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Tripartite Standard on Contracting with Self Employed Persons Launched

05 Mar 2018Press Releases

Second Minister for Manpower Mrs Josephine Teo launched the Tripartite Standard on Contracting with Self-Employed Persons (SEPs) today in her speech during the Ministry of Manpower’s Committee of Supply parliamentary debates. The Tripartite Standard (please refer to the Annex for full specifications) was one of the recommendations from the Tripartite Workgroup on SEPs1 accepted by the Government to improve contracting norms.The Government had accepted all the recommendations.

2. Businesses which adopt the Tripartite Standard will be listed on the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices’ (TAFEP) website, and can use a logomark in their corporate and marketing collateral. This will allow SEPs to identify progressive service-buyers and intermediaries, and also help businesses to distinguish themselves.

3. Interested business may visit tafep.sg to adopt or find out more about the Tripartite Standard.

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Definition of Self-Employed Persons (SEPs)

  • SEPs refer to persons who operate their own trade or business. Those who do not employ any paid worker and are not contributing family members are also known as “own account workers”. “Own account worker” is the more formal term used in MOM’s Labour Force Supplementary Survey on Own Account Workers, and which closely follows the International Labour Organization’s classification of Status in Employment. SEPs are also known loosely as “freelancers” or “independent contractors”.
  • SEPs work in diverse occupations and include taxi drivers, real estate agents, insurance agents, private hire car drivers and private tutors.
  • SEPs are not casual, temporary, or term-contract employees who are on employment contracts for fixed periods of time.

Footnote

  • 1. The Tripartite Workgroup (TWG), formed in 2017 to identify common challenges faced by SEPs and develop recommendations to address these challenges, submitted its report to the Government on 21 February 2018. Comprising officials from MOM, NTUC and SNEF, the TWG engaged and consulted about 200 SEPs as well as SEP associations and communities, businesses, and Government agencies.

Annex