Mon. Feb 17th, 2025

TL;DR – Mirror Mirror on the wall, who’s the Fair-est of them all?

TAFEP’s logo via

Heard about TAFEP?

Pronounced TAH-FAP, the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) has been around for the past 11 years but not many people know about it.

They are the ones who advocate for fair, responsible and progressive employment practices among employers, employees and the general public.

This means they deal with anything related to employees who have been discriminated, treated unfairly at work and even during the job hunting stage.

Since there is so little known or understood about the advocacy work that TAFEP does, we’ve pulled together 6 things about them that will demystify things for you!

1. They fight for pregnant/working mothers


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As if giving dealing with bouts of morning sickness, giving birth and raising children isn’t difficult enough, there are some companies that against better judgement discriminate against pregnant women and working mothers.

These companies should really take a leaf from forward-looking and inclusive workplaces that are  taking steps to accommodate the needs of working mothers and pregnant workers these days. The Government has also introduced schemes and employment grants, such as the WorkPro Work-Life Grant to allow companies to incorporate flexible work arrangements to help employees manage work and family commitments.

If you know of any discriminatory workplace practice against pregnant women and working mums, don’t hesitate to file a report here or calling +65 9650 5137.

2. They’re NOT a government organisation

TAFEP’s Board members at their 10th Anniversary celebrations. via

Even though their full name is a mouthful and their acronym is right up there alongside officious sounding agencies like DSTA, CAAS, CPFB etc, TAFEP is not a government organisation.

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The only link to the government that they have is that they are a setup between the Tripartite partners: National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and the Singapore National Employers’ Federation (SNEF).

3. They’re evolved to become champions of Fair and Progressive employment practices.

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They started off with just creating awareness of fair employment practices. Today, they have moved from fair to progressive employment practice through their widened scope to support employers in implementing work-life and age management programmes to meet the changing demands in the current employment landscape.

4. They partner with employers to make things work


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Rather than sitting on the sidelines and only playing a regulatory role, TAFEP goes beyond and works hand-in-hand with employers to look at their existing employment practices and how to support their adoption of progressive practices. Think of them like your over zealous mum, who loves to kay-poh who you are going out with, what you’re doing but still tries her best to help you when needed.
One such initiative is the Human Capital Partnership Programme (HCP), which brings together a community of employers who are committed to grow their businesses and remain competitive by having progressive employment practices and developing their human capital. The end result of this programme should see enhanced capabilities and competitiveness of the workforce.

5. They perennially face the top issue of fair opportunities for Singaporeans


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A bit of prying revealed that in the last three years, fair employment opportunities for Singaporeans has been the top issue that TAFEP had to deal with. On average, 1 in 3 cases had to deal with a discriminatory employment opportunity that indicated preference for non-Singaporeans.

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This obviously goes against the Fair Consideration Framework (FCF), which is part of the Government’s overall effort to strengthen the Singaporean core in the workforce by setting out clear expectations for companies to consider Singaporeans fairly for job opportunities. We’re all for #SupportLocal too so if you spot any discriminatory job advertisement, feel free to bring it to the attention of TAFEP here.

 6. They are serious about work-life

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As a Tripartite outfit, TAFEP works with other partners such as government agencies, NTUC and the employer associations to promote family-friendly workplaces through various work-life strategies.

Work-Life Works! is one such platform where TAFEP has worked with the Tripartite Committee (TriCom) on work-life strategies to promote work-life practices as a way to optimise business performance and facilitates employees to manage their own work-life fit.

These strategies have led to successful outcomes for many employees from various companies.

With all these misconceptions about TAFEP cleared up, it’s good to know they’ve got your back (and of course where you can “bao toh” discriminatory practises) so that we can all move forward with inclusive workplace practises.

By Nick Lee

I'm the introvert who hides at the corner during parties. I'm the one who tries to be funny (sometimes can, sometimes cannot) I'm the one who can't count for nuts. I'm...oh, never mind...