In Singapore, there have been no significant developments over the past year in the legal landscape regarding modern slavery issues and other business human rights obligations.

The main legislation targeting modern slavery in Singapore is the Prevention of Human Trafficking Act 2014 (PHTA). The PHTA criminalises forced labour, and sex and labour trafficking. However, unlike the English Modern Slavery Act 2015 and the Australian Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth), the PHTA does not contain a reporting requirement for business organizations that operate in Singapore.

Other forms of forced labour involving debt bondage such as the payment of kickbacks (i.e. the collection of a payment from an employee as a condition or guarantee of that employee’s employment) are illegal pursuant to Section 22A(1) of the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act 1990 (EFMA).  The payment of kickbacks is prevalent in Singapore’s construction industry which relies heavily on foreign migrant workers.

The penalties for breaching Section 22A(1) of the EFMA include fines of up to S$ 30,000 (approx. US$ 22,000) and / or imprisonment of up to 2 years. Additionally, the Singapore Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is empowered to take administrative action against corporations and persons who have breached Section 22A(2) of the EFMA by barring them from renewing and / or applying for visas for their foreign employees.

Singapore Courts are also empowered under Section 23A of the EFMA to order persons / corporations convicted of an offence under Section 22A of the EFMA to compensate the affected employee in the amount that employee paid to the employer as a kickback. Additionally, MOM would assist affected employees to find new employers if they wish to continue to work in Singapore.

Between 2016 and 2020, MOM investigated an average of 960 cases of kickback offences a year. An average of 102 of such cases resulted in enforcement action.

In recent years, MOM has used data analytics to identify unusual patterns in hiring practices to better detect cases of kickbacks and have stepped up its efforts to educate end engage migrant workers who are encouraged to report kickbacks to the relevant authorities.

On 26 August 2021, the Singapore Exchange (SGX) issued a consultation paper to seek responses on whether: (i) issuers should be encouraged to disclose a common and standardised set of 27 environmental social governance metrics (Core ESG Metrics); and (ii) SGX should establish a data portal to allow investors to access ESG data in a structured format with a level of consistency and comparability that is mapped to global reporting frameworks (ESG Data Portal).

The consultation closed on 27 September 2021. On 15 December 2021, SGX announced that 71 Respondents (including issuers, professional associations and NGOs) overwhelmingly supported SGX’s initiative to establish the ESG Data Portal. Whilst there was strong support for the list of Core ESG Metrics, some respondents cautioned against doing so, viewing it as an exhaustive list and noted that some of the Core ESG Metrics may not be applicable across industries.

SGX decided that it would proceed with the current list of 27 Core ESG Metrics as a starting point. Consequently, at the current juncture, the list of Core ESG Metrics will not be made mandatory, nor will any specific sustainability reporting framework be mandated.

Most of the Core ESG Metrics comprise of environmental and governance metrics such as greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption, board composition and management diversity. Whilst there are several social metrics, they do not include other key elements of the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work such as prevention of forced and child labour as well as discrimination at the workplace.

Despite the omission of the above metrics, SGX noted that issuers are not limited to the Core ESG Metrics and are encouraged to conduct a materiality assessment to ensure the relevance and completeness of their reported metrics. It is possible that certain issuers may make disclosures involving the prevention of forced and child labour as well as discrimination at the workplace should such disclosures be relevant and material to their businesses.

Separately, SGX indicated that ESG Data Portal will be rolled out in phases, starting in the first half of 2022 and SGX would be further engaging relevant industry stakeholders to obtain more feedback during the development of the ESG Data Portal.

At present, there is no indication of any major legislative changes to modern slavery laws and the business human rights regime in Singapore. However, it is likely that Singapore will continue to take stringent enforcement action against employers who ill treat migrant workers, including those that demand kickbacks from such workers.

Wilson Ang
+65 6309 5392
Wilson.Ang@nortonrosefulbright.com