Employee Rights in Singapore

Yo Mat Riders,

Do you ever think what your work right is ah? This is tooken from Ministery of Man and Woman Power. So all who thinking you work too much, YESSAH YOU WORK TOO MUCH to pay the bloody minister $1.2 million a year!


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Hours of Work and Overtime


Part IV of the Employment Act & Section 33 are applicable only to:

* All Workmen
* Other employees earning not more that $1,600 per month (excludes, overtime, bonus, aws, productivity incentives and allowances)


* Hours of Work

* Overtime



Definition of Week

To determine Hours of Work and Rest day in a week

Week

Means a continuous period of 7 days commencing at midnight on Sunday (Monday to Sunday)


Hours of Work

An employee's `hours of work' is the period during which the employee is expected to carry out the duties assigned to him/her by the employer. It does not include any intervals allowed for rest, tea breaks and meals.

Contractual Hours of Work

An employee covered by Part IV of the Employment Act is not required under his/her contract of service to work more than eight hours in a day or 44 hours in a week.

The limit of eight hours per day may be exceeded when an employee is not required to work more than five days a week. However, he/she is not required to work for more than nine hours per day or 44 hours in a week.

If the number of hours worked is less than 44 hours every alternate week, the limit of 44 hours a week may be exceeded in the other week. However, this must be stated in the contract of service and is subject to a maximum of 48 hours in one week or 88 hours in any continuous two week period.

A shift worker may be required to work up to 12 hours a day, provided that the average working hours each week do not exceed 44 over a continuous three week period.

An employee who is not on shift work can be required to work up to 12 hours a day if the employee gives his consent in writing after the provisions of Sections 38 & 40 of the Employment Act have been clearly explained to him. He must be informed of the daily working hours, the number of working days in each week and the weekly rest day.

If the employee's rest day falls on a day other than a Sunday, the employer is required to prepare a monthly roster and inform him of his rest days for the month at the beginning of each month.
Overtime allowance will be payable only if the employee is required to work more than an average of 44 hours a week over any continuous period of three weeks.


Break Time

An employee is generally not required to work more than six consecutive hours without a break.

However, if the nature of work is such that it must be carried on continuously, an employee may be required to work eight hours continuously. In such an instance, a break or breaks must be given so that the employee can have his/her meal(s). The duration of the break(s) should be no less than 45 minutes.


Maximum working hours

An employee is not allowed to work for more than 12 hours within a day except in the following circumstances:

a) Accident or threat of accident;

b) Work that is essential to:

a. The life of the community;
b. National defence; or
c. Security;

c) Urgent work to be done to machinery or plant; or

d) An interruption of work which was impossible to foresee.

A shift worker is not allowed to work more than 12 hours a day under any circumstances.



Overtime


All work in excess of the above hours of work is considered as overtime work, and the employee must be paid no less than 1.5 times his/her hourly basic rate of pay. Payment for overtime work must be made within 14 days after the last day of the salary period.

The rate of payment is not less than one and a half times the employee's hourly basic rate of pay.

For a monthly-rated employee. His hourly basic rate of pay is computed as follows:

12 * Monthly Basic Rate of Pay

52 x 44

For a daily-rated employee, his hourly basic rate of pay is computed as follows:

Daily Pay at the Basic Rate

Working Hours Per Day

For a piece-rated employee, his hourly basic rate of pay is computed as follows:

Total Weekly Pay at the Basic Rate of Pay

Total Number of Hours Worked in the Week

Based on the hourly basic rate of pay, the overtime pay for the 3 categories of employees is to be calculated as follows:

Hourly Basic Rate of Pay x 1.5 x Number of Hours of Overtime Worked

Under Part IV of the Employment Act, it is mandatory to make overtime payment to an employee if his basic salary is $1,600 or less a month, or if he is a workman (regardless of his salary level). Generally, a workman is an employee whose work involves manual labour. Some examples of workman are lorry drivers, construction workers, kitchen helpers, machine operators. The minimum rate for overtime pay is 1.5 times the hourly rate of pay. For other categories of employees, overtime pay will depend on the terms stated in their employment contract.


Maximum Hours of Overtime

An employee is permitted to work up to a limit of 72 hours of overtime in a month. However, this limit may be exceeded if the Ministry of Manpower has granted an exemption. (Download the application form for overtime exemption).

For work done on rest days or public holidays it is not included in the 72 hours' limit for overtime. However, if an employee works beyond his normal daily working hours on his rest day or public holiday, the extra hours of work done would be included in the 72 hours' limit for overtime work.

The rate of payment for an employee who works overtime on his rest day and public holiday should be paid at not less than one and a half times his hourly basic rate of pay for the overtime work (as in the case of overtime work on any other day), in addition to his rest day or public holiday pay.