Workplace Fairness (Dispute Resolution) Bill

The Workplace Fairness (Dispute Resolution) Bill was passed in Parliament on 4 November 2025 (“Bill”), as the second and final part of the Workplace Fairness Act (“Act”) – the first part of which was passed in Parliament on 8 January 2025. With the Act broadly covering what constitutes workplace discrimination, the Bill introduces a more robust statutory framework for employees seeking redress for workplace discrimination. Consequently, the Bill also introduces various safeguards against frivolous and vexatious claims which were not present in the existing framework for employment disputes. The Act (and the Bill) are anticipated to be implemented in end-2027.

This update briefly examines the key changes brought by the Bill, and what it broadly entails for employers and employees.

First, the Bill introduces a three-step framework for alleged discriminatory employment decisions. The three steps are:

(1) Internal grievance handling; where employees first raise concerns on workplace discrimination through their employer’s internal grievance process. Where this was previously good practice and what we would recommend for our clients’ own internal grievance policies, it is now mandatory under the Act.

(2) If internal grievance handling fails, the affected employees and employer would then undergo mediation.

(3) If mediation fails, the claim may then be brought to the Employment Claims Tribunal (“ECT”), which will hear cases involving claims up to and including S$250,000. Claims exceeding this threshold will be heard in the High Court of Singapore.

All mediations and ECT proceedings will be held in private, ensuring parties a safe and confidential environment to handle such disputes and to avoid having to deal with public relations issues if the dispute goes public.

While the ECT’s dispute resolution mechanisms are not new, the Bill now enables the ECT to hear workplace fairness disputes, i.e. disputes between the employee and employer regarding alleged discriminatory employment decisions – in line with the Act’s more robust protections against workplace discrimination. This is a significant step forward for employees who now have guaranteed statutory protection against workplace discrimination. Consequently, employers should also be wary to introduce and formalise their grievance processes (if they have not done so already), or review existing grievance processes to ensure compliance with the Act.

In addition to the three-step framework above, the Bill also introduces various other procedural safeguards to ECT proceedings. For instance, the Bill now introduces prescribed time limits for requests for mediation, a striking out mechanism for frivolous or vexatious claims before the ECT, and the power for the ECT to order adverse costs against claimants filing frivolous claims or to refer the matter to the Singapore Police for the abuse of processes by claimants who persistently pursue frivolous or false claims, and/or restrain them from commencing further legal proceedings. The ECT can now also administer penalties for non-compliance with orders, e.g. fines raging from S$5,000.00 to S$250,000.00. These safeguards are previously not present in ECT proceedings, and now seek to deter frivolous or vexatious claims from being filed with the ECT and the misuse of legal processes, while safeguarding the privacy and enforceability of genuine complaints and claims.

For more information on the Bill, the Act, ECT proceedings or any matters relating to the above update, or should you require legal advice or representation in respect of such disputes above, do feel free to reach out to our team at Titanium Law Chambers LLC for assistance.