Surbana’s labelling of sacked staff as poor performers ‘unacceptable’

SINGAPORE — Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say on Tuesday (Feb 7) admonished Surbana Jurong in Parliament for publicly labelling the 54 employees it sacked as poor performers, describing the company’s action as unacceptable. 

He also revealed that a “fair outcome” had been reached with the firm on payments for the affected workers.

Saying that he hoped not to encounter another such case, Mr Lim said in Parliament that performance management is the responsibility of both employees and employers, and an employee’s poor performance at one workplace does not mean they cannot do well elsewhere.

“To the best of my recollection, this is the first time that an employer conducted such a major termination exercise and … labelled the workers as ‘poor performers’. I think as Manpower Minister, it’s something I do not find acceptable,” said Mr Lim.

Noting that one’s work environment and a company’s human resource practices may be contributing factors to performance, he said: “I hope we will not come across another case where a company does a major termination and labels employees as having poor performance publicly.”

Mr Lim was responding to Members of Parliament (MPs) who sought an update on the infrastructure consultancy’s termination of employment of 54 workers, first reported last month by The Straits Times.

In an email to staff — which was also reported by the media — Surbana Jurong group chief executive Wong Heang Fine had stated: “We cannot allow our 1 per cent of poor performers to continue to affect the rest of the 99 per cent of staff who are performing.” The company later said the process could have been better managed.

On Tuesday, Mr Lim said Surbana Jurong’s management and the unions reached an agreement on ex gratia payment, “which in our view is a fair outcome for the affected employees”.

Responding to queries, a Surbana Jurong spokesperson said the matter had been resolved “amicably” with the unions. “It is currently reviewing our performance management processes to improve the system,” she added.

Jurong GRC MP Tan Wu Meng remarked that big companies — especially government-linked companies and those that do business with the public sector — have a “certain footprint”, and Mr Lim agreed that all companies should behave responsibly.

When individuals file an appeal of unfair dismissal to the MOM, the ministry will first mediate. If mediation fails, it will conduct an inquiry and require the employer to show cause and produce evidence to justify the termination. If the employer is unable to back up its claim of an employee’s poor performance, the employer may be ordered to reinstate the employee or provide compensation — and can be prosecuted if it does not comply.

The Manpower Ministry’s investigations into the Surbana Jurong cases are ongoing.