The Workplace Fairness Act (WFA), Singapore's first anti-discrimination law, was passed by the Singapore Parliament in January 2025 and expected to come into effect in 2027. The WFA protects employees from discrimination based on protected characteristics such as age, nationality, sex, marital status, pregnancy, caregiving responsibilities, race, religion, language ability, disability and mental health conditions.

In conjunction with the WFA, the Workplace Fairness (Dispute Resolution) Act was tabled in the Singapore Parliament in October 2025 and passed in November 2025, establishing a framework in the WFA that provides employees who experience workplace discrimination with an avenue to seek redress.

We highlight below the key elements of the WFA which are important for employers to consider when conducting workplace investigations.

(1) Newly created statutory tort of discrimination

Employees alleging discriminatory employment decisions made against them may bring a civil action for a statutory tort of discrimination against the employer.

Employment decisions entail a wide spectrum in all stages of employment, which include decisions made in the hiring process (including before a candidate is hired, or where the candidate is unsuccessful), during employment (e.g. in appraisals, promotion decisions or whether to provide training) and in relation to termination (including dismissal and retrenchment)

(2) Mandatory procedure in handling of grievances

Employers are required to develop a written process in handling grievances, which is to be made available to all employees. In particular, employers must:

• inquire into and review each grievance raised by an employee;
• inform each employee of the outcome of such inquiry / review;
• keep records of each inquiry and review; and
• keep the identity of the employee and information about the investigation confidential.

Employers are also prohibited from doing any retaliatory act in relation to an employee who has raised such grievances or provided evidence or information.

(3) Dispute resolution process accessible to employees

Employees may bring a civil action for a statutory tort of discrimination against the employer in: (i) the High Court; or (ii) an Employment Claims Tribunal (ECT). The ECT is designed to be a low-cost and accessible forum to employees, where parties are required to represent themselves in person before the ECT without external counsel.

Claims in the ECT are subject to a capped limit of SGD 250,000. Notably, other claims (i.e. of a non-discrimination nature) in the ECT are subject to a capped limit of SGD 30,000 only.

Employees must attempt mediation via a third-party mediator before any workplace discrimination claim can proceed to the ECT or the High Court for adjudication.

Implications for employers

Employers will be required to implement written protocols and procedures for conducting and handling internal investigations in compliance with the WFA.

Further, as the dispute resolution process under the ECT is accessible to employees at a low cost, it is possible that discrimination claims may be readily commenced by employees (meritorious or otherwise), particularly as a bargaining chip or pressure tactic when faced with alleged discriminatory employment decisions. As the ECT claim limit is heightened for discrimination claims, in practice, employees filing claims in the ECT may tactically include discrimination claims in addition to other types of claims they intend to file to avail themselves of a higher claim quantum.

Employers should therefore proactively take steps to carefully review their existing practices to ensure compliance with the WFA when in force. When conducting internal investigations, employers should be aware of the heightened risk of discrimination clams, in view of the new statutory tort of discrimination and employees' accessibility to the ECT.

Finally, employers should also review the conduct and culture of the workplace, to effectively ensure fair procedures and treatment to employees at all stages of employment which go beyond frameworks and policies (i.e. the 'hardware') to the values and attitudes of board and senior management (i.e. the 'software').