Singapore’s fair employment watchdog is looking into reports of bullying, sexual harassment, and racial pay disparities at Ubisoft Singapore.
Last month, Ubisoft employees anonymously spoke to Kotaku calling the Singapore office “one of the worst Ubisoft studios in terms of culture.” The country’s fair employment agency called The Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (Tafep) has launched an investigation into these claims, according to The Straits Times. Depending on the results, Tafep could find Ubisoft in breach of the Ministry of Manpower’s (MOM) Fair Consideration Framework or the Protection from Harassment Act.
If Tafep can substantiate allegations against Ubisoft, it could require the company to roll out new policies to avoid future incidents. The Ministry of Manpower will also be able to bar Ubisoft from hiring new foreign staff, with the existing foreign employees possibly terminated. If cases of molestation are proven, which is a criminal offence, the police could intervene. In this case, those accountable can be fined and/or jailed, and even caned.
Ubisoft Singapore’s public response to the allegations was that he company doesn’t tolerate harassment and discrimination. It’s also participating in the Singapore Women In Tech government initiative to increase gender diversity, especially in executive roles.