Frequently Asked Questions

PME stands for Professionals, Managers and Executives.

Their functions may include all or one of these:

• In charge of overseeing and leading others.
• Making decisions about hiring, discipline, termination, evaluating work, and giving rewards.
• Creating plans and rules for the company or organization.
• Running and managing a business.
• In roles requiring higher education and specialized skills.

Part 4 of the Employment Act covers services such as rest days, hours of work and overtime, etc. This section applies to the following:

• A workman (doing manual labour) earning a monthly basic salary of $4,500 or less.
• An employee who is not a workman, manager or executive and earning a monthly basic salary of $2,600 or less.

A contract of service is an agreement between an employer and an employee which specifies the terms and conditions of employment.

Medical Certificates (MCs) issued by Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioners are not covered under the Employment Act. However, employers have the discretion to decide if they wish to recognise MCs issued by TCM practitioners.

No. Family care leave, compassionate leave, and marriage leave are not legally required under the Employment Act. These types of leave may be offered by some employers and would be dependent on the terms and conditions of your employment contract.

Although annual leave is an entitlement under the Employment Act, the company has the discretion to reject an employee's leave application subject to the company’s needs, i.e. manpower shortage, operation needs.

Encashment of annual leave is not covered under the Employment Act. You would need to check your employment contract or your company’s HR policy on how such unused annual leave should be treated. This includes whether it can be encashed, carried forward or forfeited.

For employees covered by the Employment Act, the notice period would be the same for both the employer and the employee as set out in the employment contract. If not specified in the employment contract, the length of the notice period would be in accordance with section 10(3) of the Employment Act.

 

Length of Service	Notice Period
Less than 26 weeks	1 day
26 weeks to less than 2 years	1 week
2 years to less than 5 years	2 weeks
5 years or more	4 weeks

The main difference is that using annual leave to offset the notice period brings forward your last day of employment with the company (you would be paid up to this last day of work), whereas applying for leave during the notice period does not. Generally, employees use annual leave to offset the notice period so that they may commence work at their new company as soon as possible.

Annual Wage Supplement and bonuses are not legally required under the Employment Act, unless specified in your employment contract.

Restraint of trade refers to any agreement that restricts someone from engaging in a profession or competing business. It is often considered illegal if it unfairly limits someone's ability to work.

“During 36 months from the Termination Date, the Employee shall not (except with prior written approval) work on his behalf in connection with the development, manufacture, sale, merchandising or promotion of any Competitive Product or Service: in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, China, Nepal, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Brunei, Laos, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Australia, New Zealand, Japan.”

 

The ROT clause above is likely to be unreasonable and unenforceable if it has one or all of the following impact:

A Generic Clause: Applies to all employees.

• Industry Ban: Prohibits employees from working in the same industry.
• Unclear Duration: Lacks specific and reasonable time limit.
• Geographical Region: Unspecified and/or unreasonable location.

A training bond is an agreement where an employee promises to stay with a company for a set time after receiving training. If the employee leaves early, they must compensate the company for training costs and other expenses. This protects the company from losses until a replacement is found and trained.

An example of a training bond clause can be seen below. However, whether the clause is valid and enforceable depends on the scope of reasonableness, amongst others.

“During the period of employment, the Parties agree that the Company will invest and provide the employee with resources and training to become a competent and skilled Software Engineer. These resources and training expended on the employee amount to approximately $10K in expenses (the Costs of Training), and the employee agrees that the Costs of Training are reasonable and of fair market value. If the employee leaves within the first year of employment, the employee will need to pay the full amount of the training costs.”

A liquidated damages clause is a clause in your employment contract which provides for a fixed amount of compensation to be paid to the employer upon the occurrence of an event, e.g. if you fail to commence employment by a certain date, terminate the contract before the end of a fixed term, or if you leave the company before the agreed minimum period after the company has sent you for training.

A liquidated damages clause is likely to be valid if the employer suffers a loss because of the employee breaching the employment contract.

Once an employment contract has been signed, both employers and employees should be prepared to fulfil their contractual obligations. In exceptional cases when they are unable to do so, they should inform the other party as soon as possible

If you wish to claim any compensation against the employer, you will have to take legal action and prove that you have suffered losses as a result of the employer’s action.

A breach of contract is a violation of the terms and conditions of the employment contract.

Examples of breach of contract by the employee:

• Where an employee is absent from work continuously for more than 2 working days without approval and a good excuse.
• Where an employee is absent from work continuously for more than 2 working days without informing and attempting to inform his employer of the reason.

 

Examples of breach of contract by the employer:

• Not fulfilling agreements made in the contract.
• Employer changes the terms and conditions of your employment contract without your consent.

Workplace harassment occurs when a co-worker, manager or any other person at the workplace harasses or disturbs another person with his or her behaviour which may pose a risk to the victim's safety and health.

• Threatening, abusive or insulting language or non-verbal gestures;
• Cyber bullying
• Sexual harassment
• Stalkin

Source: https://www.tal.sg/tafep/employment-practices/workplace-harassment/about

You may take the following actions:

• Report the harassment to your supervisor, manager, or HR Department to intervene and take appropriate action.
• Consider lodging a police report, if necessary.
• Contact Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) for assistance.
• File for protection from harassment under the Protection of Harassment Act .
• Apply to see a volunteer lawyer in NTUC’s Legal Clinics for advice.
• You may refer to TAFEP’s website for more information on other forms of support.
• If you are an NTUC member working in a unionised company, please contact your union representative.
• If you are an NTUC member but not working in a unionized company, you may send your enquiry to https://upme.ntuc.org.sg/contact-us.

Harassment within and outside the workplace is an offence under the Protection from Harassment Act (POHA) which protects you from harassment and related anti-social behaviour through criminal sanctions and provides a range of self-help measures and civil remedies for victims of harassment. 

Source:.https://www.judiciary.gov.sg/civil/cases-eligible-protection-from-harassment 

Detailed information can be found under this link: How to file and serve a POHA application.

Source: https://www.judiciary.gov.sg/civil/how-to-file-serve-protection-from-harassment

You may approach your union (if your company is unionised) or you may write in to us for advice and assistance.

Other options such as engaging mediation service providers or lawyers to resolve your workplace issue are also made available to NTUC members at a preferential rate.

Here are the respective links:

Workplace Advice & Assistance: https://e-services.ntuc.org.sg/workplaceadvisory

Mediation Service Providers: https://e-services.ntuc.org.sg/eappointment

Legal Assistance: https://www.ntuc.org.sg/uportal/programmes/legal-assistance-panel#Learn%20More