Singapore Labor Management QA

Email: sin4ww@evershinecpa.com

Singapore CPA Lau Wei-Koon, speak in both English and Chinese
215 Henderson Road #03-03 Henderson Industrial Park Singapore 159554

LRC – Singapore Labor Regulations

LRC-CA-20.10
What must be included in the contents of a labor contract in Singapore?

Evershine RD:

According to Employment Act, Chapter 91, 1968, SS 8-9.

The list must include the following information:

•  the employee’s full name
•  the employment start date
•  the employee’s job title
•  the employee’s job duties
•  the duration of the employment term, if a fixed-term agreement
•  the probationary period, if applicable
•  the employee’s work schedule
•  salary periods
•  the employee’s base salary
•  fixed allowances
•  additional incentives (e.g., bonuses)
•  fixed deductions
•  medical and dental insurance and benefits; and
•  leave entitlements (annual, sick, maternity, childcare, etc.)

LRC-CA-20.11
Do Singapore arrange labor contract in fixed term?
What should be the length of the labor contract in Singapore?

Evershine RD:

Yes.
The length of labor contract in Singapore is based on discretion of company.

LRC-CA-20.20
What is the minimum age for hiring new employee in Singapore?

Evershine RD:

According to Employment Act, Chapter 91, 1968, SS 67A-69.
The legal minimum age for employment in Singapore is 16 with certain exceptions.

LRC-CA-20.40
Is it a requirement for employer in Singapore to conduct a pre-employment background check?

Evershine RD:

According to Personal Data Protection Act, 2012, No. 26, SS 3, 13.
Under the Personal Data Protection Act 2012, employers can carried on background checks for purposes “that a reasonable person would consider appropriate in the circumstances.”

LRC-CA-20.50
Is the Non-Competition indemnity clause in labor contract in Singapore has legal effect?

Evershine RD:

A noncompetition agreement is enforceable if it reasonably seeks to protect the interests of the parties concerned and the interests of the public.
Enforceability of noncompetition agreements is determined on a case-by-case basis.

LRC-CA-40.05
What are the regulations on Gender Discrimination in employment specifically for female workers in Singapore?

Evershine RD:

According to Singapore Constitution, 1965, S 12; Industrial Relations Act, 1960, ch. 136, S 80.
The Ministry of Manpower’s Tripartite Guidelines on Nondiscriminatory Job Advertisements requires employers to provide equal opportunity in the selection of candidates regardless of age, race, gender, religion, marital status, criminal record, disability, or pregnancy.

LRC-CA-50.10
Can the employer in Singapore collect, or process data transmitted by employees over the internet?

Evershine RD:

According to Personal Data Protection Act, 2012, No. 26, S 20.
Employers generally must provide notice and obtain employees’ consent prior to monitoring them by video or observing their e-mails.
On the other hand, employers do not need to obtain employee consent when monitoring employees for the purpose of managing or terminating an employment relationship between the employer and employee.

LRC-CA-60.10
What are the regulations on working hours in Singapore?

Evershine RD:

According to Employment Act, Chapter 91, 1968, S 38.
The standard workday in Singapore is 9 hours for a 5-day workweek, 8 hours for longer workweeks and in most cases cannot exceed 12 hours. The standard workweek 44 hours.

LRC-CA-60.30
What are the regulations on overtime hours in Singapore?
What is the overtime premium rate in Singapore?

Evershine RD:

According to Employment Act, Chapter 91, 1968, S 38.
Work more than 8 hours a day or 44 hours a week must be paid at a rate of time-and-one-half.
Employees are not permitted to work more than 72 hours of overtime per month.
Employee who volunteers to work on a rest day or works on a rest day at the request of the employer is entitled to half a day’s wages for up to half a day’s work, a full day’s wages for work that exceeds half a day but not the employee’s normal work hours, or a full day’s wages plus time and a half for any hours worked more than the employee’s normal work hours.

An employee required to work on a holiday is entitled to a full day’s pay in addition to the employee’s regular rate of pay for any hours worked on the holiday.
Managers and executives are not eligible for overtime premiums

LRC-CA-60.50
Is it common to pay 13^th month’s salary in Singapore?

Evershine RD:

Singapore’s labor code does not address bonuses, although it is common for employers to voluntarily provide an extra month’s wages payment.

LRC-CA-70.10
What are the regulations on general leave policy for employees in Singapore?

Evershine RD:

According to Employment Act, Chapter 91, 1968, S 43.
An employee who has worked with an employer for at least 3 months are entitled to 7 days paid annual leave and accrue 1 additional day for each subsequent year of service after the first up to a maximum 14 days of paid annual leave.

LRC-CA-70.20

What are the public holidays in Singapore?
What is the overtime premium rate during public holiday in Singapore?

Evershine RD:

According to Employment Act, Chapter 91, 1968, S 88; Holiday Act, 1998, No. 8, S 4.
Employers are required to provide paid time off to employees for the following public holidays:

•  Jan. 1: New Year’s Day
•  Chinese New Year (two days)
•  Good Friday
•  May 1: Labor Day
•  Vesak Day (Buddha’s birthday)
•  Aug. 9: National Day
•  Hari Raya Puasa (End of Ramadan)
•  Deepavali (Hindu New Year)
•  Hari Raya Haji (Feast of Sacrifice)
•  Dec. 25: Christmas Day

An employee required to work on a holiday is entitled to an extra day’s salary or a full day off

LRC-CA-70.30
What is the maternity leave policy for female employee in Singapore?

Evershine RD:

According to Employment Act, Chapter 91, 1968, SS 76-81.
Female employees are entitled to 16 weeks of paid maternity leave if they have worked for their employer for at least 3 months and the child is – or will be – a Singapore citizen.
A woman qualifies for only 12 weeks’ leave if she has worked for her employer less than 3 continuous months or if her child is not a Singaporean citizen.
She will receive 8 weeks’ pay from her employer if she has fewer than 2 living children of her own at the time of delivery. The remaining 4 weeks are unpaid.
If a mother seeks to use maternity leave and the father, with the mother’s agreement, seeks to use shared parental leave for the same child, the mother’s total number of available weeks of maternity leave would be reduced by the number of shared paternal leave taken by the father.

LRC-CA-70.40
What is the paternity leave policy for male employee in Singapore?

Evershine RD:

According to Child Development Co-Savings Act, Ch. 38A, S 12H-12I.
Working fathers who have been continuously employed for at least 3 months are entitled to 2 weeks of government-paid paternity leave if:

•  they are married to the child’s mother, and
•  the child is a citizen of Singapore or will become a citizen of Singapore by the time he or she is one year old.

The two weeks of leave can be taken:

•  in a continuous block within 16 weeks of the child’s birth; or
•  within 12 months from the birth of the child (subject to an agreement with the employer).

Working fathers are also entitled to share 4 weeks of their wife’s 16 weeks of government-paid maternity leave.

LRC-CA-70.50
What are the provisions on sick leave, bereavement leave and personal leave for employees in Singapore?

Evershine RD:

Sick Leave

According to Employment Act, Chapter 91, 1968, S 89.
Employer pays the medical practitioner where the employer’s choosing.
At least 6 months’ service is entitled to paid sick leave up to 14 days per year if no hospitalization is required.
If hospitalization is required, sick leave is limited to the lesser of 60 days or 14 days plus the number of days the employee was hospitalized.
An employee with at least 3 months’ service but less than 6 months’ is entitled to sick leave proportionate to the time worked.

Bereavement leave/ Compassionate leave

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) does not require companies to provide bereavement leave to their employees.
Therefore, it is up to companies to offer leave entitlements.
In Singapore, many companies offer compassionate leave.

LRC-CA-70.60

What are the regulations on pension benefits and social security insurance benefits for employee in Singapore?

Evershine RD: 

According to Central Provident Fund Act, ch. 36, S 77.
The minimum legal retirement age is 62.
The Central Provident Fund (CPF) provides 4 types of individual accounts for its members.

1. An ordinary account to finance the purchase of a home, make approved investments or continue education.
2. A special account for retirement and retirement-related investments.
3. A Medisave account for certain medical expenses, including maternity.
4. A retirement account set up at age 55 to finance periodic payments during retirement.

LRC-CA-70.70

What are the regulations on Workers’ Compensation for employee in Singapore?

Evershine RD:

According to Work Injury Compensation Act, Ch. 354, SS 3(5), 4(1).
Under the Work Injury Compensation Act, if an employee suffers a specified occupational disease or a work-related injury, the employer must pay compensation unless the injury caused by employee’s use of alcohol or deliberate self-injury.
In the case of temporary incapacity, the employee is entitled to full pay for 60 days if hospitalized, 14 days if not hospitalized, plus a further payment of two-thirds of salary during the period of incapacity or for one year, whichever is shorter.

LRC-CA-80.05
Can the employee in Singapore join labor union?

Evershine RD:
An employment contract may not restrict the right of an employee to join a registered trade union.

LRC-CA-80.06
How to handle labor dispute in Singapore?

Evershine RD:

According to Industrial Relations Act, 1960, ch. 136, S 30E.
If an employer or a union does not accept within 7 days a notice of invitation to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement, the party that served the notice may notify the commissioner for labor, who will attempt to persuade to negotiate.
If there is continued refusal to negotiate, the commissioner will notify the Ministry of Manpower and the Registrar of the Courts that a trade dispute exists.
The minister may direct the parties to engage in further conciliation to attempt to settle the matter.
When a court has jurisdiction, it must expeditiously settle the trade dispute through arbitration.
On April 1, 2017, Singapore launched the Employment Claims Tribunal (ECT), which aims to provide speedy resolution to relatively low value salary disputes.

LRC-CA-90.10
What are the regulations on workplace safety and health for employee in Singapore?

Evershine RD:

According to Workplace Safety and Health Act, 2009, ch 354A, S 12.

Employer must take the following measures:

1. Provide and maintain a work environment that is safe and without risk to health and has adequate facilities and arrangements for employee welfare.
2. Ensure adequate safety measures for use of machinery, equipment, plant, article, or process by employees.
3. Ensure employees are not exposed to hazards from the arrangement in the workplace or near the workplace and under the control of the employer.
4. Develop and implementing procedures for dealing with emergencies that may arise at work.
5. Ensure that employees have adequate instruction information, training, and supervision in performing their work.

Employers must report to the Ministry of Manpower all work-related medical leave or employees placed on light duties.

LRC-CA-100.10
hat are the circumstances that an employer can terminate an employee in Singapore?

Evershine RD:

An employment contract may be terminated without notice under the following conditions:

•  The right to receive notice has been waived.
•  The terminating party has paid the other party an amount equal to the wages the employee would have earned during the requisite notice period.
•  The other party has willfully breached a condition of the contract.
•  The employer has breached the contract by failing to pay salary.
•  The employee has breached the contract by being continuously absent from work for more than two days without permission from the employer, reasonable excuse or attempt to inform the employer of the reason for absence.
•  After due inquiry, the employer determines that the employee engaged in conduct inconsistent with the fulfillment of the express or implied conditions of service. If the employee believes the termination to be without just cause, he or she may apply for reinstatement in writing within one month of dismissal to the minister of manpower. The decision of the minister is final and may not be challenged in court.
•  The employee or a dependent is immediately threatened by danger of violence or disease that was not anticipated when the employee entered the employment contract.

LRC-CA-100.11

What is the notification period for terminating an employee in Singapore?
How much is the severance pay?

Evershine RD:
An employment contract may at any time give notice to the other party of intent to terminate the contract.
Notice of termination must be in writing.
Unless the notice is specifically set forth in the contract, the following notice must be given:

1. 1 days’ notice if the period of employment is less than 26 weeks.
2. 1 week notice if the period of employment is at least 26 weeks but less than 2 years.
3. 2 weeks’ notice if the period of employment is at least 2 years but less than 5 years.
4. 4 weeks’ notice if the period of employment is at least 5 years or more.

Either party may choose to waive the right to receive notice.

In lieu of providing the requisite notice, the terminating party may pay the other party an amount equal to the wages the employee would have earned during the notice period.
Employment Act does not state the retrenchment benefits. It is the mutual agreement between employer and employee.
According to the nonbinding Tripartite Guidelines on Managing Excess Manpower, the prevailing norm for a retrenchment benefit is between two weeks’ and one month’s salary per year of service.

LRC-CA-100.12

What is the reporting requirement for employer in Singapore to notify the termination of employees to the competent authority?

Evershine RD:

When layoffs are unavoidable, the guidelines encourage employers to notify the Ministry of Manpower as soon as possible to allow time for the ministry and other relevant agencies to help employees find alternative employment and/or provide them with vocational training.

LRC-CA-100.20

What are the regulations on mass layoffs in Singapore?

Evershine RD:

According to Tripartite Guidelines on Managing Excess Manpower and Responsible Retrenchment, 2016.
The guidelines encourage companies to consider cost-cutting measures in lieu of layoffs, redeploying employees to perform different work, reducing wages where possible and implementing shorter workweeks, flexible workweeks, or temporary layoffs.

LRC-CA-100.30

What is the time limit for employer in Singapore to pay employees upon termination?

Evershine RD:

Total salary and any other amounts due to a terminated employee must be paid on the date of dismissal or at the latest within 3 business days thereafter.
Payment of wages to an employee who has resigned with the requisite notice must be made on the date the employment contract is terminated.
When an employee resigns without proper notice, payment of wages must be within seven days of resignation.
The employer may deduct from the salary due the amount the employee is liable to pay in lieu of proper notice.

Contact Us

Singapore Evershine BPO Service Limited Corp.
E-mail: sin4ww@evershinecpa.com
Singapore CPA Lau Wei-Koon, speak in both English and Chinese
215 Henderson Road #03-03 Henderson Industrial Park Singapore 159554

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