Core provisions will be extended to cover all managers and executives
The monthly basic salary threshold of $4,500 for managers and executives will be removed.
All employees, whether managers and executives, workmen and non-workmen, will be covered by the core provisions under the Employment Act. Seafarers, domestic workers and public servants will continue to be excluded, due to their nature of work, and separate coverage by other Acts and regulations.
All managers and executives, regardless of their salary levels, will be entitled to various benefits, including:
- a minimum 7 to 14 days’ annual leave
- 11 paid public holidays
- 14 days of paid sick leave and 60 days of paid hospitalisation leave
- maternity and childcare leave
- protection against wrongful dismissal; and
- protection in relation to number of hours of work, and overtime pay
Manual workers — otherwise known as “workmen”, such as cleaners, construction workers and machine operators — earning up to S$4,500 a month are accorded extra protection for overtime pay, rest days and other conditions of service.
The relationship between freelancers — such as estate agents, private-hire car drivers and food-delivery riders — and the companies engaging them is not regulated under the Employment Act.
Jobs bank — from 1 July 2018, companies with at least 10 workers and looking to hire for jobs paying under S$15,000 a month will need to advertise for such a position on Jobs Bank for at least 14 days before they can hire a foreigner. This is intended to give more Singaporeans a chance to apply for these jobs.
Salary threshold for non-workmen to qualify as Part IV employees will be raised from $2,500 to $2,600
Employees in white-collar jobs, such as retail sales assistants and clerks — classified as “non-workmen” under the law and earning up to S$2,600 will enjoy protection under Part IV provisions — i.e. will be protected in terms of time-based provisions. These include provisions for hours of work, overtime payments and rest days.
The cap for overtime rate payable for non-workmen covered under Part IV will be raised to $2,600, up from $2,250, to be aligned with the raised salary threshold.
The present S$2,250 wage cap for calculating overtime pay will also be raised to S$2,600, to keep in step with the new wage threshold.
Wrongful dismissal claims will be heard by the Employment Claims Tribunals (ECT)
MOM will no longer hear wrongful dismissal claims under the Employment Act and Child Development Co-savings Act. Such claims will be heard by the ECT, following mediation by the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM).
This change will provide a “one-stop service” to employees with both salary-related and wrongful dismissal claims. Employees who had both claims previously had to seek recourse separately.
While employers and employees have the right to contractual termination, employees can still submit a dismissal claim if they believe and can substantiate, as required, that their dismissal is wrongful. This includes employees who feel that they were forced to resign for wrongful reasons.
For managers and executives, the minimum service period they must fulfil before they can submit a dismissal claim (for dismissals with notice) will be reduced from 1 year to 6 months. There is no change for non-managers and executives for whom no minimum service period is required.
Medical certificates from all registered doctors and dentists will be recognised for paid sick leave
Employers will be required to recognise MCs from all registered doctors and dentists for the purposes of granting paid sick leave.
Employees will have the flexibility to see general practitioners (GPs) nearer to their homes.
However, there is no change to the policy on reimbursement of medical consultation fees – employers will still be required to reimburse medical consultation fees only for consultation with government doctors; or company-approved doctors, if the medical consultation entitles the employees to paid sick leave.
Implications for companies hiring foreign workers
The amendments to the Act also seek to tighten rules around hiring foreign workers. For example, the minimum qualifying salary to apply for an S-Pass for foreign mid-level skilled staff will be raised from S$2,200 to S$2,400. The hike will take place over two phases which are scheduled to take effect on 1 January 2019 and 1 January 2020.
The Government has also indicated that Employment Pass applications for foreign workers will be scrutinised more closely. Companies will be more closely monitored if they are assessed to:
• employ a high proportion of foreigners
• employ a high proportion of foreigners
• have a low contribution to the economy and society
Such companies may find it harder to receive approvals for employment pass applications.