From 1 Nov, Bosses Must Inform The Govt If They Need To Retrench Staff

With COVID-19 affecting the economy so badly, it is no wonder that many companies have decided to retrench more staff as a means to cut costs.

In fact, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has revealed that retrenchments were much higher from April to June, where 2,500 people were laid off, as compared to 2,270 from January to March.

The sudden increase was mainly due to a rise in retrenchments in the manufacturing and construction sectors.

And of course, retrenchment is not a light matter. It has understandably resulted in many retrenched employees feeling a lot of stress from trying to find a new job to cope with the new income loss amidst the pandemic.

As such, the government has implemented a new system in hopes of providing more support to these employees in their search for jobs, as well as help companies better manage their staff.

From 1 Nov, Bosses Must Inform The Govt If They Need To Retrench Staff

Currently, bosses only need to inform MOM when they retrench five or more staff members within a period of six months.

However, starting from 1 November 2021, bosses of companies with more than 10 staff members will have to inform MOM every time they choose to retrench a staff member.

They will have to file a mandatory retrenchment notification within five working days after they have given the staff member the notice of retrenchment.

This can be done by submitting the details of the retrenched staff member, as well as the number of people in the company before retrenchment through MOM’s website.

Now, before you say, no time, take note that the process only needs 10 minutes.

Providing More Support to Retrenched Staff 

According to MOM, the new system “enables the tripartite partners, Workforce Singapore, the Employment and Employability Institute, as well as other agencies to better reach out to affected local employees to provide employment and job search support.”

I know what’s your next question: What support can retrenched staff expect to receive? 

They will be offered career coaching by the organisations so that they can better fit into a new job, networking and job fairs to increase their chances of meeting their next employer, and job matching where the organisations help match their skillsets to an employer.

According to the Senior Minister of State for Manpower, the government is “especially concerned” about the group of people who are retrenched.

Other than the sudden financial issue, they also undergo “a lot of stress”.

So part of the reason why they need bosses to report to the government isn’t just for better data collection, but so they can be helped earlier “when they may be at risk of retrenchment”.

Beneficial for Companies As Well

The staff members are not the only ones benefitting from the new system, companies are too.

Companies no longer have to keep track of who the fifth retrenched staff member of a six-month period will be as they would now have to report every retrenchment under the new system.

This system also allows the government to step in when a company is facing troubles and is at risk of retrenching even more workers.

MOM also mentioned that there is a need for employers to be responsible and fair when conducting such retrenchment exercises.

If a company decides not to report any retrenchment under the new system, it can be fined $2,000.

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