Date Published: 23 March 2020
Authors: Pradeep Kumar Singh, Bill Jamieson, Wong Pei-Ling and Marvin Chua.
Return To: Employment Law Guide
As of 1 April 2019, the EA covers every employee (regardless of nationality) who is under a contract of service with an employer, except:-
- any seaman;
- any domestic worker; and
- any person employed by a Statutory Board or the Government.
These groups of employees are protected under industry-specific legislation.
Besides the core provisions, Part IV of the EA provides ‘additional’ protection for rest days, hours of work and other conditions of service applies to certain workers (“Part IV Employees”). It applies only to:
- workmen earning not more than a basic monthly salary of S$4,500; and
- non-workmen covered under the EA earning not more than a basic monthly salary of S$2,600.
In general, “workmen” refers to employees engaged in manual labour, or employed partly for manual labour and partly for the purpose of supervising in person any workman in and throughout the performance of his work; but excluding any seafarer or domestic worker. Examples of workmen include: drivers, cleaners, construction workers, Labourers, machine operators and assemblers etc.
It should be noted that Part IV of the EA does not apply to any person employed in a managerial or executive position.
Employees working less than 35 hours a week are covered by the Employment (Part-Time Employees) Regulations (“Part-Time Regulations”), which provide certain flexibility for both the employer and employee, including the pro-rating of employment benefits, encashment of annual leave and provision of rest days. Please refer to section 18 below regarding part-time employees.
The EA also empowers and gives the Minister flexibility to make regulations that “regulate the conduct of an employer towards an employee, for the purposes of protecting the employee from any employment practice that may adversely affect the wellbeing of the employee.” In the second reading in parliament, the Minister cited an example involving errant practices of some employers who ask their employees to sign salary vouchers before receiving their salaries, or to sign on blank salary vouchers, either out of convenience or to cover up for late or non-payment of salaries.
Please note that this section of the Employment Law Guide is a summary provided for general information purposes, aimed at aiding understanding of Singapore’s employment law as at the date of writing. It is not exhaustive or comprehensive and reading this memorandum is not a substitute for reading the text of the various statutes to fully understand the extent of the obligations owed. This guide should also not be relied upon as legal advice.
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