Fair recruitment is a legal obligation for an employment agency, not guidance: it is written into the agency licence conditions. The conditions require an agency to tell employers about the prevailing fair employment guidelines and keep proof that it did, to avoid discriminatory job advertisements, to make a reasonable effort to attract Singaporeans, to shortlist and refer on merit, and to report referrals and placements to MOM. The fee an agency may charge a worker is capped at 1 month of fixed monthly salary per year of service, capped at 2 months.
2 official sources, dated below
The fair recruitment requirements are licence conditions for employment agencies, effective 1 October 2020. They apply to agencies holding Comprehensive and Select licences, and they do not apply to the referral and placement of foreign domestic workers.
The conditions require an agency to apprise employers of the prevailing guidelines on recruitment in the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices, and to retain documentary proof that it did so. An agency must not post discriminatory job advertisements. It must make a reasonable effort to attract Singaporeans for every job order from an employer, unless the employer instructs otherwise. It must shortlist and refer applicants on merit and must not discriminate on grounds irrelevant to the job position, and it must retain information on the recruitment process. And it must submit returns to MOM on referrals and placements.
The obligation starts before a job is advertised. Employers, including their appointed intermediaries such as job portals and employment agencies, should review job advertisements to ensure that they are non-discriminatory before posting. That is the point at which a discriminatory requirement is cheapest to remove.
The Tripartite Guidelines themselves rest on five principles: recruit and select on merit regardless of age, race, gender, religion, marital status and family responsibilities, or disability; treat employees fairly and with respect, and implement progressive human resource management systems; provide equal opportunity for training and development; reward employees fairly based on ability, performance, contribution and experience; and abide by labour laws and adopt the guidelines.
The referral return carries four fields: the jobseeker’s NRIC or FIN, the company’s Unique Entity Number, the date of referral, and the Singapore Standard Occupational Classification 2015 code of the job position. It applies to permanent or contract positions meeting this test: S$3,300 fixed monthly and at least 6 months.
MOM states that the PDPA requirements on collection, use and disclosure do not apply to agencies collecting that information, because it is a regulatory requirement. That is a narrow statement and it is treated as one here: it does not mean the information may be used or shared freely. MOM also states that agencies should not share the information with any other parties, including their clients.
The fee an agency may charge a worker is capped at 1 month of fixed monthly salary per year of service, capped at 2 months, calculated on total salary including basic salary and all fixed allowances, and excluding bonuses and variable components such as overtime.
The position for employers is different: the cap on the fees an agency may charge an employer has been removed, and no replacement figure is published. Our employer-side fees therefore depend on the individual contract.
There is a second floor, for foreign domestic workers, that applies to contracts from 1 June 2022: an agency must refund the employer at least 50% of employer service fees if the employment is terminated within the first 6 months and the other refund conditions are met. This one arises from Rule 13A of the Employment Agencies Rules 2011, which we have not read and do not quote.
Non-compliance is a violation of the licence conditions.
A licence is not a permanent grant. An employment agency licence runs for up to 3 years, renewable. MOM states that an In-Principle Approval takes 7 working days for most cases.
Where this information comes from: the fair recruitment conditions and the referral return are described in MOM’s own FAQ for employment agencies, and the principles come from the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices published by the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices. Both are linked at the foot of this page with the date each was printed. Nothing on this page is drawn from the Employment Agencies Act or the Employment Agencies Rules directly: Singapore’s legislation site serves provision text only through JavaScript, so we have not read that text and do not quote or summarise it.
It is a legal obligation for an employment agency. The requirements are written into the agency licence conditions, effective 1 October 2020, and a breach is a violation of those conditions. The principles themselves come from the Tripartite Guidelines; the obligation on an agency comes from its licence.
The conditions apply to agencies holding Comprehensive and Select licences, and they do not apply to the referral and placement of foreign domestic workers. The worker fee cap and the foreign domestic worker refund floor are separate requirements and are described below.
Four fields: the jobseeker’s NRIC or FIN, the company’s Unique Entity Number, the date of referral, and the Singapore Standard Occupational Classification 2015 code of the job position. It applies to permanent or contract positions meeting this test: S$3,300 fixed monthly and at least 6 months. MOM states that the PDPA requirements on collection, use and disclosure do not apply to agencies collecting this information because it is a regulatory requirement, and that agencies should not share it with any other parties, including their clients.
Only within the cap, which is 1 month of fixed monthly salary per year of service, capped at 2 months, calculated on total salary including basic salary and all fixed allowances but excluding bonuses and variable components such as overtime. Charging beyond that is exploitative and against the law.
Yes, but the cap that used to apply to employer-side fees has been removed and no replacement figure is published. Separately, for foreign domestic workers, the second floor applies to contracts from 1 June 2022: an agency must refund the employer at least 50% of employer service fees if the employment is terminated within the first 6 months and the other refund conditions are met.
Yes. The licence conditions require an agency to retain documentary proof that it apprised the employer of the prevailing recruitment guidelines, and to retain information on the recruitment process. The conditions also require an agency to submit returns to MOM on referrals and placements, which is where the four referral-return fields belong.
They should be. Employers, including their appointed intermediaries such as job portals and employment agencies, should review job advertisements to ensure that they are non-discriminatory before posting, and an agency holding a Comprehensive or Select licence must not post a discriminatory advertisement.
From MOM’s own FAQ on the new fair recruitment requirements and from the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices published by the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices. Both are linked at the foot of this page with the date each was printed. Nothing here is drawn from the Employment Agencies Act or the Employment Agencies Rules directly, because that provision text is not readable by us and we do not quote or summarise it.
Every fact on this page is drawn from the sources below. The date given for each one is the date printed on the source itself, not the date we read it.
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