Singapore’s Workplace Fairness Act (WFA) is a landmark shift in local employment law. Passed on 8 January 2025 and expected to take effect by end-2027, it converts what were previously just Tripartite Guidelines (TGFEP) into legally enforceable obligations. For employers, HR leaders, and founders, that changes the risk picture significantly.

What the Workplace Fairness Act Covers

Just as important – the WFA is two pieces of legislation. The first covers core employer obligations. The second, the Workplace Fairness (Dispute Resolution) Bill, passed in November 2025, covers how employees can bring claims. Both take effect together.

One thing to note upfront: if your organisation has fewer than 25 employees, you get a five-year grace period from most WFA requirements. However, fair consideration of job applicants before any work pass appl`ication applies to all employers, regardless of size.

Who Is Protected

The Act protects both employees and job applicants. Protection applies during hiring, throughout employment, and at exit.

This means employers must assess risk across the entire employee journey, not just during recruitment.

Protected Characteristics Under the Workplace Fairness Act

The Act defines specific protected characteristics that cannot be used as a basis for discrimination. These traits are clearly listed to remove ambiguity and reduce bias in employment decisions.

Protected characteristics include:

  • Age
  • Nationality
  • Sex
  • Marital status
  • Pregnancy status
  • Caregiving responsibilities
  • Race
  • Religion
  • Language ability
  • Disability
  • Mental health conditions

A few of these are broader than they first appear. Pregnancy, for example, covers past, current, and intended pregnancies – including employees who have expressed a desire to have children or are breastfeeding. Sex refers to sex assigned at birth and does not include sexual orientation or gender identity, which are not currently protected under the WFA (though the TGFEP continues to apply more broadly).

Worth noting: discrimination by perception is also covered. If you make a decision based on what you think someone’s characteristic might be – even incorrectly – that can still be a breach. For a deeper look at how these categories interact with your DEI strategy, 

What Employers Must Do

Compliance requires active steps. Employers must align recruitment, employment practices, and internal processes with the legal framework.

Ensure Fair Recruitment Practices

Job advertisements must focus on skills, qualifications, and experience. Employers must avoid language that excludes or signals preference based on protected characteristics unless a lawful exception applies.

Interview questions must assess ability to perform the role. Hiring decisions must be supported by objective criteria and documented evidence.

Structured hiring processes reduce risk. Clear scoring frameworks and consistent evaluation methods help demonstrate fairness.

Apply Fair Employment Decisions

Employers must ensure promotions, salary reviews, training access, and performance appraisals are based on merit and business needs.

Situations where employment decisions appear linked to protected characteristics – such as caregiving responsibilities, age, or pregnancy – may raise concerns under the Act. How these situations are assessed will ultimately depend on the specific facts and, where disputes arise, on how courts interpret the law over time.

What helps in any case is having clear, documented rationale. Written records of evaluation criteria and decision-making help demonstrate that outcomes were based on measurable performance and role requirements – and that goes a long way if a complaint ever comes up.

Implement a Grievance Handling Process

The Act requires employers to establish internal grievance procedures. Employees must have a clear channel to raise discrimination concerns.

The process should outline:

  • How complaints are submitted
  • Who investigates
  • Expected timelines
  • Confidentiality standards
  • Protection against retaliation

Clear procedures reduce escalation risk and demonstrate good faith compliance.

Prevent Retaliation

Retaliation against employees who raise complaints is prohibited. Employers must not terminate, demote, exclude, or penalise individuals for reporting concerns.

Managers should be trained to recognise subtle retaliation risks, including exclusion from meetings or stalled career progression after complaints.

What Employers Cannot Do

The Workplace Fairness Act sets firm boundaries. Employers cannot take adverse employment action based on protected characteristics unless a lawful exception applies.

Discriminatory Job Advertisements

Employers cannot publish job ads that exclude candidates based on age, race, religion, or other protected traits without lawful justification.

Phrases implying preference for a specific race, gender, or age group are high risk. Language should remain neutral and capability-focused.

Biased Employment Decisions

Employers cannot:

  • Refuse to hire someone because of pregnancy
  • Limit promotion because of age
  • Reduce pay because of nationality
  • Deny training due to caregiving status

Even informal or unwritten practices can breach the law if decisions are influenced by protected characteristics.

Indirect Discrimination

Policies that appear neutral but disproportionately disadvantage certain groups may also create legal exposure.

For example, a rigid scheduling policy that excludes employees with caregiving duties could create indirect discrimination risk if not justified by legitimate business needs.

Retaliatory Conduct

Any adverse treatment linked to a complaint under the Act is unlawful. Employers must separate performance management from complaint handling to avoid perceived retaliation.

Lawful Exceptions

The Act recognises narrow exceptions where differential treatment is permitted:

  • Genuine job requirements – if a characteristic is essential to the role (e.g. language fluency for a specific client-facing position), differential treatment may be justified. It needs to be documented as essential, not just convenient.
  • Nationality preferences – favouring Singapore citizens or PRs is lawful where it aligns with national manpower policy.
  • Religious organisations – faith-based organisations can include religious requirements where the role directly supports religious functions.
  • Older worker preference – employers are permitted to give preference to older workers, in line with Singapore’s workforce inclusion goals.
  • Disability inclusion initiatives – programmes that prioritise candidates with disabilities are explicitly consistent with the Act.

Penalties

The WFA introduces a tiered penalty framework. Standard civil contraventions – like a discriminatory job ad or missing grievance process – carry administrative penalties of up to S$5,000 per occurrence, and S$10,000 for repeat offences. Serious contraventions, including retaliation, can reach S$50,000 for a first breach and S$250,000 for subsequent ones. Both the company and its officers can be held jointly liable.

Practical Steps for Employers

If you are not sure where to begin, here are the priorities:

  • Audit your existing policies – review job templates, handbooks, and performance processes for any language or practices that could imply bias against a protected characteristic.
  • Build a written grievance process – this is a direct legal requirement. If you do not have one, it should be your first compliance priority.
  • Train your managers – most discrimination risk comes from how individual managers make decisions day to day, not from written policy. DEI training should cover the WFA’s protected characteristics, unconscious bias, structured hiring, and what retaliation looks like in practice.
  •  Align your DEI policy to protected characteristics – a compliant DEI policy maps directly to the WFA’s categories and guides actual decision-making, not just intentions. It should include clear accountability roles, objective criteria, and a monitoring mechanism.
  • Document everything – keep records that link employment decisions to objective criteria. This is your best defence if a complaint arises.

Risk Management and Enforcement Implications

Failure to comply may result in formal complaints and enforcement action. Legal risk includes reputational damage, regulatory scrutiny, and operational disruption.

Proactive compliance reduces dispute exposure. Clear policy alignment with protected characteristics strengthens organisational credibility with regulators, employees, and clients.

Conclusion

The Workplace Fairness Act establishes legal protection for individuals based on protected characteristics in Singapore. Employers must ensure recruitment, employment decisions, grievance processes, and termination practices comply with the law.

Clear policies, structured hiring, documented decisions, and targeted DEI training reduce risk and strengthen fairness. Alignment between legal obligations and organisational culture is essential.If your organisation needs support designing DEI policies that align with protected characteristics and Singapore’s legal framework, contact Include Consulting for expert guidance.