Employment Act & Its Parts

Employment Act started in year 1968 and there were a few amendments since it been set to cater to the evolution of the working industries. It sets out the basic terms and conditions of employment and outlines the basics rights and duties of employers and employees. The scope of employment act is to covers every employee regardless of which nationality who is under a contract of service with an employer except seafarer, domestic workers and civil servants and managerial and executives earning more than $4500 per month.

Part I of the employment act is preliminary which is the brief of the entire employment act and the interpretation of the terms in the employment act. This is important to know the interpretation of the terms so that it will be easier for readers to understand.

Part II of the employment act is contract of services where it indicates the terms of employment, dismissal, termination and transfer of employees. Contract of service refer to any agreement between employer and employee regardless if it is in writing or oral, expressed or implied. It also includes an apprenticeship contract or agreement. This part only applies to workmen, non-workmen employees and managers & executives earning less than $4500.

Part III of the employment act is payment of salary where it relates to all the matters related to salaries, computations and income taxes. It also includes the authorised deduction of salary (section 27) and deduction for damages or loss (section 29). This part applies to workmen, non-workmen employees and managers & executives earning less than $4500.

Part IV of the employment act refer to the rest days, hours of work and other conditions of service like overtime, entitlements and annual leaves. This part applies to workmen with salary not exceeding $4500 and non-workmen employees with salary not exceeding $2500.

Part VIII of the employment act is the employment of children and young persons. The company is able to employ young person when he/she is 15 years old and a child age below 15 years old can only be employed when members of the same family are employed in the same company.

Part IX of the employment act is the maternity protection and benefits and childcare leave for parent. All female employees are entitled to absent herself from work and also entitled to receive payment from her employer at her gross rate of pay. Part VIA is the employment act about the part time employees. Part time employees are to work less than 35 hours a week. Part X of the employment act refer to the holiday and sick leave entitlement of the employees. This part applies to workmen, non-workmen employees and managers & executives earning less than $4500.

In this report, we will be looking at Part II, III, IV and X of the employment act. Evaluation of case study First, we will be looking at Henri’s case. Henri is a foreign worker from Bangladesh and employed as a workman for Steady Construction. Basic salary refers to the all remuneration except overtime, bonuses, reimbursement of expenses, productivity incentive payment and other allowances. Gross salary refers to all remuneration includes allowances like uniform allowances except overtime, bonuses, reimbursement of expenses, productivity incentive payment and traveling, food and housing allowances. In this case, his basic salary was stated $1100 in the In-Principle Approval letter issued by Ministry of Manpower but it is different from his employment contract which stated $1100 as his gross salary. Henri might be under-compensated as the gross salary stated in the contract might include other allowances like uniform allowance.

Therefore, it will result in inaccuracy of his pay. This case infringed the employment act part III, payment of salary. Furthermore, Henri was requested by the company to work on weekends and PH with a paid OT at a rate of $2.50 per hour. He exceeded 72 hours of OT and was not paid correctly for his OT. This infringed the employment act part IV section 38(5) and part III of the employment act. Steady Construction failed to explain the clauses in the employment contract to Henri. They should explain the clauses to Henri because he is from Bangladesh and might not be proficient in English. Moreover, the contract was not signed but there were an employer and employee relationship expressed in this situation. Lastly, his time card was not kept properly by the employees therefore it is hard for both parties to track the working hours of Henri. The company should keep the time card for his entire employment period or up to 2 years.

Next, we will look at Manfred’s case. He is a manager in Steady Construction but he does not have much authority and decision-making powers in the company. He mentioned that the company make the working condition difficult for him which forced him to resign than them to terminate him. The company compensated him with 4 months of salary with cash for unconsumed leave instead of originally 2 months of salary. In this case, I think that Manfred might be unsuccessful in raising a case at his company because he is being paid higher than the expected compensation and even the company would reinstate his position back, it will be quite awkward for both parties.

Recommendation and conclusion To prevent similar issues from happening again, I recommend that the company should be stricter on the protocol for signing of the contract and going through the contract especially to the foreign workers. The foreign workers are not familiar with the employment act in Singapore therefore it is the employers’ responsibility to explain the clauses to the employees. I believe all employees should know their employment rights. For example, the company can implement a checklist for each new employees stating the procedures to recruit workers and making sure that the clauses are explained clearly to the workers and the signing of the contract.

So, if these were to bring up to court, it will be easier for MOM and both parties to resolve it. Furthermore, the company should keep the Henri’s timecard for up to 2 years or for his entire employment period before they dispose it. It acts as a evidence and record for payment of salary purpose and In conclusion, I think that the company should realigned their employment policy