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Madam Deputy Speaker, I stand in support of the motion.
It is no secret that Singapore and Singaporeans are stressed. According to the 2023 Cigna Healthcare Vitality Study, Singaporeans are more stressed than the global average. The study also reported that 16% of Singaporean respondents felt unable to manage their stress loads. Another study from the National Youth Council and the Institute of Policy Studies Social Lab found our young people and young workers experiencing high levels of burnout, and that their mental well-being had still not fully recovered from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Union leaders too, have told me that their fellow colleagues across all workforce segments – rank and file, PMEs, freelancers – are highly stressed at the workplace. The main reason cited was how it is almost impossible to disconnect from work when we live in a hyperconnected and global world. We must therefore do more to prevent, identify, and treat mental health-related issues at the workplace.
Prevent Workplace Burnout by Having a Right to Disconnect
Let me start by commending the Government’s launch of the National Mental Health and Well-Being Strategy in October 2023. The strategy aims to create an effective mental health ecosystem comprising accessible and good quality clinical care with a supportive community and society. Instead of an overemphasis on mental disorders, the Government has recognised that the state of mental wellbeing is intertwined with a supportive community. I fully agree with this, and I argue that our workplaces, where most of us spend most of our waking hours, must form a key part of societal support.
We need strong upstream measures to address workplace mental health stressors. Madam, I have spoken on numerous occasions, both in and out of this House, about the need for workers to have a Right to Disconnect – one that is contextualised to the realities of our global workforce, and one that will help ensure employees have protected time to rest and recharge.
Since I first mooted the idea of the Right to Disconnect in this House in 2020, several countries have moved ahead with their own versions of the Right to Disconnect. In 2023, Luxembourg amended its Labour Code to require that a "right of disconnection" outside working hours must be implemented at the company or sector level. Belgium passed a law in February 2022 that allowed civil servants to disconnect after work hours, without a fear of reprisals. Closer to home, the Philippines is debating a Bill that seeks to give workers the right to disconnect after work hours.
Locally, union leaders have told me that exemplary practices at the company level, that provide workers with the ability to switch off after work. I am glad that senior public sector leaders in the Ministry of Manpower and the Ministry of Health – just to name a couple of examples – have made it a point to tell staff that they do not need to feel obligated to respond to emails or work messages sent after work hours, unless it is expressly marked as urgent. We should make this workplace culture the norm, rather than the exception.
In November 2020, we published the Tripartite Advisory on Mental Well-being at Workplaces that set out practical guidance on measures that employers can adopt to support their employees' mental well-being. The advisory also called on employers to recognise the need for staff to have adequate rest outside work hours, in recognition that the Work-From-Home arrangement had blurred the lines between work and personal life. In March 2021, MOM launched a new assessment tool called iWorkHealth, to help companies identify common workplace stressors among employees.
The tripartite partners further refreshed the Tripartite Advisory on Mental Well-being at Workplaces in 2023, to include the setting up of a peer support system to help employers create a supportive environment for employees in need and to destigmatise mental health issues at work.
These examples show that the close working relationship between the Labour Movement, the Government, and the employers, have resulted in successful and tangible measures that have helped to advance mental health outcomes at the workplaces. But let us work on and agree on a set of Tripartite Guidelines that establish principles on what a “Right to Disconnect” could mean for different sectors and for different job roles. After a few years, we could then review how effective the Guidelines are and to consider further action including legislation, if necessary, at that point of time.
Madam Deputy Speaker, in some ways, Parliament too recognises the right to disconnect. Standing Order number 2 expressly states that parliamentary proceedings shall be interrupted at 7pm, unless the Leader of the House moves a business motion to extend the day’s sitting beyond that moment of interruption. Afterall, Members should be accorded ample time to rest and to recharge and to prepare for the next day’s sitting. On this, I’m sure that all Members would not disagree with me.
Individuals too can play our part. We only have 24 hours in a day. Lack of adequate downtime can lead to job burnout, decreased job satisfaction and reduced productivity. It is therefore crucial for individuals to reevaluate our approach to work and life. By prioritising, focusing and scheduling downtime, we can reduce stress, enhance our creativity, improve our productivity, and more importantly, lead a healthier, more balanced life.
Identification and Support for Workers’ Mental Health Needs
In addition to disconnecting after work, we need to have trained personnel at the workplace that can identify and do basic triage of early mental health symptoms. Deploying such trained mental health ambassadors at the workplace can help employers maintain a well-adjusted and mentally healthy workforce, thereby ensuring high levels of productivity.
Union leaders can play this important role of mental health ambassadors. To date, NTUC has trained over 1,700 union leaders in Workplace Safety and Health, and the Labour Movement stands ready to partner with our tripartite partners in training and deploying mental health ambassadors at all workplaces.
To help our youths and young adults deal with stress, Young NTUC and the NTUC Learning Hub has jointly developed a course to provide peer to peer mental well-being support and psychological first aid skills to distressed colleagues and peers. This course is WSQ-certified and supported by the WSH Council, and I encourage all youths to sign up for this course to become a peer supporter.
Recognising the stress and trauma of being laid off
Madam, layoffs also contribute a significant level of stress at the workplace. Statistics by MOM show that the number of retrenchments in Singapore more than doubled in 2023. It is now commonplace to read about company retrenchments due to restructuring and cutbacks. Recent examples include Alphabet, Amazon, and Lazada, which show that even workers in growth sectors, such as technology and e-commerce, are not spared.
Retrenched workers are more than a statistic. They are men and women who must deal with a sudden loss of income and a disrupted career. Some may feel a deep embarrassment about being retrenched, even if the layoff were unrelated to their work performance. Lay-offs also affect the “surviving” employees within the company. Those who are retained often take on an immense amount of additional workload, and they constantly wonder if they will be the next to get laid off.
I therefore hope that companies can recognise that retrenchments should be done as a last resort. So what can employers do to limit the impact of a retrenchment exercise?
First, communication should come from the top, with the leadership team owning the message. But it also needs to be a two-way process, allowing all employees to have their questions answered.
Second, every impacted group needs support that is tailored to their needs. Providing more generous compensation packages for retrenched workers can help to alleviate immediate financial concerns. Employers can work with the NTUC on job placements, and training for new job roles.
Third, employers need to think carefully about job redesign and workload distribution for the remaining roles of those who are left behind in the company.
Retrenchments are never pleasant, but there are ways for employers to undertake the process with compassion, and to treat all employees – whether they are staying or leaving – with utmost dignity. Companies who retrench irresponsibly should not be let off the hook for the stress and mental trauma that they cause.
Treatment of Workplace Mental Health Challenges
Madam Deputy Speaker, workers today are subjected to high levels of workplace stress – be it through a retrenchment exercise, a relentless workload, or the inability to disconnect after work. I hope that there can be greater support to help with the treatment of workplace mental health challenges. This can be achieved through a widespread adoption of Employee Assistance Programme or EAP providers.
EAPs are professionally conducted programmes that are designed to engage employees to deal with their personal and relational difficulties that may impede their work performance. I, therefore, welcome the government’s current efforts to subsidise the fees of some of these services. However more can be done to improve the affordability of mental healthcare. We should also grow the industry and increase capacity to reduce waiting times. Assurance must also be given to employees that their confidentiality is protected, and it would not affect their personnel records with the company.
I urge more companies to adopt EAP services, and to engage credible EAP service providers. The Labour Movement has and will continue to help drive the adoption of EAP services at workplaces, to safeguard workers’ mental health.
Conclusion
Madam Deputy Speaker, the challenges arising from workplace stress have been on the rise, even before the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the issue. It was recently reported that the findings from the 2022 Quality of Life Survey found that Singaporeans have become less happy over the past decade, despite real incomes rising over this period. Even high net worth individuals in Singapore are found to be concerned with their work life balance, according to a recent study reported in the Business Times.
Mental health issues at the workplace affect everyone, regardless of socio-economic status and designation. We need to tip the balance and advance mental health outcomes at the workplace. We must PREVENT workplace burnout by doing more for workers to have the Right to Disconnect. We should train and deploy workplace mental wellness ambassadors to help IDENTIFY early mental health challenges. And where necessary, we certainly need a proliferation of EAP providers to TREAT and to address mental health difficulties.
Madam, I support the Motion.
