13 April, 2018
On 5 March 2018, the Minister for Manpower announced that the Ministry of Manpower (“MOM”) would seek Parliament’s approval of the following amendments to the Employment Act (the “EA”) later this year for implementation by 1 April 2019:
Broadening the coverage of the EA
The EA will be broadened to cover more employees with effect from 1 April 2019. MOM has decided to remove the salary cap of S$4,500 so that the core EA provisions will cover all employees, including all Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians (“PMET”) regardless of salary thresholds. Such change means that all PMETs will enjoy the employee benefits under the core provisions of the EA, including (i) paid public holidays; (ii) paid sick and hospitalisation leave; (iii) maternity benefits and childcare leave; (iv) statutory protections relating to timely payment of salary, maternity protection and dismissal without just cause or excuse and (v) preservation of existing terms and conditions, length of service and automatic transfer rights to buyers on the employment sale of businesses.
Extension of Protection on Working Hours and Overtime Payment to more workers
Additional protection for more vulnerable employees is set out in Part IV of the EA and relate to time-based provisions such as annual leave, hours of work, overtime pay and rest day. These cover workmen earning a monthly salary of up to S$4,500, and non-workmen earning a monthly salary of up to S$2,500. Under the amended EA, the current salary cap of S$2,500 for non-workmen will be increased to S$2,600 to cover more employees. In terms of overtime pay, the salary cap for non-workmen will also be raised from S$2,250 to S$2,600.
Clarification on Scope of Automatic Transfer Rights in transfers of undertaking
The amendments to EA are expected to provide further clarification around the types of transfers/transactions that will constitute a “transfer of undertaking” for the purposes of Section 18A of the EA, pursuant to which EA employees have the right to automatically transfer to the buyer of that undertaking by law with continuity of service and on their existing terms and conditions of employment.
Dispute Resolution for Unfair Dismissal
Under the current regime, salary-related disputes are heard by the Employment Claims Tribunal while unfair dismissal claims are adjudicated by MOM. The proposed amendments to the EA will streamline the process by allowing the Employment Claims Tribunal to hear both salary-related disputes and unfair dismissal claims.
For further information, please contact:
Laure de Panafieu , Counsel, Head of Employment & Incentives, Asia , Linklaters
laure.de_panafieu@linklaters.com
