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IMPACT – HIGH
What is the change? In an unannounced change, the Ministry of Manpower has added several significant new questions to the Employment Pass online application form that must be answered by companies sponsoring foreign workers.
What does the change mean? The questions seek details about the company’s efforts to hire Singaporean candidates for the job, how many Singapore citizens, permanent residents and foreign nationals applied for the job, how far each candidate got in the hiring process, and up to three reasons why the company decided not to hire a local candidate.
Background: The new questions were noticed on the Employment Pass Online application Friday, Nov. 10. Employers must now answer the following additional questions under Section F – Job Advertisement Information:
BAL Analysis: The changes will have a major impact on how companies manage their recruitment and hiring practices, as they will need to more carefully track and document their recruitment methods, as well as the immigration status of each job applicant and his or her progress through each stage of the recruitment process.
The new questions signal that the Ministry of Manpower is serious about protecting the local workforce and moving toward stricter labor market testing in line with other countries’ practices. The changes are also consistent with recent changes to the National Jobs Bank, which now closely tracks whether employers have reviewed and considered all applications that are submitted in response to a job advertisement.
This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice group in Singapore. For additional information, please contact singapore@bal.com.
Copyright © 2017 Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. All rights reserved. Reprinting or digital redistribution to the public is permitted only with the express written permission of Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. For inquiries please contact copyright@bal.com.
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