IMPACT – MEDIUM

What is the change? As the National Job Board completes its first year, the Singaporean government is reviewing the Fair Consideration Framework (FCF) rules and is considering collecting data from job advertisements placed on the job board.

What does the change mean? Companies should be aware that Singaporean authorities are continuing to push companies to consider local workers first and may add to existing job-ad requirements.

  • Implementation time frame: Ongoing.
  • Visas/permits affected: Employment Passes.
  • Who is affected: Employers posting job advertisements on the National Job Board and sponsoring foreign workers for Employment Passes.
  • Business impact: Business will be impacted if requirements are expanded beyond the current 14-day advertising period.
  • Next steps: The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is reviewing the FCF program and plans to issue a report once the review is complete.

Background: When the FCF was implemented in August 2014, Singaporean authorities stated that labor market testing would be limited to the 14-day advertising requirement. Since then, government labor groups have called for data mining of the job posting records to identify skills and experience that may be lacking in the local labor pool. The groups have also suggested that employers be required to report placement figures of Singaporean residents so that the efficiency of the FCF program can be tracked.

BAL Analysis: The call by government labor groups to collect more data from the job advertisements and track placement rates of locals is a sign that further FCF requirements may be imminent. BAL will continue to monitor MOM and FCF regulations as we anticipate the results of MOM’s review of the program.

This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice group in Singapore. For additional information, please contact singapore@bal.com.

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