination can help attract and retain talent. Moreover, the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) stresses that having an inclusive workplace is good for business. After all, employees from various backgrounds can offer unique insights, solutions, and ideas regarding your company’s products, services, and operations. 

Additionally, you’ll be spared the headache of dealing with workplace harassment and discrimination complaints. The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is vigilant when it comes to workplace discrimination. According to the Straits Times, MOM looks into 400 cases of work discrimination per year. Out of these cases, they revoke the work pass privileges of around 50 companies. For cases involving age or gender discrimination, companies can face legal action instead.  

Job discrimination can occur at various stages of the hiring process. It includes posting job ads, screening resumes, interviews, and within the workplace itself. Here are some ways you can prevent discrimination and foster an inclusive environment.

Make sure your hiring managers are familiar with the Fair Consideration Framework and Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices. All of your managers, team leaders, and supervisors should be familiar with TAFEP and FCF documents. It ensures that your hiring practices and evaluation policies will be compliant with the requirements set out by TAFEP. 

Focus on the actual tasks and duties the job requires.  Avoid making assumptions about who may or may not be able to perform the required tasks well. For example, explicitly state that a role involves strenuous work instead of specifying that you prefer strong men for the job. 

Make an effort to become aware of your biases.  Create a standardised set of competency-based questions for each job opening. It will prevent interviewers from asking questions coloured by their unconscious biases. Likewise, form a panel of interviewers from diverse backgrounds. This way, when they discuss whether or not to hire a candidate, they can cancel out each other’s innate preferences. 

Review your job application forms.  Exclude requests for unnecessary information such as birth date, marital status, gender, number of children, religion, race, disability, national service liability, etc. Avoid asking for photographs as well. The Tripartite Guidelines encourage candidates to submit their passport number instead of the NRIC number, which employers can use to identify age. 

Establish a fair and transparent evaluation process.  Make sure your employees are familiar with the key performance indicators they must meet. The Tripartite Guidelines state that these criteria should be fair, objective, and measurable. It ensures that management grants promotions based on merit alone.

Holding regular performance appraisals is also helpful. When employees receive frequent and constructive feedback, they become better equipped to meet performance standards. They are also less likely to feel discriminated against if they do not receive a raise or promotion. 

Have an anti-workplace harassment policy in place Make sure your HR department has an action plan for dealing with harassment cases. HR should train all managers, supervisors, and team leaders on how to handle discrimination complaints with sensitivity and fairness. Foster an environment in which employees can safely voice their concerns regarding discrimination and harassment. 

The pandemic has heightened Singaporean job seekers’ anxieties that companies may be giving more employment opportunities to foreign workers without first giving local candidates a fair chance at applying. In response to this, the government has reiterated that its priority is to provide good jobs for Singaporeans. 

The Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices explain that “Singaporeans must remain the core of our workforce. At the same time, foreigners play a valuable role in complementing our workforce.”

Companies must make every effort to find suitable Singaporean candidates before considering foreigners for employment. Take note that MOM requires businesses to post job ads on the government portal MyCareersFuture for at least 28 days before they can apply for a work pass. 

In addition to this, job ads should not state a preference for foreign workers or exclude Singaporeans. Likewise, the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices encourage statements such as “Singaporeans only” or “Singaporeans preferred.”

Needless to say, employers shouldn’t select applicants based on race. Be careful of including languages in job ads, such as “native Chinese speaker.” After all, these can become stand-ins for race. Instead, explain why competency in a particular language is necessary for the job. For example, you can write, “Tour guide for Japanese groups needed. Fluency in Japanese is a must.”


Given that the government has raised the retirement age in Singapore to 67, employers should recognise the unique contributions older staff can bring to the workplace. For instance, companies can leverage older employees’ experience by assigning them as mentors or coaches. 

Employers should also avoid making assumptions about competencies based on age. Instead, make sure you clearly state all the requirements of the job. This allows the candidate to understand what will be expected of them. For example, don’t assume that senior citizens will not be able to handle travelling for work. Instead, include “involves frequent business trips” in your job ad. 

Avoid phrases that can imply a preference for younger candidates, such as a “youthful company culture.” Conversely, you can specify if an opening is suitable for older applicants. 

The only time you may include an age restriction is when the law requires it. For instance, if you are looking for a bartender, then naturally people below 18 may not apply.

A candidate’s gender, marital status, and family situation should not impact your decision on whether or not to hire them. Make sure your job ads do not specify gender unless it is truly necessary. And in that case, make sure to state your reason. For example, you may write: “Female salesperson needed to assist customers in the lingerie department.” For job roles that sound gender-specific such as “waiter” or “nurse,” make sure to state that all genders may apply. 

During the job interview, avoid asking questions about marital status or family situation as well. Consider putting flexible work arrangements in place to make it easier for people with families to balance their duties as employees and parents. Conducting gender sensitivity training can also go a long way towards preventing sexual harassment incidents as well. 

Creating an inclusive and diverse working environment is key when it comes to attracting and retaining talented employees. After all, a safe and discrimination-free workplace enables everyone to focus on excelling at their jobs. By complying with Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices, employers can create a vibrant company culture with equal opportunity for all Singaporeans. 



Learn more about attracting top-notch talent by downloading Jobstreet’s Ultimate Guide to Work Trends for 2021 and visiting our Employment Insights page.

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