Regulations on sexual harassment in the workplace in Singapore

The Ministry of Manpower, Singapore’s main ministry that regulates the workforce in Singapore, describes workplace harassment as “behaviour that causes or is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to another party” and cites sexual harassment as an example. 

In Singapore, there are a number of legal regulations that prohibit sexual harassment in the workplace. For instance, the Protection from Harassment Act 2014 (“POHA”), which came into force on 15 November 2014, protects persons against harassment and unlawful stalking, criminalising such offences and providing civil remedies in relation to the same. On 1 January 2020, the POHA was amended to include protections against and offences in respect of “doxxing”, which refers to the act of publishing private or identifying information about a particular individual.

The object of the POHA is not the prevention of workplace or sexual harassment per se, but to provide a statutory instrument protecting persons against harassment in general. 

Section 3 of POHA provides: 

No person shall, with intent to cause harassment, alarm, or distress to another person, by any means -

1. use any threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour;
2. make any threatening, abusive or insulting communication; or
3. publish any identity information of the target person or a related person of the target person, 

and as a result causing the target person or any other person (each called in this section the victim) harassment, alarm or distress.”

Section 3 of POHA also provides the following illustration on what may constitute an offence under the section:

1. X and Y are coworkers. At the workplace, X loudly and graphically describes to the other coworkers X’s desire for a sexual relationship with Y in an insulting manner. X knows that Y is within earshot and intends to cause Y distress. Y is distressed. X is guilty of an offence under this section.

In addition, Section 7 of POHA provides that “An individual or entity must not unlawfully stalk another person” and sub-section (3) provides some examples of acts or omissions associated with stalking. Section 7 of POHA also provides illustrations on what may constitute stalking:

1. Y repeatedly sends emails to Y’s subordinate (X) with suggestive comments about X’s body.
2. Y sends flowers to X daily even though X has asked Y to stop doing so.
3. Y repeatedly circulates revealing photographs of a classmate (X) to other classmates.

Separately, the Penal Code 1871 (“Penal Code”), Singapore’s long-standing statutory code of the nation’s criminal offences, also provides for offences that criminalise sexual harassment in the workplace.

For instance, the Penal Code makes it an offence to use words or gestures that are intended to insult the modesty of any person, and also criminalises the act of assault or the use of criminal force to a person with an intent to outrage that person’s modesty.

There are no strict legal requirements for employers to take action, but the Singapore Government has issued various recommendations or “advisories” to encourage employers to take the initiative in preventing workplace harassment, including sexual harassment.

For example, the Tripartite Advisory on Managing Workplace Harassment (“Tripartite Advisory”) contains guidance on the prevention of harassment in the workplace, including a sample harassment prevention policy for use by employers. The Tripartite Advisory also provides useful information on how employers can implement reporting and response procedures as well as guidance on the investigation procedures they can put into practice.

In addition, the upcoming Workplace Fairness Legislation (slated to come into effect in the second half of 2024), will soon prohibit employers from retaliating against those who report workplace discrimination and/or harassment. This is to ensure that employees who suffer from discrimination/harassment are not hesitant to report such behaviours out of fear of being disadvantaged in the workplace.

In particular, it is expected that employers will be prohibited from engaging in the following retaliatory behaviours:

1. Wrongful dismissal;
2. Unreasonable denials of re-employment;
3. Unauthorised salary deductions;
4. Deprivation of contractual benefits;
5. Harassment; and
6. Any other act done to victimise the individual who made the report (i.e., single out the individual for unjust treatment).

With the advent of the #MeToo movement, we saw an increase in the number of harassment claims cited by employer clients. These cases tended to come from international clients with offices across the globe and are not confined only to cases involving local employers. This upward trend is not as noticeable in recent times.

The POHA protects persons against harassment and unlawful stalking, including sexual harassment. Under the POHA, a range of civil remedies and criminal sanctions are available to protect people from sexual and other forms of harassment.

Depending on where an offence lies within the POHA, a person may be liable to a fine not exceeding S$5,000 and/or an imprisonment term not exceeding 6 or 12 months for a first instance offence. Subsequent offences may attract a penalty not exceeding S$10,000 and/or an imprisonment term not exceeding 2 years.

The victim of harassment may also bring civil proceedings against the perpetrator under a statutory tort or seek a protection order from the court in appropriate cases. Protection orders issued under the POHA may provide for all or any of the following:

1. Prohibiting the harasser from doing anything in relation to the victim;
2. Where the harassment involved offending communications, requiring the harasser to stop publishing offending communications or stop communications that are substantially similar to the offending communications; and
3. Referring the harasser or victim to attend counselling or mediation.

The Penal Code provides criminal sanctions against persons accused of outraging the modesty of another person, whether physically or non-physically.

Green. The #MeToo movement has shone a spotlight on sexual harassment in the workplace and definitely increased awareness of this issue in Singapore – tackling sexual harassment is a high priority for clients in Singapore. 

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No data has been released to-date as to which sectors are most particularly affected by sexual harassment in Singapore. We have not noted any particular correlation between certain sectors or industries and sexual harassment complaints.