Frequently Asked Questions

In general, Managers and Executives are employees with executive and supervisory functions. 

They may be, or their duties may include all or one of these:

• Employees with executive and supervisory functions;
• Making decisions on issues such as recruitment, discipline, termination of employment, performance assessment, and reward;
• Formulating strategies and policies of the enterprise/organisation;
• Managing and running a business; and
• Professionals with tertiary education and specialised skills.

 

Part 4 of the Employment Act which sets out rest days, hours of work and other conditions of service only applies to:

• A workman (doing manual labour) earning a monthly basic salary of $4,500 or less; or
• An employee who is not a workman, manager or executive, but who is covered by the Employment Act, and earns a monthly basic salary of $2,600 or less.

 

In light of the above, salary is not the determinative factor in ascertaining whether an employee is a Manager/Executive for the purposes of coverage under Part 4 of the Employment Act. Instead, the nature of the job, and the responsibilities of the employee, the qualifications of the employee and amount of remuneration payable to the employees should be taken into account in determining this issue.

Most employees* working under a contract of service are covered under the Employment Act. This includes professionals, managers and executives. However, Part 4 of the Employment Act (covering overtime pay, rest days, hours of work etc.) does not apply to managers and executives.

 

* Seafarers, domestic workers and public servants are not covered under the Employment Act.

Part 4 of the Employment Act, which sets out rest days, hours of work and other conditions of service, only applies to:

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

 

* Except seafarers, domestic workers and public servants, for whom the entire Employment Act does not apply.

 

Part 4 of the Employment Act may therefore not apply to all PMEs.

 

However, some PMEs may be provided with overtime pay/time-off in their employment contracts. You should check your employment contract with respect to these.

A contract of service is an agreement between an employer and an employee.

 

In a contract for services, an independent contractor, such as a self-employed person or a vendor, he/she is engaged for a fee to carry out an assignment or project. A contract for services establishes a client-contractor relationship between the contracting parties. The independent contractor carries out business on his or her own account, unlike in a contract of service where the employee does business for the employer.

Not under the Employment Act, which only requires employers to recognise MCs issued by medical practitioners registered under the Medical Registration Act. However, employers have the discretion to decide if they wish to recognise MCs issued by TCM practitioners. Many progressive companies do accept MCs from registered TCM practitioners.

No, non-statutory leave such as family care leave, compassionate leave, and marriage leave are not under the purview of the Employment Act. Thesenon-mandatory leave may be offered by some employers, and would be dependent on the terms 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 does not fall under the purview of 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.

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

 

Applying for annual leave	Offsetting of annual leave
You are still an employee of the company during the notice period.	You are still an employee of the company but you wish to commence work with your new employer as soon as possible.
You cannot start work with a new employer during the notice period unless you have served the full notice period.	You offset your annual leave to shorten your notice period to bring your last day forward. You can join your new employer after you finish your last day of work.

Annual Wage Supplement and bonuses are not compulsory payments unless specified in your employment contract or your union’s collective agreement with your employer.

“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.” 

Is the above clause reasonable and enforceable?

If a Restraint of Trade (“ROT”) clause is too wide, it is likely to be held as unreasonable and unenforceable by the courts. The onus is on the company to prove that the clause is commercially reasonable before the company may enforce it. 

ROT clauses generally prohibit employees from engaging in activities that compete with the company and/or from soliciting other employees and/or clients of the company in order to protect a company’s legitimate business interests, after the employees leave employment. 

The Courts have held that ROT clauses are generally unenforceable unless they are used to protect a legitimate business interest and are reasonable to the interests of both the parties and the public. Legitimate business interests capable of protection by ROT include:

1. Maintaining a stable workforce;
2. Trade secrets, confidential business information; and 
3. Trade connections with clients/customers and employees.

 

Employers should ensure that the ROT clauses are not excessively broad, but should generally be limited (i.e. in terms of the scope restricted activities, the geographical area and the duration), taking into account the specific facts of each case. Specifically, the covenant in restraint of trade must go no further than what is necessary to protect the interest concerned. Where there are other clauses in the employment contract that sufficiently protect the employer’s interest (for example, restrictions on the use of confidential information), ROT clauses should be used sparingly only if required to protect the legitimate interests of the employer that the other employment terms do not already protect.

In light of the above, a ROT clause is likely to be held to be unreasonable if it is intended to have the following impact:

• Restrains competition illegally by applying the clause to all employees regardless of their nature of work, seniority, or accessibility to confidential information.
• Prevents the employee entirely from working for a rival, regardless of the employee’s new scope of work with the new employer.
• Prevents the employee from working or being employed in the same industry.
• Prevents the employee from using even his/her minimal expertise, which is not deemed vital to the operations of the organisation.
• No fixed duration of time. Generally, the duration of the restraint must be fixed and not be excessive and would depend on the employee’s nature of work, seniority and skill level, the extent of influence and access to confidential information and the particular industry in question.
• No fixed geographical limits are set as to where the employee had actual and significant client contact in order to protect the possibility of acquiring future business. However, the geographical limits may be relevant where the former employer has a legitimate business interest. 

A training bond refers to an agreement between a company and an employee, which states that the employee is to stay with the company for a specific minimum period after being sent for training. Under this training bond, the parties also agree that the employee must pay the company a  form of compensation should the employee leave the company before the expiry of the agreed minimum period. Such clauses are imposed to protect the company’s interest so that it may recover its losses, i.e. the employee’s training costs and other losses that the company is likely to incur until a replacement is hired and trained.

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. 

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 likely to be held to be valid if it is a genuine pre-estimate of the employer’s loss should the employee terminate his/her employment.

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 pursue any damages against the employer, you would have to commence court proceedings and prove losses that you have suffered as a result of the employer’s purported breach.

A breach of contract is a violation of any of the agreed-upon 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:

• Employer fails to pay salary within 7 days after the end of the salary period.
• Employer dismisses the employee summarily when there are no or insufficient grounds for summary dismissal. 

Workplace harassment occurs when a co-worker, manager or any other person at the workplace (e.g., a customer, contractor or volunteer) harasses, alarms or distresses another person with his or her behaviour. It may also pose a risk to the victim's safety and health.

 

Forms of harassment include but are not limited to:

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

 

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

You may take the following actions:

1. Report the harassment to your supervisor, manager, or HR Department to intervene and take appropriate action.
2. Consider lodging a police report, if necessary. 
3. Contact TAFEP for assistance.
4. File for protection from harassment under the Protection of Harassment Act. 
5. 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 working in a unionised company, please contact your union representative.
If you are not working in a unionized company, you may send your enquiry to Professionals, Managers and Executives (PMEs) - Contact Us (ntuc.org.sg).

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. 

You may apply for a Protection Order or an Enhanced Protection Order to stop wanted behaviour and/or communication of the harasser. An offender may be fined up to $5000 and/or jailed for up to 6 months. 

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