Tag: TAFEP

Hijabi Rejected For Role With Shangri-La Rasa Sentosa Resort & Spa

We wish this wasn’t happening, but it seems like it is, once again.

We learned on Thursday that the Shangri-La Rasa Sentosa Resort & Spa denied employment to a lady because she wears a hijab — the reason: “we have a strict grooming code”.

The lady originally took to Facebook to share her experience in a public post that she later took down.

In it, she explained that she applied for a part-time Kids’ Club assistant position, went through the job scope with the hiring manager and confirmed that her availability matched the period she was required.

“… everything was okay except for the fact that I cover myself,” she wrote.

Here’s a screenshot of what she wrote, which we’re sharing with her permission:

“that thing on your head”

As if this situation wasn’t bad enough, she said the staff referred to her headscarf as “that thing on (her) head”.

Following her post, a person claiming to be an employee of the resort’s kids’ club shared it, with the following comment:

For the best of both world [sic] — we’re not sure the lady benefited in any way from this experience, though.

A spokesperson from the Shangri-La Rasa Sentosa Resort confirmed that this did happen in an email to Mothership.sg, with the following:

“We confirm that we interviewed a part time applicant for the position of Kids Club Assistant.
We could not offer her the position as she was not able to meet our grooming and uniform guidelines.

In addition, we pride ourselves in embracing fair employment practices in our resort.”

What do the authorities say about this?

Earlier this year, a Today article quoted TAFEP (Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices) on this issue, after another lady was told she would not be allowed to wear a hijab at an administrative role.

Here’s what they said:

“… while employers may prescribe a dress code, such dress code requirements should not be differentiated by an employee’s race or religion.

Rather, the dress code should be suited to the nature of work, taking into account business, operational and safety considerations.”

According to TAFEP’s job advertisement guidelines stated in its fair employment practices handbook,

“Employers who advertise a position requiring a specific attribute which may be viewed as discriminatory should ensure it is indeed a requirement of the job and state the reason for the requirement in the advertisement…

Race should not be a criterion for the selection of job candidates as multiracialism is a fundamental principle in Singapore. Selection based on race is unacceptable and job advertisements should not feature statements like ‘Chinese preferred’ or ‘Malay preferred’.

Religion is unacceptable as a criterion for recruitment except in cases where employees have to perform religious functions as part of the job requirement. In such cases, the requirements should be clearly and objectively presented”.

We’ll let you decide if Shangri-La met the hiring guidelines as stipulated by TAFEP, which you can find here, as well as their employment guidelines here.

Source: http://mothership.sg

December 23, 2016
44 Year Old MOE-Trained Teacher Terminated By Employer Without Assistance From TAFEP/MOM

Dear Gilbert

I am grateful to Richard for providing the linkage. I went to your website – was very touched by the people you helped.

I am 44, a trained former MOE teacher. I have since taught in X and a few other private schools.

I have stayed in a private school, ABC International teaching mainly PRC students for about four years.

Later I moved on to XYZ School thinking it was much the same since it is also a private school.

There, I faced lots of problems with the HOD of English who felt threatened by the fact that I was also NIE-trained and experienced like herself.

Many of the older staff were untrained or foreign-trained.

Since then she has made life very difficult for me and has criticized me unfairly.

Things came to a head when they ‘terminated’ my two-year contract in February this year and I was served with a three-month notice.

I attempted to seek redress with TAFEP and MOM but they told me that employers generally had a right to terminate when they see fit.

I accepted my ‘fate’ and ventured out by applying to lots of many other different positions.

I was sending in at least 20 applications via Jobstreet, JobsDB, Indeed.com, Jobsbank.

I am fortunate to be offered a full-time position at an enrichment centre teaching creative writing and I also fill in the other hours during the day with relief teaching as well as teaching classes at night.

I know that I should be grateful and I am.

However I would like to seek a full-time position that offers me regular hours as this enrichment centre requires me to work full day on Sat and Sun and that’s eating up my family time as I have two young kids.

I am attaching my resume for your kind perusal.

I am an active job seeker and I would always use the internet to search actively. I understand that it is a numbers’ game out there for job seekers.

A few days’ back my husband was also served with a one-month notice at his workplace.

I am also helping him to apply for different jobs. He is in Logistics/Supply Chain and Shipping. I attach his resume as well.

I am so grateful for your kind assistance in this matter.

Sincerely

Jennifer

Editor’s note: we will keep a look out for suitable jobs for the writer.

Source: www.transitioning.org

July 5, 2015
ITE Graduate Looked Down By Interviewer Because Of Poor Qualifications

Dear All Singapore Stuff,

I’m going to share my thoughts regarding an interview with a certain company for the position of Test Technician and after the interview, I left feeling horrible, depressed and really upset. The interviewer was rude and unprofessional. I found this job opening through jobstreet.

First of all, I waited for almost an hour before the interview commenced because the HR recruitment specialist had an appointment and forgot about the interview. How convenient. That is unprofessional and they should have told me beforehand. The interviewer didn’t introduce his name, what his position was or which department here was from. So we’ll call him Mr Nice guy.

So Mr Nice guy asked me regarding my last drawn salary, from two previous companies. He asked “why is your salary low?”. I explained that I worked only for a few days during the course of the employment and probably that’s the reason why it’s not that high. Mr Nice guy wasn’t satisfied with my answer and raised his voice and said “NO NO YOU’RE NOT ANSWERING MY QUESTION”. At this point of time, I felt that this interview had gone sideways. Mr Nice guy critiqued how could I possibly work with the company if I couldn’t answer a simple question.

In the first place, is this question even relevant? You employ someone based on merit and skills, not on previous pay and I did give an answer. I’m sorry if you are not satisfied with my answer.

Mr Nice guy proceeded with the interview and I answered as best as I could, in a polite manner even though I felt like walking out the door. He was rude throughout the interview and asked me questions that are not related to the job scope. All the while he behaved in a condescending manner and constantly undermined my credibility. Mr Nice Guy kept hinting that the company is looking for “highly educated people” He seem to have a prejudice against ITE graduates like me.

The ad that they posted is misleading to future applicants on what are the required qualifications. I have met the necessary requirements. I have a Nitec in the relevant course and I have the relevant experience. The interviewer looked down on me just because I was an ITE graduate. He also continously undermined my capabilities throughout the interview and he was hinting that ITE graduates have no place in the company.

Education is very important in Singapore. But it is wrong to stereotype someone just based on his/her qualifications. Even if you are from ITE, it doesn’t make you less of a person. What does it matter if you have a PhD but you’re an asshole. Is someone deemed highly educated just based on his qualifications? Everyone should be treated equally regardless of their education. There should be no prejudice against people who has less education than you. What’s important is the attitude of someone and I believe that is what you should look for in an employee.

Mr Nice guy concluded the interview by bluntly saying that according to him, I had failed the interview because of my attitude and I wouldn’t ever get a good job in Singapore and that the way I answered his first question was unreasonable and unprofessional.

I believe he was the one who was rude and treated me with no respect. If i wanted to be interrogated I would’ve just gone to a police station. Where did he learn his interviewing skills from? He was rude and inconsiderate from the start and he didn’t even know that he was rude. He spoiled my day with his attitude. I dont have any background in human resource but i doubt that that is a how an interview should be held.

I have lodged a report with TAFEP and am currently awaiting a personal apology from the interviewer itself for being rude to me. I hope other people don’t go through what I have been through.

PS: Interviewer is a foreigner. At first I didn’t want to mention it for fear of readers having clouded judgements but due to recent cases, i thought this factor should be taken into consideration.

Disgruntled Applicant
A.S.S. Contributor

Source: www.allsingaporestuff.com

April 16, 2015
Nationality Based Discrimination Top Complaint Received By TAFEP, Banking And IT Sectors Most Problematic

Alleged discrimination based on nationality continued to top the list of complaints received last year by the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP), with the banking and information technology sectors still the most problematic.

These cases made up half of the some 300 complaints in total. However, TAFEP general manager Roslyn Ten said many stem from misunderstanding and not from genuine bias, and urged companies to improve communication with job seekers or existing employees by explaining why, for example, foreigners instead of Singaporeans were hired or promoted.

Speaking to TODAY yesterday, she said: “Could they better explain that it’s really about the skills? Because when they hire, they just hire. They don’t really communicate why (they) hire A and not B, and why (they) promote A and not B. It’s because of the domain knowledge … that the employers require, and somehow they couldn’t find them in locals.”

In some cases, Singaporean jobseekers may have commitments at home, and are reluctant to take up overseas postings or jobs which require frequent travelling, she said. “It’s quite difficult for them to take up (these) and (they’re) not as versatile as their foreign colleagues, in terms of being very open to being relocated or just to travel,” she added.

Overall, the number of complaints about discriminatory hiring practices received by TAFEP last year fell sharply, compared to 2013 when there were 475 complaints. But the 2013 figure was considered a blip, as it was the year when the Fair Consideration Framework was introduced. The framework requires employers to consider Singaporeans first for job openings. In 2012, there were 303 cases.

Apart from alleged discrimination based on nationality, one in five complaints wre biased linked to age — a similar proportion to alleged discrimination related to language or race.

On the number of complaints from the banking and IT sectors, Mrs Ten felt this was because “people in these sectors are more vocal”.

“They’re the PMEs (professionals, managers and executives), so they know where to bring their complaints to. It’s because of people’s awareness, rather than because these sectors are more discriminative of the Singaporeans,” she said.

Reiterating that many unfair employment practices were largely due to miscommunication, she said clear-cut cases of discrimination against Singaporeans are rare. “It’s really more of … perception,” she said.

In cases where companies do not adhere to fair employment practices, TAFEP offers suggestions to boost their human resource (HR) systems, such as refining job application forms or training recruiters in interviewing techniques.

It also educates companies on a sectorial level — through union talks, seminars and campaigns. As part of its outreach efforts, it organises a conference for business leaders, HR practitioners and academics every two years. This year’s conference takes place on Thursday.

Mrs Ten said TAFEP will step up efforts in promoting work-life harmony and the hiring of older workers, through sharing case studies and commissioning more studies.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

April 7, 2015