The document provides information on changes to Singapore's Employment Act that will take effect on January 1, 2009. Key changes include extending coverage of the Act to confidential staff and protecting junior managers and executives earning $2,500 or less monthly from non-payment of salary. The Part IV salary ceiling is also being raised for non-workmen to $2,000 and a new $4,500 ceiling is introduced for workmen. In addition, entitlements to paid sick leave and public holidays will be standardized across all employees covered by the Act.

1. Changes to the
Employment Act
Ministry of Manpower A quick guide to the changes to the
Labour Relations & Workplaces Division
Employment Act from 1st January 2009
18 Havelock Road Singapore 059764 Tel: 6438 5122
Email: mom_lrd@mom.gov.sg Website: www.mom.gov.sg
This guide is also available online at the Ministry of Manpower
Website: www.mom.gov.sg > Employment Standards > Publications
The information provided in this guide is intended to provide you with a guide to the changes to the Employment Act. It is written in general terms
and is not a complete or authoritative statement of the law. If in doubt, please refer to the Employment Act or contact the Ministry of Manpower.
Printed in Dec 2008

2. This guide provides information on the major changes to the Employment Act
which come into effect on 1 January 2009. If you need further assistance, please
refer to www.mom.gov.sg or call the Ministry of Manpower at 6438 5122.
The Employment Act
The Employment Act is Singapore’s main labour legislation. It stipulates
the basic terms and conditions of employment and the rights and
obligations of employers and employees under a contract of service.
A contract of service is an employment agreement between an employee
and an employer. Contracts are commonly in writing, but they can also
be based on verbal agreements.
Why amend the Employment Act?
The last substantive amendment of the Employment Act was in 1995.
Since then, the labour market has changed significantly with shifts in
workforce profile, increase in wages and shortening of employment
tenures.
It is thus timely to update the Employment Act so that it remains relevant
and responsive to the changing labour market conditions.

3. SUMMARY OF THE MAJOR CHANGES
These changes come into effect on 1 January 2009.
COVERAGE OF THE EMPLOYMENT ACT
• Extend coverage to confidential staff;
• Protect managers and executives earning a basic monthly
salary of $2,500 and below against non-payment of salary
and give them access to MOM Labour Court for salary
claims;
• Raise Part IV salary ceiling for non-workmen at a basic
monthly salary of $1,600 to $2,000;
• Introduce a new Part IV salary ceiling for workmen at a
basic monthly salary of $4,500; and
• Re-define part-time employees from those who work less
than 30 hours a week to those who work less than 35 hours
a week.
The following employees will continue to be excluded from the Act:
• Seamen;
• Domestic workers;
• Statutory board and government employees; and
• Persons employed in managerial and executive positions
(except those earning a basic monthly salary of $2500 and below will be
protected against non-payment of salary)

4. EMPLOYMENT STANDARDS AND BENEFITS
• Grant paid sick leave and paid public holiday to all
employees covered under the Act, and not just those
covered under Part IV of the Act;
• Reduce qualifying period for paid sick leave from 6 months
to 3 months of completed service. Phase in sick leave
entitlements between the completion of 3 months and
6 months of service; and
• Allow employees to obtain medical certificates (MC) from
public medical institutions for the purpose of going on paid
sick leave where company doctors are not readily available
or during emergency situations, and not confined to MC
issued from employer appointed doctors (if there is one)
for paid sick leave during such circumstances.
PENALTIES FOR INFRINGEMENT OF EMPLOYMENT ACT
• Increase maximum penalty fines for most offences under the
Employment Act from $1,000 to $5,000;
• Increase maximum penalty fines for most repeat offences
under the Employment Act from $2,000 to $10,000; and
• Increase composition fine for offences from $200 to $1,000.

5. I Coverage of the Employment Act
Confidential Staff
From 1 January 2009, employees holding confidential positions will be
covered under the Employment Act.
Q1 Why do you extend the coverage of the Employment Act to
confidential staff?
Confidential staff were traditionally excluded to avoid conflict of interest because
some of them may be dealing with sensitive personnel matters. However, most
confidential staff, such as secretaries and HR clerks hold rank and file positions
and are seldom directly involved in sensitive matters. As such they should also
be covered under the Act to be entitled to basic employment benefits and have
recourse through the Ministry when there are employment disputes.
Q2 Who is considered a confidential
staff?
A confidential staff is an employee who has
access to classified sensitive information of
the company, such as personnel records,
sensitive financial data and business
operations/trade secrets.

6. Q3 How can confidential staff benefit from coverage under the Act?
As confidential staff are no longer excluded from the Employment Act as a special
class of persons, they are protected under the Act like any other employees,
provided they meet other Employment Act qualifying criteria as well (such as not
holding a managerial and executive position).
Employment Protection
They can refer their salary claims to the MOM Labour Court for adjudication.
They may also appeal to the Minister against unfair dismissal.
Minimum Employment Benefits
If their salaries are not higher than the basic monthly salary ceiling of $2,000
and $4,500 for non-workmen and workmen respectively, they will also enjoy
the minimum employment benefits stated under Part IV of the Employment Act,
including the right to overtime pay and paid annual leave.
Q4 Would the coverage of confidential staff affect their collective
bargaining rights?
No. Although confidential staff will be covered under the Employment Act, they
will continue to be excluded from the collective bargaining process under the
Industrial Relations Act if they have access to sensitive information that could
result in conflict of interest in the collective bargaining process.
Junior Managers and Executives
From 1 January 2009, junior managers and executives earning a basic
monthly salary of $2,500 and below will be protected against non-payment
of salary and be given access to MOM Labour Court to pursue their salary
claims. However, they will continue to be excluded from the rest of the
Employment Act.

7. Q5 Why do you allow junior managers and executives access to
MOM Labour Court for salary claims?
Managers and executives are not covered under the Act because they are
deemed to be able to protect their interest through civil claims. However, civil
claims can be protracted and costly. Junior managers and executives often
find the cost difficult to bear. As such, managers and executives earning basic
monthly salaries of $2,500 and below are given protection for salary payment,
which is the most common type of employment claims reported to MOM.
Q6 How do you define managers and executives?
Managers and executives are employees with executive or supervisory functions.
These functions include the authority to influence or make decision on issues
such as recruitment, discipline, termination of employment and assessment
of performance and reward. They may also be involved in the formulation of
strategies and policies of the enterprise, or the management and running of the
business.
They also include professionals with tertiary education and specialised
knowledge/skills and whose employment terms are comparable to those of
managers and executives. Professionals such as lawyers, accountants and
doctors whose nature and terms of employment are comparable to executives
would generally be deemed as such, and hence they would not be covered
under the Act.

8. Q7 What constitutes basic salary?
Basic salary is the total amount of money (including wage adjustments and
increments) which an employee is entitled to under the contract of service but
does not include:
• additional payments by way of overtime payments;
• additional payments by way of bonus payments or annual wage
supplements;
• any sum paid to reimburse an employee for special expenses incurred
by the employee in the course of employment;
• productivity incentive payments; and
• any allowance however described.
Q8 What type of employment claims can junior managers and
executives refer to MOM?
Only salary claims of junior managers and executives may be referred to
MOM. Salary includes all remuneration including allowances payable to an
employee in respect of work done under his contract of service, but does not
include —
• the value of any house accommodation, supply of electricity, water,
medical attendance, or other amenity, or of any service excluded by
general or special order of the Minister published in the Gazette;
• any contribution paid by the employer on his own account to any
pension fund or provident fund;
• any travelling allowance or the value of any travelling concession;
• any sum paid to the employee to reimburse him for special expenses
incurred by him in the course of his employment;
• any gratuity payable on discharge or retirement; and
• any retrenchment benefit payable on retrenchment.
Q9 What are some examples of issues/claims that junior managers
and executives cannot refer to MOM?
They include non-salary issues such as appeals against unfair dismissal, and
encashment of perks and benefits such as annual leave, sick leave, public
holidays and payment in lieu of notice of termination.

9. Q10 Can MOM help junior managers and executives to recover salary
arrears for employment periods before 1 January 2009?
The new law only comes into effect on 1 January 2009. As such, only salary
arrears that are accrued from 1 January 2009 onwards can be adjudicated by
MOM.
Part IV salary ceiling for non-workmen
From 1 January 2009, the Part IV salary ceiling for non-workmen will be
revised from $1,600 to $2,000 basic monthly salary.
Q11 Why do you raise the Part IV salary ceiling?
The ceiling was last revised from $1,500 to $1,600 in 1995, more than 13 years
ago. The rise in Part IV salary ceiling is to reflect the increase in wages.
Q12 How can employees benefit from the raising of the Part IV salary
ceiling?
With the increase in the Part IV salary ceiling, employees earning basic monthly
salaries of $2,000 and below will enjoy the minimum employment benefits
stipulated under Part IV of the Employment Act. These include:
• the right to enjoy overtime pay at 1.5 times the basic rate of salary;
• the right to enjoy 2 days pay for work on rest days;
• the right to enjoy paid annual leave stipulated in the law; and
• regulation of contractual working hours.
Q13 For those employees earning between $1,600 and $2,000 basic
monthly salaries, is there a need for employers to renegotiate
new employment contracts with them?
From 1 January 2009, this group of employees will henceforth be entitled to
Part IV benefits such as overtime pay etc as these are the minimum statutory
requirements. Employers are advised to update the relevant clauses in their
employment contracts.

10. Part IV salary ceiling for workmen
From 1 January 2009, a new Part IV salary ceiling at $4,500 basic monthly
salary will be introduced for workmen. Workmen with salaries above the new
ceiling will be excluded from Part IV of the Employment Act. However, they
will continue to be covered under the rest of the Employment Act.
Q14 Why do you introduce a new Part IV salary ceiling for workmen?
Employers have given feedback that Part IV of
the Employment Act restricts their flexibility to set
overtime and rest day payment rates for high salaried
workmen. These workmen are also able to negotiate
for favourable employment terms without having to be
protected under Part IV. After extensive consultation
with the tripartite partners, we will introduce a basic
monthly salary threshold of $4,500 for workmen under
Part IV. Workmen with lower income will not be affected,
and will continue to be protected under Part IV.
Q15 How do you define a workman?
A ‘workman’ is an employee whose work involves manual labour. This includes
an employee under any of the following categories:
• any person, skilled or unskilled, doing manual work, including any
artisan or apprentice but excluding any seaman or domestic servant;
• any person other than clerical staff, employed in the operation or
maintenance of mechanically propelled vehicles used for the transport
of passengers for hire or for commercial purposes;
• any person employed to supervise any workman and to perform
manual ork. However this is subject to the requirement that the time
w
he spent in doing manual work must not be less than one half of his
total working time in a salary period; and
• any person specified in the First Schedule of the Employment Act.

11. Q16 How should employers address the employment terms of those
workmen earning above $4,500 basic monthly salary who are
currently enjoying Part IV benefits?
Notwithstanding the legislative amendments, employers are required to observe
their existing contractual obligations including those in the collective agreements
(CAs).
Employers also have the flexibility to offer employment packages to better suit
their needs. For example, for payment for work beyond contractual working
hours, employers may continue to grant the same rate of overtime payment
to this group of workmen or negotiate with them to restructure their salary/
remuneration/reward package taking into consideration their job responsibility,
and to align their employment benefits with those of other categories of
employees in the company.
Definition of Part-time work
From 1 January 2009, part-time employees will be defined as those who
work less than 35 hours a week. Encashment of annual leave into the pay
of part-timers will not be allowed for those who work 5 days or more and
between 30 (inclusive) to less than 35 hours a week.
Q17 Why do you redefine part-time work?
The intent of the redefinition is to encourage more employers to offer more part-
time opportunities. Under the Employment (Part-time employees) Regulations,
employers are allowed to pro-rate the employment benefits of a part-time
employee to that of a full time employee according to the hours worked. The
benefits that can be pro-rated include paid annual leave, paid sick leave, paid
public holiday and paid childcare leave.
The amendment will benefit employees who require flexible working
arrangements to attend to family or personal commitments and potential
entrants to the workforce seeking part-time employment.
10

12. Q18 Do employers need to re-negotiate new employment contracts
with the affected employees who are currently working 30 to 35
hours?
Notwithstanding the legislative amendments,
employers are required to observe their existing
contractual obligations including those in the
collective agreements (CAs).
Employers may continue to grant the same
employment benefits or make adjustment to the
benefits with the consent of their employees.
II EMPLOYMENT STANDARDS AND BENEFITS
Paid sick leave and public holidays
From 1 January 2009, the entitlement to paid sick leave and paid public
holidays will be moved out of Part IV to form a new Part X in the Act, so that
all employees covered under the Act will be entitled to these benefits.
Q19 Why are the entitlements of paid sick leave and paid public
holidays moved out of Part IV?
Granting paid sick leave and paid public holidays are already well-established
industry norms. The entitlements are moved out of Part IV to a new Part X to
reflect labour market practices.
11

13. Q20 Will this represent an increase in cost for employers since those
employees who are not covered under Part IV have to be paid for
working on public holidays now?
Granting paid sick leave and paid public
holidays are already well-established
industry norms and the increase in
cost is likely to be minimal. For those
employees who may be required to work
on a public holiday, the employer may,
with the agreement of the employee,
substitute another day for the public
holiday.
Qualifying period for paid sick leave
From 1 January 2009, the qualifying period for paid sick leave under the
Employment Act will be reduced from 6 months to 3 months of completed
service. Accordingly, the number of days of paid sick leave will be phased in
between the completion of 3 months and 6 months of service as follows:
Months of service Paid Outpatient Sick Paid Hospitalisation
completed Leave entitlement Leave entitlement
(days) (days)
3 months 5 15
4 months 8 30
5 months 11 45
6 months 14 60
Q21 Why is the qualifying period for paid sick leave shortened from 6
completed months of service to 3 completed months of service?
In line with shortening employment tenures, the qualifying period for paid sick
leave is reduced to align it with that for paid annual leave.
12

14. Q22 Who is affected by this change?
Newer employees with less than 6 months of service will be affected by this
change. Employees who have already completed 6 months of service will not be
affected because they are already entitled to the full paid sick leave provisions.
Q23 Will employees’ service period before 1 January 2009 be taken
into account to determine his eligibility for paid sick leave?
Yes. As long as a new employee has served 3 months or more as at 1 January
2009, he or she will qualify for paid sick leave according to the table above.
Q24 What happens if an employee’s medical leave exceeds his paid
sick leave entitlement?
The employee may still go on sick leave if the doctor has assessed him to be
unfit for work. However, he will have to go on unpaid sick leave for those days
of medical leave that exceeds his entitlement.
Q25 What is the total number of days of outpatient and hospitalisation
sick leave that an employee can take altogether?
The total number of days of outpatient and hospitalisation sick leave that an
employee can take is capped at the total number of days of hospitalisation sick
leave an employee is entitled to. For example, if an employee has already taken
14 days of outpatient sick leave in that year, the number of days of hospitalisation
sick leave that he can take is 60 minus 14 days, which is 46 days. Likewise, for
those in their 4th, 5th and 6th month of service, the total number days of sick
leave is also capped at the respective hospitalisation leave entitlement.
13

15. Q26 Are paid outpatient and hospitalisation sick leave entitlements
interchangeable?
No. Employees who have already taken all their paid outpatient sick leave
cannot use their balance paid hospitalisation sick leave entitlements for their
outpatient sick leave.
Q27 Do those days that employees go on sick leave count towards
their service period?
Yes, they do.
Q28 Do I have to pay the medical consultation fees for my employee
after he has completed 3 months of service?
Yes. With the reduction in the qualifying period for paid sick leave, employers
are also required to pay for employees’ medical consultation fees after the
employees have completed 3 months of service.
Medical certificates for the purpose of paid sick leave
From 1 January 2009, employees can obtain medical certificates (MC) from
any public medical institution for the purpose of going on paid sick leave where
company doctors are not readily available or during emergency situations,
and not be confined to obtaining MC issued by employer-appointed doctors
for such circumstances.
Q29 How would this benefit the employees?
Employees would benefit as they can seek medical services from any public
medical institutions where company doctors are not readily available (such
as when company doctors are closed or the company doctors are very
inconveniently located) or during emergency situations.
14

16. Q30 Do employers have to recognise employees’ MCs obtained
from their own private doctors, overseas medical institutions or
institutions offering Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)?
Although an employer should accept valid MCs from private doctors not appointed
by him, overseas medical institutions or TCM institutions for the purpose of
excusing an employee from work, the law does not require him to pay salary for
those days that the employee is absent from work. However, employers may at
their own discretion recognise these MCs for paid sick leave.
Q31 Can employers still require employees to visit their panel of
appointed doctors under normal circumstances?
Yes, employers may do so.
Q32 What would be included in the list of public medical institutions?
• Alexandra Hospital • National University Hospital
• Changi General Hospital • NHG Eye Institute
• Institute of Mental Health / • Singapore General Hospital
Woodbridge Hospital
• Singapore National Eye
• Jurong Medical Centre Centre
• KK Women’s and Children’s • Tan Tock Seng Hospital
Hospital
• The Cancer Institute
• National Cancer Centre
• The Heart Institute
• National Dental Centre
• All polyclinics under the
• National Heart Centre National Healthcare Group
• National Neuroscience • All polyclinics under the
Institute Singapore Health Services
• National Skin Centre
15

17. III PENALTIES FOR INFRINGEMENT OF
EMPLOYMENT ACT
From 1 January 2009, the maximum penalty fine for most offences in the
Employment Act will be increased from $1,000 to $5,000 for first time offenders.
For repeat offenders, the maximum penalty fine for most offences will be
increased from $2,000 to $10,000. The composition fine will also be increased
from $200 to $1,000. For more information on the new maximum penalty fine
for a particular offence, please refer to the MOM website at www.mom.gov.sg
for more details.
CHANGES TO THE MATERNITY PROVISIONS
With effect from 31 October 2008, the maternity provisions in the Employment
Act and Children Development Co-savings Act (CDCA) have been amended as
part of the Marriage and Parenthood package. The changes include conferring
greater employment protection to pregnant mothers and more maternity and
childcare benefits.
For more information on the changes to the maternity provisions, please refer
to www.mom.gov.sg Workplace Relations and Standards Employment
Standards The Employment Act Maternity Leave
16

18. Changes to the
Employment Act
Ministry of Manpower A quick guide to the changes to the
Labour Relations Workplaces Division
Employment Act from 1st January 2009
18 Havelock Road Singapore 059764 Tel: 6438 5122
Email: mom_lrd@mom.gov.sg Website: www.mom.gov.sg
This guide is also available online at the Ministry of Manpower
Website: www.mom.gov.sg Employment Standards Publications
The information provided in this guide is intended to provide you with a guide to the changes to the Employment Act. It is written in general terms
and is not a complete or authoritative statement of the law. If in doubt, please refer to the Employment Act or contact the Ministry of Manpower.
Printed in Dec 2008