Singapore has long relied on tripartite guidelines and the Fair Consideration Framework to promote fair hiring, but those tools were advisory. The Workplace Fairness Act changes the footing entirely: for the first time, Singapore will have a dedicated statute prohibiting workplace discrimination, with legal consequences for employers who get it wrong. Passed by Parliament in early 2025 and expected to take effect around end-2027, the Act gives employers a clear runway to prepare — and 2026 is the year to start.
This guide sets out what the Workplace Fairness Act covers, which employers it applies to, and the concrete steps a company should take now so that its hiring and people practices are ready before the law bites.
What the Act does
The Workplace Fairness Act makes it unlawful for an employer to make an adverse employment decision because of a protected characteristic. That covers the full employment lifecycle: recruitment and hiring, appraisal, training, promotion, and dismissal. In other words, decisions about who to hire, reward, develop or let go must not be driven by the protected traits the Act lists.
Crucially, the Act moves these expectations from guidance to law. Where the Fair Consideration Framework operated largely through administrative action, the Workplace Fairness Act creates statutory obligations and a redress pathway for individuals who believe they have been treated unfairly.
The protected characteristics
The Act protects a defined set of characteristics, grouped as follows:
The five groups
The protected characteristics are: age; nationality; sex, marital status, pregnancy status and caregiving responsibilities; race, religion and language ability; and disability and mental health conditions. These map closely to the grounds that TAFEP has long flagged, but they now carry statutory force. Employment decisions must not be based on these traits unless a recognised exception applies.
Which employers are covered
The Act is calibrated by size. It applies to employers with 25 or more employees — which, on the Government’s estimate, captures the large majority of Singapore’s workforce. Smaller employers with fewer than 25 employees are initially exempt, though the Government has signalled that it will review this exemption within five years of commencement. Even exempt small firms should note the direction of travel and align their practices, because the exemption may narrow over time.
The grievance-handling obligation
Beyond the prohibition on discrimination, the Act requires covered employers to put in place a proper internal grievance process. Employers must have a written procedure for employees to raise workplace-fairness complaints, and that process must protect the confidentiality of the complainant and the information involved. Just as important, the Act prohibits retaliation against employees who raise a complaint in good faith or who assist in an inquiry. An employer that punishes a complainant risks compounding the original problem with a fresh breach.
How disputes will be resolved
The Act is designed to channel disputes through mediation first. Complaints are expected to go through the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management for mediation, with unresolved matters proceeding to the Employment Claims Tribunals, and certain matters capable of reaching the civil courts. This mirrors the wider Singapore approach of resolving employment disputes quickly and cheaply where possible. The Government has also signalled an education-first enforcement posture in the early years — the emphasis is on helping employers comply, not on punishing first offences harshly — but that grace should not be mistaken for a soft-touch permanent regime.
What employers should do in 2026
Because commencement is expected around end-2027, employers have time to prepare properly. Sensible steps now include:
Audit your job advertisements and hiring process
Remove any wording that expresses a preference on a protected ground, and make sure selection criteria are job-related and objectively justifiable. This dovetails with existing obligations under the Fair Consideration Framework and MyCareersFuture job-posting rule, which continue to apply.
Document objective reasons for people decisions
Train managers to base appraisal, promotion, training and dismissal decisions on documented, merit-based reasons. Good records are the best defence if a decision is later questioned. Where a role is being made redundant, follow a fair process — our guide on retrenching employees responsibly and fairly sets out the expectations.
Build a written grievance procedure
Put in place a confidential, written complaint process with clear steps, timelines and an anti-retaliation commitment. Publish it in your handbook or intranet so employees know how to use it.
Align your wider people policies
Review your employment contracts and related policies, including flexible-work handling under the FWA guidelines, so that the whole framework is internally consistent and defensible.
What the Act does not prohibit
The Workplace Fairness Act targets unfair discrimination, not every distinction between candidates or employees. Employers can still make decisions based on merit, qualifications, skills and performance — indeed, the Act is designed to push decisions towards those objective grounds. There are also recognised situations where a characteristic can legitimately be taken into account, for example where a genuine job requirement makes it relevant, or where a distinction is objectively justifiable for the role. The practical test for employers is whether the decision can be explained by a legitimate, job-related reason rather than by the protected trait itself.
This is why documentation is the employer’s best friend. If a hiring or promotion decision is challenged, the employer who can point to a contemporaneous, merit-based rationale — the candidate’s assessed competencies, interview scores, or performance record — is in a far stronger position than one relying on after-the-fact justification. The habit of recording objective reasons should extend across recruitment, appraisal and exit decisions.
How the WFA fits the existing framework
The Workplace Fairness Act does not operate in a vacuum. It sits alongside the Fair Consideration Framework, the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices, and the dispute-resolution machinery of TADM and the Employment Claims Tribunals. Employers who already follow the tripartite guidelines will find the WFA a codification and strengthening of familiar expectations rather than an entirely new world. The step-change is that these expectations now carry statutory force and a clear individual remedy, so the cost of getting it wrong rises. Reviewing your practices against both the WFA and the existing framework in a single exercise is the efficient way to prepare.
Conclusion
The Workplace Fairness Act marks Singapore’s shift from encouraging fair employment to requiring it by law. Covered employers — those with 25 or more staff — will need discrimination-free hiring and people decisions, a written and confidential grievance process, and protection against retaliation. The lead time to end-2027 is generous, but the preparation is real work. Employers who use 2026 to audit their advertisements, train their managers and build their grievance procedures will meet commencement with confidence, rather than scrambling once the Act is live. The authoritative reference is the Ministry of Manpower, and the statute itself will be published on Singapore Statutes Online.
— The Editorial Team, Raffles Corporate Services