Employment Equity in Singapore

Bearing in mind the varying approaches to the concept of equity (Petzall, Abbott & Timo 2007), would you argue that employment relations in Singapore are equitable? Justify your answer.

Introduction

Equity within Singapore employment relations is essential to the growth of the Singapore economy as it allows the cohesiveness of the community and also aligns with the democratic view of the government.

Employment equity is defined as “the effort made to provide equal employment opportunities without discrimination”. It is an on-going planning process for employers to identify and eliminate unfair practices in employment procedures and policies within an organisation (Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, 2003). This constitutes to providing fair employment to everyone, based not on physical variability but on qualifications and suitability to the job. This is ideal in theory but however, not fully practiced in the real world. In this essay, we will be discussing two issues which are major topics pertaining to workplace equity in Singapore; gender and racial equity.

Before we delve into the above mentioned issue, we will first be discussing three approaches to evaluating equity at work and later, the impact that they have on the employment equity issues in Singapore.

Economic Rationalism

The definition of economic rationalism can vary from each person’s point of view as it is often discussed but hardly ever defined (Whitwell 1998). An attempt to define it would be that economic rationalists focus on production efficiency and individualism. Economic rationalists are always working towards greater efficiency and are convinced that workplace inequalities can be reduced by limiting the intervention of the government. The individualist character of economic rationalists refers to the worth of an individual. In the workplace point of view, this could mean the value of an individual to an organisation could be the paramount factor of their rise up the corporate ladder.

Another point of focus for economic rationalists would be the freedom of choice. To them, the intervention of the government and unionisations would hinder the productivity of an organisation with their “statutory minimum conditions” (Petzall, Abbott & Timo 2007). Instead, they intend to restructure the labour market so that it emphasizes on the direct interaction between the employee and the employer. This allows for more freedom for the employee but also, more power held by the employer.

Civil Libertarianism

As the name states, civil libertarianism is the acknowledgement of an individual’s civil rights. Civil libertarianism has evolved into several forms one of which is the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) strand of civil libertarianism. The EEO strand of civil libertarianism