Employment Relations in Asia: Managing Layoffs and Government Involvement

Employment Relations in Asia
Employment Relations in Asia ()
Neena John
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1EMPLOYEE REALTIONS IN ASIA
Table of Contents 34
Introduction...................................................................................................................... 2
Managing closing of plants, layoffs and the role of business...........................................2
Labour Involvement in Managing Layoffs.........................................................................3
Government involvement in managing Layoff..................................................................4
Justification of Government Involvement.........................................................................5
Conclusion....................................................................................................................... 6
References.......................................................................................................................7

2EMPLOYEE REALTIONS IN ASIA
Introduction
The shutting down of a company, industry or a firm can be attributed to various
reasons like a slowdown in the economy, which has many negative consequences
attached to it. Employers, employees, the industry, the society and the government are
all affected when a company shuts down. The closing down of a plant can be defined as
an act of stopping the operations of a part of a plant or complete shutting down of the
entire plant with the aims of downsizing, which itself is instigated by a poor or slow
economic condition (Gaudencio, Coelho & Ribeiro, 2017).
Managing closing of plants, layoffs and the role of business
By ‘business’, one typically refers to different organizations, the employers and
the companies. According to government norms, it is the responsibility of the employer
to make sure that the retrenchment process is done properly and ethically, when a plant
shuts down. Strategies must be adopted so that the company is operating in the most
efficient manner and not incurring any costs (Chung & Lee, 2017).
One of the most significant examples of such a close down is the case of the
Coca-Cola Singapore Beverages (CCSB) in Tuas. The firm was making infrastructural
changes and making plans in forms of investment, to shift its plant to Malaysia from
Singapore, which was estimated to have been affecting 200 employees. However, the
company hired 450 workers across Singapore afterwards, after suggestions and
recommendations that were made by the NTUC. Employees are also supposed to be notifying
the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) when they are deciding to shut down and are obligated to

3EMPLOYEE REALTIONS IN ASIA
give their employees the chance and knowledge of a notice period, the length of which depends
on for how long the specific employee part of the company is (Smith, Ang & Gan, 2017). The
process has greatly helped in ensuring the rights of the labors as in the case of
employees of Resorts World Sentosa (Leong, 2016). The management of RWS worked
in tandem with MOM and the Attractions, Resorts & Entertainment Union (AREU) to make
sure the employees get their rightful benefits This case required the support of the labor
unions as the individuals who did not take the retrenchment offer were sacked as the
company had to cut down costs and gave training and made sure employees earning
below SG $ 4500 were given reimbursement and training. The norms of retrenchment
policies also helped employees in the case of Goldman Sach’s downsizing of
employees in Singapore. The Goldman Sach’s increasingly cuts employees to maintain
a profitable revenue in terms with their competitors (Reuters, 2016). The Management
of Goldman Sach’s make sure that the employees who are being retrenched are notified
beforehand and given proper reimbursement. The management paid the employees a
good amount as parting benefit as it was shifting operations. The employees of the
Goldman Sachs were given better opportunities in the competitive firms to improve their
chances at getting work.
Labour Involvement in Managing Layoffs
The labours and the labour unions have a major role to play in managing the
layoffs in the organization helping in the proper management of the different issues
arising between the management and the employees during the layoff procedure
(Seow, 2015). According to the laws in Singapore, the employees who have served
more than two years are eligible for the retrenchment benefits while the other