Singapore’s Workplace Fairness Act (WFA) passed its first reading in January 2025 and its dispute resolution companion bill in November 2025. Commencement is expected by end-2027 — which means that right now, in mid-2026, employers have roughly 18 months to prepare their hiring processes, documentation systems, and internal grievance mechanisms before the law takes effect. That window sounds generous. It is not. The WFA imposes structural obligations on every stage of the employment lifecycle — from how you word a job advertisement, to how you conduct an interview, to what records you must keep when an employee raises a grievance. Employers who leave preparation to the final months will find themselves facing a compressed implementation timeline against a backdrop of active enforcement.

This guide sets out what the Workplace Fairness Act 2025 requires of Singapore employers, which protected characteristics it covers, what penalties apply, and the specific steps your HR team should begin taking today.

What Is the Workplace Fairness Act 2025?

The WFA is Singapore’s first standalone legislation specifically addressing workplace discrimination. Prior to the WFA, Singapore’s approach to fair employment rested on the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices (TGFEP) — a non-statutory framework administered by the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP). The guidelines were influential but lacked direct enforcement teeth: employers who breached them faced pass cancellations and MOM scrutiny rather than civil or criminal liability. The WFA changes this by placing the core fair employment obligations on a statutory footing, with civil penalties and, for serious breaches, criminal liability.

Two bills make up the complete WFA framework:

  • Workplace Fairness Act: Passed by Parliament on 8 January 2025. Sets out the protected characteristics, prohibited conduct, employer obligations, and civil penalties.
  • Workplace Fairness (Dispute Resolution) Act: Passed on 4 November 2025. Establishes the Workplace Fairness Tribunal as the adjudicative body for WFA claims, sets out the mediation-first process, and defines remedies available to successful claimants.

The Ministry of Manpower has stated that commencement will occur by end-2027, with the full Act text available on Singapore Statutes Online for employers wishing to review the precise legislative language. Employers should treat the commencement date as a hard deadline for full compliance — not a soft aspiration.

The 11 Protected Characteristics Under the WFA

The WFA prohibits employers from making employment decisions that adversely affect an individual on the basis of any of the following 11 protected characteristics:

  1. Age
  2. Nationality
  3. Sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation under related guidelines)
  4. Marital status
  5. Pregnancy status
  6. Caregiving responsibilities
  7. Race
  8. Religion
  9. Language ability
  10. Disability
  11. Mental health condition

The inclusion of nationality as a protected characteristic is notable and has significant implications for Singapore employers, many of whom hire international teams. This does not mean employers cannot prefer Singapore Citizens and PRs in hiring — MOM’s Fair Consideration Framework (FCF) already requires employers with 10 or more employees to advertise roles on MyCareersFuture for at least 14 days before hiring foreign workers. What the WFA adds is a prohibition on using nationality as a reason to discriminate against any individual applicant or employee — for example, refusing to consider a candidate solely because of their national origin, or applying different performance standards on the basis of nationality. For EP and S Pass compliance, this obligation layers on top of the existing Employment Pass requirements around Fair Consideration Framework advertising.

Employer Obligations Under the WFA

The WFA imposes obligations at every stage of the employment relationship. Below is a lifecycle breakdown.

1. Hiring: Job Advertisements and Selection

Employers must not include any direct or indirect reference to a protected characteristic in job advertisements unless a legal exception applies (for example, a bona fide occupational requirement). References to age (“young and dynamic team”), nationality (“Singaporeans preferred for cultural fit”), religion (“committed Christian”), or marital status (“candidates without family commitments”) will all potentially fall within the prohibited scope. Every hiring manager in your organisation should review your job advertisement templates against this standard before commencement.

Employers must also retain adequate documentation of selection decisions: assessment criteria, interview notes, scoring frameworks, and any relevant communications. This documentation must be available to MOM or the Workplace Fairness Tribunal on request.

2. During Employment: Performance Reviews and Promotions

The WFA applies not just to hiring but to all employment decisions: performance appraisals, promotions, training access, role changes, and remuneration adjustments. An employee who is consistently passed over for promotion despite strong performance, and who can point to a protected characteristic as a factor, can raise a WFA claim. Employers should ensure that performance review processes are criterion-based, documented, and consistently applied across the workforce.

3. Termination and Dismissal

The WFA adds a new layer to dismissal considerations. Dismissing an employee in circumstances where a protected characteristic is — or appears to be — a contributing factor will expose the employer to WFA liability in addition to existing Employment Act obligations on wrongful dismissal. Employers should ensure that disciplinary and performance improvement processes are clearly documented and that any separation decision can be defended on objective, characteristic-neutral grounds.

4. Mandatory Internal Grievance Process

This is one of the most operationally significant requirements of the WFA. Every employer must establish and maintain a written internal grievance process that satisfies the following criteria:

  • The employer must genuinely inquire into and review each grievance raised.
  • The employee must be informed of the outcome in writing.
  • Written records of each inquiry and review must be maintained for a prescribed period.
  • The identity of the employee raising the grievance must be kept confidential, except where disclosure is reasonably necessary.

Critically, mediation through the Workplace Fairness Tribunal is required before an employee can bring a civil claim. This means that if your internal grievance process is non-existent or inadequate, you lose the opportunity to resolve disputes at the first tier. Employers managing mixed S Pass and EP workforces should also consult our guides on the COMPASS framework and Singapore foreign worker levy obligations, which sit alongside WFA preparation in any comprehensive MOM compliance calendar. A robust internal grievance process — which many Singapore employers currently lack in written form — is therefore not just a compliance checkbox: it is your primary risk management tool.

Penalties for WFA Breaches

The WFA distinguishes between administrative penalties (for procedural or less severe breaches) and civil penalties (for substantive discrimination findings):

  • Administrative penalties (corporate): Up to SGD 5,000 for a first breach; up to SGD 10,000 for subsequent breaches. These apply to procedural violations such as failing to maintain grievance records.
  • Civil penalties (corporate): Up to SGD 50,000 for a first order; up to SGD 250,000 for subsequent orders. These apply where the Workplace Fairness Tribunal finds substantive discriminatory conduct.
  • Individual liability: Up to SGD 2,500 in fines, up to 6 months’ imprisonment, or both.

Employers with fewer than 25 employees may benefit from an exemption at commencement, though the government has stated it intends to review this threshold within five years. Employers below the threshold are still expected to comply with TAFEP guidelines — the exemption affects the WFA’s statutory enforcement mechanisms, not the underlying expectations of fair conduct.

Interaction with the Fair Consideration Framework and TAFEP

The WFA does not replace the existing TAFEP guidelines and Fair Consideration Framework (FCF). Both continue to operate in parallel. The FCF already requires employers with 10 or more employees to comply with job advertising obligations before hiring foreign workers. The WFA adds statutory civil liability for discrimination at all employment stages — it goes further and deeper than the FCF’s current hiring-stage focus. Employers who are already FCF-compliant should treat FCF compliance as the floor, not the ceiling, of their WFA preparation.

Six Steps to Begin WFA Preparation Now

Given the 18-month window before commencement, here are the six most impactful actions Singapore employers should start today:

  1. Audit all job advertisement templates for any references to protected characteristics. Remove or rewrite any language that could be construed as setting a characteristic-based preference.
  2. Review and document your selection criteria for all active hiring pipelines. Ensure that scoring frameworks and interview questions are criterion-based and characteristic-neutral.
  3. Draft a written internal grievance procedure if you do not already have one. This document should set out the submission process, inquiry steps, decision notification, record-keeping obligations, and confidentiality commitments.
  4. Train all hiring managers and line managers on the 11 protected characteristics and what they mean at each stage of the employment lifecycle.
  5. Update employment contracts and offer letters to ensure probationary review criteria, performance assessment frameworks, and termination grounds are documented and characteristic-neutral.
  6. Schedule an annual HR compliance review aligned to MOM’s calendar — the same calendar on which EP and S Pass renewal obligations fall. LBEA’s HR compliance advisory covers pass renewals, FCF obligations, and WFA preparation in a single integrated service.

For a broader picture of MOM compliance obligations across the year — pass renewals, levy obligations, quota calculations, and now WFA preparation — see our Major 2026 CPF, Tax and Employment Policy Changes in Singapore. Companies with international workforces should also review our guide on the Employment Pass 2026 to ensure FCF advertising obligations are being met.

Getting WFA-Ready with Professional HR Support

For HR managers and business owners managing a mixed Singapore and international workforce, WFA compliance intersects with Employment Pass obligations, payroll, performance management, and termination — it is not a standalone project. Little Big Employment Agency (LBEA) is a MOM-licensed employment agency (Licence No. 19C9790) advising employers on Singapore employment law compliance, pass applications, and HR policy. Our team can help you audit your current HR documents, draft a WFA-compliant grievance procedure, and train your hiring managers before commencement.

To speak with our HR compliance team, visit Singapore Employment Agency. For companies needing corporate secretarial support alongside HR compliance — including board resolutions and annual compliance calendars — Singapore Secretary Services provides integrated corporate governance advisory.

— The Editorial Team, Little Big Employment Agency

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