Written Answer by Ministry of National Development on dedicated rest areas for outsourced workers in government buildings

Jan 9, 2017

Mr Zainal Sapari: To ask the Minister for National Development 

(a) how many Government buildings have set aside dedicated rest areas for outsourced workers; and 

(b) how many of these are inspected regularly to ensure that they are not allocated for other purposes. 

Answer: 

There are 115 government-owned buildings with at least 3,000 square metres net floor area of commercial space. This is a reasonable threshold for which rest areas for outsourced workers could be provided as part of the building infrastructure.

Out of these 115 buildings, the vast majority – 96 buildings – have dedicated rest areas for outsourced workers. These buildings are also inspected to ensure that the rest areas are not allocated for other purposes. While there are no dedicated rest areas in the other buildings, the workers there are allowed to use shared spaces (e.g. visitors’ rest areas and pantries) to rest.