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Employment (Amendment) Bill

Bill No. 20/1973

Read the first time on 11th July 1973.

An Act to amend the Employment Act (Chapter 122 of the Revised Edition).

Be it enacted by the President with the advice and consent of the Parliament of Singapore, as follows: —

Short title and commencement

1.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Employment (Amendment) Act, 1973 and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.

(2) The Minister may appoint different dates for the coming into operation of the different provisions of this Act.

Repeal and re-enactment of section 14

2. Section 14 of the Employment Act is hereby repealed and the following substituted therefor: —

“Misconduct of the employee

14.—(1) An employer may after due inquiry dismiss without notice an employee employed by him on the grounds of misconduct inconsistent with the fulfilment of the express or implied conditions of his service except that instead of dismissing an employee an employer may —

(a)	instantly down-grade the employee; or
(b)	instantly suspend him from work without payment of salary for a period not exceeding one week.

(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, where an employee considers that he has been dismissed without just cause or excuse by his employer, he may, within one month of such dismissal, make representations in writing to the Minister to be reinstated in his former employment.

(3) The Minister may, before making a decision on any such representations, by writing under his hand request the Commissioner to inquire into the dismissal and report whether in his opinion the dismissal is without just cause or excuse.

(4) If, after considering the report made by the Commissioner under subsection (3) of this section, the Minister is satisfied that the employee has been dismissed without just cause or excuse, he may, notwithstanding any rule of law or agreement to the contrary, —

(a)	direct the employer to reinstate the employee in his former employment and to pay the employee an amount that is equivalent to the wages that the employee would have earned had he not been dismissed by the employer; or
(b)	direct the employer to pay such amount of wages as compensation as may be determined by the Minister,

and the employer shall comply with the Minister’s direction.

(5) The decision of the Minister on any representation made under this section shall be final and conclusive and shall not be challenged in any court.

(6) Any direction of the Minister under subsection (4) of this section shall operate as a bar to any action for damages by the employee in any court in respect of the wrongful dismissal.

(7) An employer who fails to comply with the direction of the Minister under subsection (4) of this section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction by a District Court to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twelve months or to a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars or to both such imprisonment and fine.

(8) For the purpose of an inquiry under subsection (1) of this section, the employer may suspend the employee from work for a period not exceeding one week but shall pay him not less than half his salary for such period:

Provided that if the inquiry does not disclose any misconduct on the part of the employee the employer shall forthwith restore to the employee the full amount of salary so withheld.”.

Amendment of section 38

3. Section 38 of the Employment Act is hereby amended —

(a)

by deleting subsection (4) thereof and substituting therefor the following: —

“(4) An employee shall not be permitted to work overtime for more than seventy-two hours a month.

(5) The Minister may by order in writing exempt all or any category of employees of any particular industry or undertaking specified therein from the provisions of subsection (4) of this section and such order or a copy thereof shall be displayed by the employer concerned in a conspicuous place in the place of employment of such employees.”; and

(b)

by re-numbering subsections (5), (6), (7) and (8) thereof as subsections (6), (7), (8) and (9) respectively.

Amendment of section 67

4. Section 67 of the Employment Act is hereby amended by deleting subsection (1) thereof and substituting therefor the following: —

“(1) No child shall be employed except that a child who has completed his twelfth year may be employed in light work suited to his capacity in a non-industrial undertaking.”.

Amendment of section 69

5. Section 69 of the Employment Act is hereby amended by deleting the words “or legal guardian” appearing in the last line thereof.

Amendment of section 70

6. Section 70 of the Employment Act is hereby amended by deleting the words “child or” appearing in the first line thereof.

Repeal and re-enactment of section 77

7. Section 77 of the Employment Act is hereby repealed and the following substituted therefor: —

“Offences

77. Any person who employs a child or young person in contravention of the provisions of this Part or any of the regulations made thereunder and any parent or guardian who knowingly or negligently suffers or permits such employment shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to both such fine and imprisonment except in the case where a child or young person suffers serious injury or death resulting from any breach of the provisions of this Part or any of the regulations made thereunder the offender shall be punished with a fine of two thousand dollars and shall also be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years.”.

Amendment of cross-heading of Part IX

8. The Employment Act is hereby amended by deleting the words “CHILDREN AND” appearing in the cross-heading of Part IX immediately above section 79 thereof.

Amendment of section 79

9. Section 79 of the Employment Act is hereby amended by deleting the words “child or” appearing in the first line thereof.

Amendment of section 80

10. Section 80 of the Employment Act is hereby amended by deleting the words “child or” appearing in the first line thereof.

Amendment of section 82

11. Section 82 of the Employment Act is hereby amended by deleting the word “twelve” appearing in the second line thereof and substituting therefor the word “fourteen”.

Amendment of section 83

12. Section 83 of the Employment Act is hereby amended by deleting the words “child or” appearing in the third and in the fourth lines thereof.

Repeal and re-enactment of section 88

13. Section 88 of the Employment Act is hereby repealed and the following substituted therefor: —

“Offences

88. Any person who employs in an industrial undertaking a young person who has no certificate of registration or who employs in an industrial undertaking a young person contrary to the conditions set out in the certificate of registration shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to both such fine and imprisonment except in the case where a young person suffers serious injury or death resulting from contravention of the provisions of this Part the offender shall be punished with a fine of not less than one thousand dollars and not more than two thousand dollars or with imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or with both such fine and imprisonment.”.

Amendment of section 89

14. Section 89 of the Employment Act is hereby amended by deleting the words “child or” appearing in the first line thereof.

Amendment of section 90

15. Section 90 of the Employment Act is hereby amended by deleting the words “child or” appearing in the first and in the fourth lines thereof.

Amendment of section 91

16. Section 91 of the Employment Act is hereby amended by deleting the words “child or” appearing in the second line thereof.

Amendment of section 92

17. Section 92 of the Employment Act is hereby amended by deleting the words “child or” appearing in the second and in the third lines thereof.

Amendment of section 93

18. Section 93 of the Employment Act is hereby amended by deleting the words “children and” appearing in the first and second lines thereof.

Repeal and re-enactment of Part X

19. The Employment Act is hereby amended by repealing Part X thereof and substituting therefor the following: —

“PART X

EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN

Length of benefit period

95.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, every female employee shall be entitled to absent herself from work during the four weeks immediately before and the four weeks immediately after a confinement and for such periods (hereafter in this Part referred to as the “benefit period”) she shall be entitled to receive payment from her employer at her ordinary rate of pay.

(2) A female employee who has worked for an employer for less than one hundred and eighty days within the period of one year immediately preceding the notice required under subsection (1) of section 99 of this Act shall not be entitled to any payment during the benefit period.

(3) Where a female employee has worked in her employment for any day during the period of four weeks immediately before her confinement she shall be entitled to receive in addition to her ordinary rate of pay for that day an amount that is equivalent to a day’s pay or to absent herself from work on another day at the end of the benefit period.

(4) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1) of this section or any collective agreement or award to the contrary, a female employee shall not be entitled to any payment during the benefit period for any confinement when at the time of the confinement she has two or more surviving children.

Payments to include rest days

96.—(1) The payment referred to in section 95 of this Act shall be paid for every day of the benefit period, including rest days and holidays.

(2) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require an employer to pay to a female employee an extra day’s salary for a rest day or holiday which falls within the benefit period.

When payment is made

97.—(1) In the case of a female employee who is a daily-rated employee, the payment referred to in section 95 of this Act shall be paid in two instalments, the first for the period up to and including the day of confinement, to be paid within seven days from the date of confinement, and the second, for the period after confinement, to be paid within seven days from the end of that period.

(2) In the case of any other female employee the said payment shall be paid at such time as the salary earned by the employee under her contract of service is due to be paid to her.

Payment of benefit on death of female employee before confinement

98.—(1) If a female employee, after giving notice to her employer that she expects to be confined, abstains from work in expectation of her confinement and dies from any cause before her confinement the employer shall pay to the person nominated by her under subsection (4) of section 99 of this Act or, if there is no such person, to her personal representative a sum of money at the rate prescribed under section 95 of this Act from the date immediately following the last day on which she worked to the day immediately preceding the day of her death and except in the circumstances mentioned in this subsection no employer shall be liable to pay such sum in respect of a period exceeding thirty days.

(2) If a female employee dies from any cause on or after the day of her confinement and before any payment to which she is entitled has been paid to her the employer shall pay to the person nominated by her under subsection (4) of section 99 of this Act or, if there is no such person, to her personal representative, any sum of money to which she was on the date of her death entitled in respect of the period up to the day of confinement and in respect of the period after confinement up to the day preceding the day of her death.

Notice of confinement

99.—(1) A female employee shall give notice to her employer that she expects to be confined within one month from the date of such notice.

(2) A female employee who has been confined shall as soon as practicable inform her employer of the date on which she was confined.

(3) Any female employee who omits to give notice as required under subsection (1) of this section or fails to inform her employer as required under subsection (2) of this section shall be entitled to only half the amount of any payment to which she is entitled to under this Part unless she was prevented by any sufficient cause from giving such notice.

(4) A female employee may at any time in writing nominate some other person to whom any payment to which she is entitled to under this Part may be paid on her behalf; and any such payment made to the person so nominated shall for the purpose of this Act be deemed to be payment to the female employee who nominated such person.

Dismissal during absence prohibited

100. Subject to the provisions of this Part, when a female employee absents herself from work in accordance with the provisions of this Part it shall not be lawful for her employer to give her notice of dismissal during such absence or on such a day that the notice will expire during such absence.

Employment after confinement

101. Any employer who knowingly employs a female employee at any time during the period of four weeks immediately following her confinement shall be guilty of an offence under this Act.

Forfeiture of payment

102. If a female employee works for any other employer after she has absented herself from work under the provisions of this Part, she shall forfeit her claim to any payment to which she is entitled to under this Part and shall be liable to dismissal.

Right to benefit unaffected by notice of dismissal in specified circumstances

103.—(1) No notice of dismissal given without sufficient cause by an employer to a female employee within a period of three months before her confinement shall have the effect of depriving her of any payment to which but for such notice she would have been entitled or would, on or before the date of her confinement, have become entitled to under this Part.

(2) If any question arises as to whether any notice of dismissal given under subsection (1) of this section was or was not given for sufficient cause, it shall be referred to the Minister whose decision thereon shall be final.

Claim from one employer only

104. Nothing in this Part shall be deemed to entitle any female employee to claim any payment under this Part from more than one employer in respect of the same confinement.

Contracting out

105. Any contract of service whereby a female employee relinquishes any right to maternity benefit under this Part shall be null and void in so far as it purports to deprive her of that right or to remove or reduce the liability of any employer to make any payment under this Part.

Offences

106. Any employer who fails to pay his female employee in accordance with the provisions of this Part or who acts in contravention of section 100 of this Act shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both such fine and imprisonment.

Employment underground

107.—(1) No female employee shall be employed in any underground work.

(2) Any person who employs a female employee in contravention of subsection (1) of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this Act.”.