The firm recently laid off 50 Singapore staff, and said it would deny severance benefits if they reported the retrenchments to agencies or unions
[SINGAPORE] Companies should not prevent their retrenched employees from reaching out to authorities and unions with genuine concerns, said the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on Friday (Sep 19) in response to controversies over Agoda’s recent retrenchment exercise.
The online travel agency’s decision to phase out 50 of its Singapore staff has now turned into a debacle after a report by The Business Times revealed that their severance documents contained clauses that denied affected staff severance benefits if they reported the layoffs to government agencies, statutory bodies or trade unions.
“Employers must uphold the spirit of fair and progressive employment practices, particularly during significant workforce changes such as retrenchments,” said MOM.
In a separate statement on the same day by labour chief Ng Chee Meng and the Singapore Industrial and Services Employees’ Union’s (SISEU) executive secretary Desmond Tan, it was noted that Agoda had acknowledged that it was inappropriate to include provisions that discourage or inhibit employees from approaching trade unions, government agencies, or statutory bodies for all situations.
This came after the company’s management had several discussions with NTUC and SISEU – an affiliated union of NTUC. Representatives from MOM and the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices were also present at the meeting.
MOM said the parties had discussed the retrenchment terms and conditions, as well as support measures for affected workers.
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Ng and Tan said that Agoda’s management had taken a proactive approach in engaging with the unions, as well as the government, and were transparent in sharing information regarding the exercise.
“The union has also ascertained that the retrenchment benefits provided to the affected workers are aligned with industry guidelines,” they said.
Agoda’s management has also agreed to work with the labour movement to support affected workers through their transition. SISEU is also reaching out to them to provide guidance and support.
“NTUC and SISEU are committed to assisting affected members and workers by providing resources for job transitions and financial assistance, if needed,” said Ng and Tan.
They also said that companies must ensure openness, transparency and consultation with unions and workers in the event of a retrenchment, and observe the guiding principles in NTUC’s fair retrenchment framework, as well as the tripartite’s advisory on responsible retrenchment.
Retrenchments may be inevitable, but they should only be used as a last resort. Companies must exhaust all other options before making the call to retrench employees, they added.
“NTUC would like to reiterate that it is critical for companies to work with our affiliated unions to ensure that a fair and equitable process was carried out to safeguard the interests of all workers, especially our Singaporean core,” said Ng and Tan.
