Singapore passed its first codified anti-discrimination employment statute — the Workplace Fairness Act 2025 (WFA) — in January 2025. A companion piece, the Workplace Fairness (Dispute Resolution) Act 2025, followed in November 2025. Together, these two statutes represent the most significant shift in Singapore’s employment law framework in a generation. The WFA is expected to commence by end-2027 for employers with 25 or more employees. With 18 months until commencement, HR managers in Singapore need to start preparing now.
This guide sets out what the Workplace Fairness Act requires, who it covers, what changes employers must make, and the practical steps to take before commencement.
What Is the Workplace Fairness Act 2025?
The Workplace Fairness Act 2025 is Singapore’s first statutory prohibition on workplace discrimination. Before the WFA, anti-discrimination in the workplace was governed primarily by the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices (TGFEP), which are administrative guidelines enforced by the Tripartite Alliance for Fair & Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP). The guidelines carry real consequences — employer debarment from the Employment Pass and S Pass schemes is a serious sanction — but they are not criminal statutes.
The WFA changes this. It creates enforceable legal rights for employees against adverse employment decisions based on protected characteristics, a mandatory grievance-handling process, and a prohibition on retaliation. Violations carry financial penalties of up to SGD 50,000 per incident for companies. A new Tripartite Fair Employment Practices Tribunal will hear claims.
Per MOM’s announcement, Parliament passed the WFA on 8 January 2025. The Workplace Fairness (Dispute Resolution) Act 2025 was passed on 4 November 2025. Both statutes are expected to commence together by end-2027.
Who Is Covered by the WFA
The WFA applies to all employees employed in Singapore, including local employees and foreign nationals on work passes. It covers all stages of the employment relationship: hiring, performance appraisal, training, promotion and dismissal.
The commencement timeline is phased:
- End-2027: Employers with 25 or more employees must comply.
- 2030: Compliance extended to employers with 5 to 24 employees.
Even businesses below the initial threshold should begin familiarising themselves with the requirements, as the transition from current guidelines to statutory obligations will reshape hiring and HR documentation practices industry-wide.
Note that the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices continue to apply to all employers now — the WFA adds statutory teeth to the existing framework but does not replace the TGFEP in the interim.
The Five Categories of Protected Characteristics
Under the WFA, employers are prohibited from making adverse employment decisions on the basis of any of the following five categories of protected characteristics:
- Age
- Nationality
- Sex, marital status, pregnancy status, and caregiving responsibilities
- Race, religion, and language ability
- Disability and mental health conditions
An “adverse employment decision” includes decisions on hiring, performance appraisal, training access, promotion, and dismissal. The test is whether the protected characteristic was a reason for the adverse decision — it does not need to be the sole reason.
For HR managers overseeing Employment Pass applications, note that the Fair Consideration Framework (FCF) currently requires employers to advertise on MyCareersFuture and demonstrate fair consideration of local candidates before hiring a foreign national under the EP or S Pass. The WFA does not replace the FCF job advertising requirement — both obligations will coexist.
Mandatory Grievance Handling Process
One of the most operationally significant requirements of the WFA is the mandatory grievance-handling process. Every employer covered by the Act must establish a written grievance procedure for handling complaints of workplace discrimination.
The procedure must provide a discreet process, protect complainant confidentiality, and prohibit retaliation against anyone who raises a genuine concern. According to TAFEP’s guidance for employers, a compliant grievance procedure should include a clear process for receiving complaints, investigating them fairly and sensitively, communicating outcomes to the complainant, and escalating unresolved disputes.
Prohibited retaliatory acts under the WFA include wrongful dismissal, unreasonable denial of re-employment, unauthorised salary deductions, deprivation of contractual benefits, harassment, and any other act that singles out the complainant for unjust treatment.
Employers should review their existing grievance handling policies against these requirements now. TAFEP has published a sample grievance-handling policy and procedure templates that provide a practical starting point.
Documentation and Recruitment Record Obligations
The WFA creates practical documentation obligations, especially for hiring. Employers must be able to demonstrate, if challenged, that their hiring decisions were based on merit rather than protected characteristics. This means maintaining structured recruitment records, including job analysis forms, interview scoring criteria, candidate assessment notes, and offer justifications.
For employers who currently rely on informal or undocumented hiring practices, the WFA will require a fundamental process upgrade. Job advertisements must not include requirements that amount to discrimination on protected characteristics — for example, stating a preference for candidates of a particular age, nationality or religion in roles where these are not genuine occupational requirements.
Under the MOM Compliance Calendar 2026, employers sponsoring EP and S Pass applications are already required to comply with the FCF advertising requirements. The WFA adds a broader documentation obligation that applies to all hires — local and foreign.
How the WFA Interacts with the Employment Pass Framework
For employers who regularly sponsor Employment Pass and S Pass applications, the WFA adds a layer to an already complex compliance landscape.
The FCF currently requires that EP and S Pass applications be supported by a MyCareersFuture job advertisement open for at least 14 days, with genuine consideration of all Singaporean candidates. The WFA’s anti-discrimination obligations will require that this consideration process is documentably fair — not just in the FCF job ad, but in the assessment and rejection of local applicants.
Employers who are found to have discriminated against local candidates during an EP or S Pass hiring process could face both FCF debarment consequences (administered by MOM) and WFA enforcement consequences (administered by the Tripartite Fair Employment Practices Tribunal).
Penalties Under the Workplace Fairness Act
The WFA carries financial penalties of up to SGD 50,000 per contravention for companies. For individuals (e.g. individual directors or managers making discriminatory decisions), penalties may also apply.
The Workplace Fairness (Dispute Resolution) Act 2025 establishes the Tripartite Fair Employment Practices Tribunal as the primary adjudication forum. Employees may bring claims through TADM (Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management) for mediation first, with unresolved cases escalating to the Tribunal.
The statutory framework replaces the current approach where TAFEP handles complaints informally and MOM enforces debarment administratively. Post-commencement, employers will face the additional risk of Tribunal orders, which are legally binding.
Practical Steps to Take Before End-2027
The 18 months between now and commencement is the preparation window. Employers with 25 or more staff should work through the following:
1. Self-assessment: Complete TAFEP’s Fair and Progressive Employment Index (FPEIndex) self-assessment at fairprogressive.sg. The tool provides a diagnostic of where your current practices align or diverge from WFA requirements.
2. Grievance procedure: Draft or update your written grievance-handling procedure. Ensure it covers discrimination complaints specifically, is communicated to all employees, and protects complainant confidentiality.
3. Recruitment documentation: Implement structured job analysis, scoring criteria and candidate assessment forms for all roles. Train hiring managers to complete these consistently.
4. Job advertisements: Audit your standard job advertisement templates. Remove any language that implies a preference based on age, nationality, race, religion, sex, marital status or disability where these are not genuine occupational requirements.
5. Manager training: Train line managers and HR business partners on the five protected characteristic categories and what constitutes an adverse employment decision. TAFEP’s WFA e-learning courseware (launched in 2026) is a 40-minute module designed specifically for this purpose.
6. Employment contracts: Review employment contracts for any clauses that could be read as discriminating on a protected characteristic — for example, termination clauses linked to pregnancy, marital status or caregiving responsibilities.
7. Integration with FCF compliance: For employers sponsoring Employment Passes, document your candidate assessment process for every FCF hiring exercise to demonstrate genuine, merit-based consideration of local applicants.
Get Help Preparing for the Workplace Fairness Act
The Workplace Fairness Act 2025 marks a new era of employment law compliance in Singapore. Employers who begin preparing now — building proper grievance channels, training managers and documenting hiring decisions — will be well-positioned when commencement arrives.
For HR advisory and pass management support, including assistance with FCF job advertising compliance and Employment Pass applications, contact Singapore Employment Agency, the licensed brand of Little Big Employment Agency Pte Ltd (MOM Licence No. 19C9790).
For companies needing broader HR outsourcing, employment contract review or corporate compliance support as they build their WFA-ready HR framework, Raffles Corporate Services provides end-to-end employer support in Singapore.
— The Editorial Team, Little Big Employment Agency