Employment Law Updates
Updates and analysis on Singapore employment law — WFA, WICA, Employment Act changes, tribunal decisions.
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Reaching retirement age does not let an employer end the job on the spot. In [2026] SGECT 5 the Employment Claims Tribunals awarded an employee retired with immediate effect two months’ salary in lieu of notice and an employment assistance payment of $14,750, because the six-month re-employment offer he refused did not meet the one-year…
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In [2026] SGECT 4 the Employment Claims Tribunals accepted that the one-year limit for a commission claim could run from the date of underpayment, and held in the alternative that using formal internal grievance channels was not dead time. A clause making the employer’s pay plan committee the final word on ambiguity could not keep…
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In [2026] SGECT 3 the Employment Claims Tribunals held that section 45 of the Employment Act creates no statutory right to a retrenchment benefit, that a non-contractual HR policy and past practice do not, without more, bind the employer, and that share options need not vest for an employee serving notice. The employer won every…
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Employer Says It Kept No Attendance Records? The Tribunal Drew an Adverse Inference ([2026] SGECT 2)
In [2026] SGECT 2 the Employment Claims Tribunals awarded an employee $20,000 in unpaid overtime after finding that the employer had attendance records and was denying their existence. The decision shows how section 95 of the Employment Act and the adverse inference under section 21(2) of the Employment Claims Act shift the risk of missing…
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In [2026] SGECT 1 the Employment Claims Tribunals held that an employer which dismisses for misconduct must hold a due inquiry even if it pays full notice, and must prove any dishonesty it alleges in the termination letter. The employer proved only negligence, colleagues with similar claims had been warned, and the employee was awarded…
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Inflated salaries, fake degrees and false job descriptions in EP, S Pass or Work Permit applications are offences under EFMA s 22(1)(d), with jail the sentencing norm since Chiew Kok Chai [2019] SGHC 169. A former MOM prosecutor explains the penalties, the sentencing bands and how MOM catches the gap between what was declared and…
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The Workplace Fairness Act commences end-2027 and exempts firms with fewer than 25 employees at the start, but MOM’s Fair Consideration Framework already carries work pass debarment of 12 to 24 months. A practical compliance guide for SME employers, from a former MOM prosecutor.
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Miss the foreign worker levy and MOM charges 2 per cent of the unpaid levy a month, pro-rated daily; miss it for two consecutive months and your existing Work Permits and S Passes are revoked the following month. A former MOM prosecutor sets out the consequences MOM actually lists, when a levy waiver applies, and…
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Employing a foreigner without a valid work pass carries a fine of $5,000 to $30,000, up to 12 months’ jail, or both under section 5 EFMA, with mandatory imprisonment for individual repeat offenders. Where the worker is an overstayer or an illegal entrant, the charge falls under the Immigration Act and imprisonment is mandatory. A…
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MOM employment inspectors can search premises, seize documents and record statements you are bound to give truthfully. A former MOM prosecutor explains what triggers an investigation, your rights at the interview, the possible outcomes and when to instruct counsel.