6 Important Employment Law You Should Know

The employment Act is the main Employment law in Singapore that sticks to employment standards in Singapore. The Employment Law ensures competitiveness of the businesses in the precincts of Employment law. For making the country a better workplace, the MOM keeps changing the employment law more often.

Here is a list of 6 important employment laws you should know in Singapore

1. Basic employment Law

This law defines your rights and obligations to the employer

a. You can either be employed on a contractual basis or under an officer or employee of the government.

b. As per the employment act a workman is a skilled or unskilled manual labour or artisan or apprentice. Some of the examples of workman include a bus conductor, a lorry assistant, a bus inspector, a goldsmith, a lorry, truck and bus driver, a harbour-craft crew and a tailor or dressmaker.

c. If you earn more than $1600 including all over time and bonus works, you can prioritise bonus claims over other debts, you can’t ask about employer’s earnings, and you can’t claim holidays. Under this scheme all the subcontractors are considered as employees.

2. Your rights as an employee

This law defines your salary and working conditions

Salary

a. Salary must be paid at least once in a month. It doesn’t need to be the first day of the month. But your salary should be paid within seven days of your regular payday.

b. No employer can force you to be in contact after the expiry of your contract. You must be paid within 7 days of termination of service. With prior notice you can be paid on the day your job terminates.

c. Your employer can make reductions from your salary provided that you absent from work without a good reason. Apart from that if your employer makes repayment of your loan, pays your income tax, and contributes to your CPF then he can make reductions from your salary.

d. Your employer can’t deduct more than 25 percent of your salary for providing you special benefits.

Working conditions

a. You are not supposed to work more than 8 hours a day and 44 hours a week. You can make adjustments in a day’s work and a week’s work provided at the end of a month your average week day is limited to 44 days.

b. You can’t do overtime of 72 hours per week. You get a rest day per week excluding annual holidays and sick leave.


3. Termination of your service contract

This law defines contact period and notice of termination of your contract.

a. If your period of employment is less than 26 weeks than you employer should notify you one day before the termination of your service.

b. The notification period shouldn’t be less than 1 week before your termination period if your contact ranges between 26 weeks to 2 years.

c. The notification period is not less than 2 weeks prior to the termination of your service when you contact period is between 2 years to five years.

d. If your employment period is more than 5 years, then you employer must notify you 4 weeks before the termination of your contract.

4. Employment law for females

a. Females can enjoy maternity leave of 4 weeks before and 4 weeks after they give birth to a child as set by the MOM. You employer may agree to give you leave for 12 weeks.

b. To get full pay for maternity leave period you must have worked for 180 days under your employer.

c. Your employer is entitled to be brought to trial if he forces you to work 4 weeks before your confinement.

5. Making a complaint to the MOM upon disagreement with the employer

a. For making complaint against your employer you charged a mere fee amount of $3.

b. You should lodge a complaint with 1 year of the occurrence of disagreement. If your job is terminated without your fault, you should make complaint within 6 months of termination of your job.

6. Employment law for children

a. Children below the age of 14 can’t be employed by anybody unless they are involved in family business.

b. Employers can’t employ children in mines, shipyard, factories, quarries and construction work.

c. The employer breaching the law is charged up to $ 2000 basing on the period of employment.

The changing laws have made it mandatory to know the employment law not only for the employees but also for the employers in Singapore to avoid future circumstances.