Govt bodies pledge to be fair employer

MINISTRIES and government agencies have signed up to pledge to implement fair employment practices in the workplace.

The Government did so on their behalf last September after the Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices issued the pledge.

But last week, 59 ministries and statutory boards made individual commitments to practices such as recruiting based on merit, treating employees with respect and rewarding them fairly.

Said Mrs Lim Soo Hoon, permanent secretary of the Public Service Division (PSD), which first made the pledge on behalf of the Government: 'The pledge signing reaffirms our commitment to recruit, develop and reward officers based on individual merits. This principle of fair opportunity will enable the public service to widen our reach to attract and retain the best candidates.'

The fresh commitment was made last Thursday at the Public Sector Union and Management Gathering, where issues such as job redesign and skill upgrading were discussed.

The ministries and agencies are part of a growing list of over 300 employers who have pledged to stamp out discrimination at work.

Since being set up in May last year, the alliance has come up with various guidelines, including those on job interviews and advertising.

Present at last week's event were labour chief Lim Swee Say, and the alliance's co-chairmen Bob Tan, representing employers, and NTUC assistant secretary general Halimah Yacob.

On the public sector making the pledge twice, Madam Halimah said it was not enough for the PSD to buy into the idea. Each ministry and agency had to.The pledge was also an important signal from the public sector of its support for the alliance's efforts.

The public sector is Singapore's largest employer with about 120,000 employees.