PART 4 REST DAYS, HOURS OF WORK AND OTHER
CONDITIONS OF SERVICE |
| Application of this Part to certain workmen and other employees |
35. The provisions of this Part apply —| (a) | to workmen who are in receipt of a salary not exceeding $4,500 a month (excluding overtime payments, bonus payments, annual wage supplements, productivity incentive payments and any allowance however described) or such other amount as the Minister may prescribe; and | | (b) | to every employee (other than a workman or a person employed in a managerial or an executive position) who receives a salary not exceeding $2,600 a month (excluding any overtime payment, bonus payment, annual wage supplement, productivity incentive payment and any allowance however described) or such other amount as the Minister may prescribe. [26/2013; 55/2018] |
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36.—(1) Every employee must be allowed in each week a rest day without pay of one whole day which must be Sunday or such other day as the employer may determine from time to time.| (2) The employer may substitute any continuous period of 30 hours as a rest day for an employee engaged in shift work. |
| (3) Where in any week a continuous period of 30 hours commencing at any time before 6 p.m. on a Sunday is substituted as a rest day for an employee engaged in shift work, the rest day is deemed to have been granted within the week even though the period of 30 hours ends after the week. |
| (4) Where an employee’s rest day is determined by his or her employer, the employer must prepare or cause to be prepared a roster before the commencement of the month in which the rest days fall informing the employee of the days appointed to be his or her rest days in the month. |
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37.—(1) Subject to section 38(2) or 40(2A), an employee must not be compelled to work on a rest day unless he or she is engaged in work which by reason of its nature requires to be carried on continuously by a succession of shifts.| (1A) In the event of any dispute, the Commissioner has power to decide whether or not an employee is engaged in work which by reason of its nature requires to be carried on continuously by a succession of shifts. |
(2) An employee who at his or her own request works for an employer on a rest day must be paid for that day —| (a) | if the period of work does not exceed half the employee’s normal hours of work, a sum at the basic rate of pay for half a day’s work; | | (b) | if the period of work is more than half but does not exceed the employee’s normal hours of work, a sum at the basic rate of pay for one day’s work; or | | (c) | if the period of work exceeds the employee’s normal hours of work for one day —| (i) | a sum at the basic rate of pay for one day’s work; and | | (ii) | a sum at the rate of not less than one and a half times the employee’s hourly basic rate of pay for each hour or part thereof that the period of work exceeds the employee’s normal hours of work for one day. |
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(3) An employee who at the request of his or her employer works on a rest day must be paid for that day —| (a) | if the period of work does not exceed half the employee’s normal hours of work, a sum at the basic rate of pay for one day’s work; | | (b) | if the period of work is more than half but does not exceed the employee’s normal hours of work, a sum at the basic rate of pay for 2 days’ work; or | | (c) | if the period of work exceeds the employee’s normal hours of work for one day —| (i) | a sum at the basic rate of pay for 2 days’ work; and | | (ii) | a sum at the rate of not less than one and a half times the employee’s hourly basic rate of pay for each hour or part thereof that the period of work exceeds the employee’s normal hours of work for one day. |
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(3A) In this section —| (a) | “normal hours of work” means the number of hours of work (not exceeding the limits applicable to an employee under section 38 or 40, as the case may be) that is agreed between an employer and an employee to be the usual hours of work per day; or in the absence of any such agreement, is deemed to be 8 hours a day; and | | (b) | an employee’s “hourly basic rate of pay” is to be calculated in the same manner as for the purpose of calculating payment due to an employee under section 38 for working overtime. |
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| (4) Subsection (3) does not apply to any employee who is employed by the Government or a statutory body in any of the essential services as defined under Part 3 of the Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act 1955, but any such employee who at the request of his or her employer works on a rest day or part thereof must be given a day or part of a day off (as the case may be) in substitution for such a rest day or part thereof. |
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38.—(1) Except as hereinafter provided, an employee must not be required under his or her contract of service to work —| (a) | more than 6 consecutive hours without a period of leisure; | | (b) | more than 8 hours in one day or more than 44 hours in one week: |
| (c) | an employee who is engaged in work which must be carried on continuously may be required to work for 8 consecutive hours inclusive of a period or periods of not less than 45 minutes in the aggregate during which he or she must have the opportunity to have a meal; | | (d) | where, by agreement under the contract of service between the employee and the employer, the number of hours of work on one or more days of the week is less than 8, the limit of 8 hours in one day may be exceeded on the remaining days of the week, but so that no employee is required to work for more than 9 hours in one day or 44 hours in one week; | | (e) | where, by agreement under the contract of service between the employee and the employer, the number of days on which the employee is required to work in a week is not more than 5 days, the limit of 8 hours in one day may be exceeded but so that no employee is required to work more than 9 hours in one day or 44 hours in one week; and | | (f) | where, by agreement under the contract of service between the employee and the employer, the number of hours of work in every alternate week is less than 44, the limit of 44 hours in one week may be exceeded in the other week, but so that no employee is required to work for more than 48 hours in one week or for more than 88 hours in any continuous period of 2 weeks. |
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(2) An employee may be required by his or her employer to exceed the limit of hours prescribed in subsection (1) and to work on a rest day, in the case of —| (a) | accident, actual or threatened; | | (b) | work, the performance of which is essential to the life of the community; | | (c) | work essential for defence or security; | | (d) | urgent work to be done to machinery or plant; | | (e) | an interruption of work which it was impossible to foresee; or | | (f) | work to be performed by employees in any industrial undertaking essential to the economy of Singapore or any of the essential services as defined under Part 3 of the Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act 1955. |
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| (3) In the event of any dispute, the Commissioner has power to decide whether or not the employer is justified in calling upon the employee to work in the circumstances specified in subsection (2)(f). |
(4) If an employee at the request of the employer works —| (a) | more than 8 hours in one day except as provided in paragraphs (d) and (e) of the proviso to subsection (1), or more than 9 hours in one day in any case specified in those paragraphs; or | | (b) | more than 44 hours in one week except as provided in paragraph (f) of the proviso to subsection (1), or more than 48 hours in any one week or more than 88 hours in any continuous period of 2 weeks in any case specified in that paragraph, |
| the employee must be paid for the extra work at the rate of not less than one and a half times the employee’s hourly basic rate of pay irrespective of the basis on which the employee’s rate of pay is fixed. |
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| (5) An employee must not be permitted to work overtime for more than 72 hours a month. |
| (6) For the purpose of calculating under subsection (4) the payment due for overtime to an employee referred to in the first column of the Fourth Schedule, the employee’s hourly basic rate of pay is to be determined in accordance with the second column of the Fourth Schedule. [26/2013] |
| (7) The Minister may make regulations for the purpose of calculating the payment due for overtime to an employee employed on piece rates. |
| (8) Except in the circumstances described in subsection (2)(a), (b), (c), (d) and (e), an employee must not under any circumstances work for more than 12 hours in any one day. |
| (9) This section does not apply to employees engaged in the fire services or in work which by its nature involves long hours of inactive or stand‑by employment. |
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| 39. Nothing in this Part prevents any employer from agreeing with any employee that the employee’s salary be paid at an agreed rate in accordance with the task, that is, the specific amount of work required to be performed, and not by the day or by the piece. |
40.—(1) Despite section 38(1), an employee who is engaged under his or her contract of service in regular shift work or who has otherwise consented in writing to work in accordance with the hours of work specified in this section may be required to work more than 6 consecutive hours, more than 8 hours in any one day or more than 44 hours in any one week but the average number of hours worked over any continuous period of 3 weeks must not exceed 44 hours per week.| (2) No consent given by an employee under this section is valid unless this section and section 38 have been explained to the employee and the employee has been informed of the times at which the hours of work begin and end, the number of working days in each week and the weekly rest day. |
(2A) An employee to whom this section applies may be required by his or her employer to exceed the limit of hours prescribed in subsection (1) and to work on a rest day, in the case of —| (a) | accident, actual or threatened; | | (b) | work, the performance of which is essential to the life of the community; | | (c) | work essential for defence or security; | | (d) | urgent work to be done to machinery or plant; | | (e) | an interruption of work which it was impossible to foresee; or | | (f) | work to be performed by employees in any industrial undertaking essential to the economy of Singapore or any of the essential services as defined under Part 3 of the Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act 1955. [26/2013] |
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| (3) Except in the circumstances described in subsection (2A)(a), (b), (c), (d) and (e), an employee to whom this section applies must not under any circumstances work for more than 12 hours in any one day. [26/2013] |
| (4) Section 38(4) does not apply to any employee to whom this section applies, but any such employee who at the request of his or her employer works more than an average of 44 hours per week over any continuous period of 3 weeks must be paid for the extra work in accordance with section 38(4). |
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| Interpretation of “week” for purposes of sections 36, 38 and 40 |
| 41. In sections 36, 38 and 40, “week” means a continuous period of 7 days commencing at midnight on Sunday. |
41A.—(1) The Commissioner may, after considering the operational needs of the employer and the health and safety of the employee or class of employees, by written order exempt an employee or any class of employees from sections 38(1), (5) and (8) and 40(3) subject to such conditions as the Commissioner thinks fit.| (2) The Commissioner may, after considering the operational needs of an employer and the interests of an employee or a class of employees, by written order, direct that the entitlement to be paid for extra work under section 37(2) or (3), 38(4), 40(4) or 88(4) does not apply to that employee or class of employees, subject to such conditions as the Commissioner thinks fit. |
(3) Where the Commissioner —| (a) | exempts an employee or any class of employees from section 38(1), (5) or (8) or 40(3); or | | (b) | directs that the entitlement to be paid for extra work under section 37(2) or (3), 38(4), 40(4) or 88(4) does not apply to an employee or any class of employees, |
| the employer must display the order or a copy thereof conspicuously in the place where the employee or class of employees are employed. |
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| 42. [Repealed by Act 32 of 2008] |
| 43. [Repealed by Act 55 of 2018] |
| 44. [Repealed by Act 32 of 2008] |
| Payment of retrenchment benefit |
| 45. No employee who has been in continuous service with an employer for less than 2 years is entitled to any retrenchment benefit on his or her dismissal on the ground of redundancy or by reason of any reorganisation of the employer’s profession, business, trade or work. [26/2013] |
| 46. No employee who has been in continuous service with an employer for less than 5 years is entitled to any retirement benefit other than the sums payable under the Central Provident Fund Act 1953 on the cessation of his or her service with the employer. |
| Priority of retirement benefits, etc. |
47.—(1) Where a collective agreement or an award contains a provision for the payment of a gratuity or other sum of money to an employee on his or her retirement or on the termination of his or her services under such circumstances as may be provided for in the collective agreement or award, the gratuity or other sum of money which is due and owing to the employee is to be included among —| (a) | the debts which, under section 203 of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018, are to be paid in priority to all other unsecured debts in the winding up of a company and that gratuity or sum of money ranks after the preferential debts referred to in that section; [S 26/2022 wef 13/01/2022] | | (b) | the debts which, under section 352 of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018, are to be paid in priority to all other debts in the distribution of the property of a bankrupt or of a person dying insolvent; [40/2018] [S 26/20222 wef 13/01/2022] | | (c) | the debts which, under the repealed section 328 of the Companies Act 1967 (as applied by section 130 of the VCC Act as in force before the operative date), are to be paid in priority to all other unsecured debts in the winding up of a VCC and that gratuity or sum of money ranks after the preferential debts mentioned in that section; [S 26/2022 wef 13/01/2022] | | (d) | the debts which, under section 203 of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 (as applied by section 130 of the VCC Act as in force on the operative date), are to be paid in priority to all other unsecured debts in the winding up of a VCC, and that gratuity or sum of money ranks after the preferential debts mentioned in that section; [S 26/2022 wef 13/01/2022] | | (e) | the debts which, under the repealed section 328 of the Companies Act 1967 (as applied by section 33(2) of the VCC Act read with the First Schedule to the VCC Act as in force before the operative date) are to be paid in priority to all other unsecured debts in the winding up of a sub-fund of an umbrella VCC, and that gratuity or sum of money ranks after the preferential debts mentioned in that section; or [S 26/2022 wef 13/01/2022] | | (f) | the debts which, under section 203 of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 (as applied by section 33(2) of the VCC Act read with the First Schedule to the VCC Act as in force on the operative date), are to be paid in priority to all other unsecured debts in the winding up of a sub-fund of an umbrella VCC, and that gratuity or sum of money ranks after the preferential debts mentioned in that section. [S 26/2022 wef 13/01/2022] |
| (2) Where a collective agreement or an award contains a provision for the payment of a gratuity or other sum of money to an employee on his or her retirement and no provision is made for the payment of a gratuity or other sum of money on the termination of the employee’s services by reason of his or her employer ceasing to carry on business for whatever reason, or by reason of the employer transferring the whole or part of the employer’s undertaking or property (as the case may be), every such collective agreement or award is deemed, despite anything contained in any written law or rule of law or collective agreement or award to the contrary, to contain a provision that in the event of the employer ceasing to carry on business for whatever reason or transferring the whole or part of the employer’s undertaking or property (as the case may be), an employee who ceases to be employed by the employer by reason of the happening of such a contingency must be paid such sum of money as the employee would have been entitled to receive under the terms of the collective agreement or award if the employee had retired from the service of the employer on the day the employer ceases to carry on business or transfers the whole or part of the employer’s undertaking or property, as the case may be. |
| (3) Subsection (2) does not apply where an employer has set up a fund under a scheme for the payment of pensions, gratuities, provident fund or other superannuation benefits to the employer’s employees on their retirement from the service of the employer whereby under the scheme the employees’ benefits are safeguarded in the event of an employer’s bankruptcy or, if the employer is a company or VCC, on the winding up of the company or VCC or in the event of the employer ceasing to carry on business for any other reason or transferring the whole or part of the employer’s undertaking or property, as the case may be. [S 26/2022 wef 13/01/2022] |
| (4) Any sum of money payable under subsection (2) is deemed, for the purposes of subsection (1), to be a payment to an employee on his or her retirement and is to be included among the debts referred to in subsection (1)(a) or (b). |
(5) In this section —| “award” means an award made by the Industrial Arbitration Court under the provisions of the Industrial Relations Act 1960; |
| “collective agreement” means a collective agreement, a memorandum of which has been certified by the Industrial Arbitration Court in accordance with the provisions of the Industrial Relations Act 1960; [S 26/2022 wef 13/01/2022] |
| “company” has the meaning given by section 4(1) of the Companies Act 1967; [S 26/2022 wef 13/01/2022] |
| “operative date” means the date of commencement of sections 29, 48 and 62 of the Variable Capital Companies (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 2019; [S 26/2022 wef 13/01/2022] |
| “sub-fund”, “umbrella VCC” and “VCC” have the meanings given by section 2(1) of the VCC Act; [S 26/2022 wef 13/01/2022] |
| “VCC Act” means the Variable Capital Companies Act 2018. [S 26/2022 wef 13/01/2022] |
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| Payment of annual wage supplement or other variable payment |
48.—(1) Where a contract of service or collective agreement made before 26 August 1988 provides for the payment by the employer of any annual wage supplement, annual bonus or annual wage increase, the payments continue to be payable by the employer until the employer and the employer’s employees or a trade union representing the employer’s employees have negotiated and agreed to vary the payments.| (2) An employer and the employer’s employees or a trade union representing the employer’s employees may negotiate for and agree to a variable payment based on the trading results or productivity or on any other criteria agreed upon by the parties concerned. |
| (3) Where an employer has not paid any annual wage supplement prior to 26 August 1988, any contract of service or collective agreement made on or after that date between the employer and the employer’s employees or a trade union representing the employer’s employees must not contain a provision for the payment of an annual wage supplement exceeding the equivalent of one month’s wages of the employees. |
| (4) Any person who, or any trade union of employees which, requests (whether orally or in writing) or invites negotiations for the payment by an employer of an annual wage supplement which is in excess of the amount specified in subsection (3) and any employer who pays an annual wage supplement exceeding the amount specified in subsection (3) shall be guilty of an offence. |
| (5) Even though an annual wage supplement may be payable under subsection (1) or (3), an employer may, in the event of exceptionally poor business results for any year, invite the employees or a trade union representing the employer’s employees to negotiate for a lower quantum of annual wage supplement or for no annual wage supplement to be paid for that year. |
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| Power of Minister to make recommendations for wage adjustments |
| 49. The Minister may make recommendations for wage adjustment, and upon the publication of the recommendations in the Gazette the employer and the employer’s employees or a trade union representing the employer’s employees may negotiate based on those recommendations. |
| Interpretation for purposes of sections 48 and 49 |
50.—(1) Where a notice is served under section 18 of the Industrial Relations Act 1960 by an employer or a trade union representing the employer’s employees in respect of any matter referred to in sections 48 and 49 and no agreement is reached between the parties, either party may, despite the provisions of the Industrial Relations Act 1960, refer the matter to the Industrial Arbitration Court established under the Industrial Relations Act 1960 for arbitration.(2) In sections 48 and 49 —| “annual wage supplement” means a single annual payment to employees that is supplemental to the total amount of annual wages earned by them, whether expressed as a percentage thereof or otherwise; |
| “variable payment” means such payment, however expressed and whether paid annually or otherwise, which serves as an incentive to all employees to increase their productivity or as a reward for their contribution; |
| “wages” means the basic wages payable to an employee in respect of work done under his or her contract of service but does not include any commission, overtime allowance or other allowances payable to an employee. |
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| 51. [Repealed by Act 36 of 1995] |
| Power to suspend application of this Part |
| 52. The Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, suspend the application of any of the provisions of this Part to any classes of employees when the public interest so requires it. |
| 53. Any employer who employs any person as an employee contrary to the provisions of this Part or fails to pay any salary in accordance with the provisions of this Part shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000, and for a second or subsequent offence to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both. |
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