The simple answer to this is yes! There is the Employment Act which governs employment practices in Singapore.
However, there are limitations as to who the Employment Act will apply to. Generally, the relationship between the employer and employee in Singapore is spelt out within the employment contract between the two parties. In Singapore, parties, in general, are free to contract on their own. Thus terms of the employment contract may differ greatly between various parties. This is due to the very open and competitive nature of Singapore’s job market.
Under section 2 of the Employment Act, an
“employee” means a person who has entered into or works under a contract of service with an employer and includes a workman, and any officer or employee of the Government included in a category, class or description of such officers or employees declared by the President to be employees for the purposes of this Act or any provision thereof, but does not include any of the following:
| (a) | any seafarer; |
| (b) | any domestic worker; |
| (c) | [Deleted by Act 55 of 2018] |
| (d) | any person belonging to any other class of persons whom the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, declare not to be employees for the purposes of this Act; |
Therefore, the Employment Act does not cover individuals in managerial and executive positions, seamen, domestic workers and most government employees.
The Employment Act spells out the terms of employment for employees earning below SGD$2,600 a month.
If you have any company-related queries, you may email us at [email protected]. When in doubt, seek legal advice or consult an experienced licensed Employment Agency with the Ministry of Manpower.
Yours Sincerely,
The editorial team at Singapore Employment Agency
For more useful articles and videos, visit the Singapore Employment Agency resource page.
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Little Big Employment Agency Pte Ltd is a licensed Employment Agency with the Ministry of Manpower with license number 19C9790.