Age discrimination in hiring: 166 complaints on job ads from Jan 2025 to Sep 2026, with MOM acting in 122 cases

MOM has issued new haze guidance asking employers to plan the next day’s outdoor work with the PSI forecast and to cut back outdoor work during the day as 1-hour PM2.5 readings rise. At readings of 251 µg/m³ and above, outdoor work should be stopped for vulnerable employees and minimised for everyone else.

Speaking on 29 Oct, Minister of State Foo Cexiang urged employers using AI in HR to be open about its role, keep human contact at key moments such as interviews, and stay accountable for decisions.

In a written parliamentary reply on 3 Nov, MOM said Employment Claims Tribunal lodgement fees are kept low at $30 for claims of up to $10,000 and $60 for larger claims. It said the tribunal or registrar already has the power to order a party to pay the other side’s costs and disbursements, including lodgement fees, where appropriate, and has done so in various cases.

Employment kept climbing in the second quarter, up 11,400 — the ministry’s nineteenth straight quarter of growth. But retrenchments rose too, to 4,620 from 3,830 in Q1, and job vacancies slipped to 68,600. Only 54.9% of retrenched residents found new work within six months, MOM’s latest labour market report shows.

In a written parliamentary reply, MOM said TAFEP received 59 workplace harassment complaints in 2025, and that fewer than 5% of employers asked to carry out an independent investigation did not do so; those employers were issued advisories. Under the Workplace Fairness Act, due to take effect by end-2027, employers will have to set up grievance-handling processes and investigate harassment and discrimination grievances.