Itemised Pay Slips:
As of 1 April 2016, all employers are required to issue itemised pay slips to employees covered by the Employment Act. The itemised pay slip must be issued at the same time as when payment is given to the employee or within three working days. In the case of termination or dismissal, the itemised pay slip must be given together with the outstanding salary. There are guidelines detailed by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on what the pay slip should include. However, if it is not applicable, it can be omitted. The following is a list of the items that need to be included: 

• Full name of employer.
• Full name of employee.
• Date of payment (or dates, if the pay slips consolidates multiple payments).
• Basic salary. For hourly, daily or piece-rated workers, indicate all of the following:

• • Basic rate of pay, e.g. $X per hour.
  • Total number of hours or days worked or pieces produced.

• Start and end date of salary period.
• Allowances paid for salary period, such as:

• • All fixed allowances, e.g. transport.
  • All ad-hoc allowances, e.g. one-off uniform allowance.

• Any other additional payment for each salary period, such as:

• • Bonuses
  • Rest day pay
  • Public holiday pay

• Deductions made for each salary period, such as:

• • All fixed deductions (e.g. employee’s CPF contribution).
  • All ad-hoc deductions (e.g. deductions for no-pay leave, absence from work).

• Overtime hours worked.
• Overtime pay.
• Start and end date of overtime payment period (if different from the start and end date of salary period).
• Net salary paid in total.

Additionally, employers must keep record of all payslips issued in hard or soft copy, for 2 years for current employees. For ex-employees, the last 2 years of their pay slips should be kept for at least 1 year after the employee leaves employment. 

Timely Payment of Salary:
In accordance with Part 3 of the Singapore Employment Act 1968, salary earned by an employee, other than payment for overtime, must be paid within one week of the salary period ending, at least once a month. Additional payments for overtime work must be paid no later than 14 days after the last day of the salary period during which the overtime work was performed. 

The total salary due to an employee on completion of his or her contract of service must be paid to him or her on completion of the contract. If the employee’s work involves commissions, how and when it is paid to them is dependent on the employment contract previously agreed upon by the employer and employee.

The salary should be paid during working hours, and on a working day, at the place of work or other pre-agreed upon place. A payment of salary into an account with a bank in Singapore, being an account in the name of the employee is also acceptable. 

Specified Rest Days, Hours of Work and Paid Maternity/Childcare Leave: 

According to Part 4 of the SIngapore Employment Act 1968, guidelines for rest days, hours of work and other conditions of service have been laid out

• Rest days:  

It is specified that every employee must be allowed in each week a rest day without pay which must be a Sunday or any other day that has been agreed upon by employee and employer. Employees must also not be compelled to work on a rest day unless he or she is engaged in work that requires a succession of shifts. If an employee wishes to work on their rest day, the employer must pay for that day of work. If the employee works on their rest day at the request of their employer, the rate of pay will increase as outlined in Section 3 of Part 4.

• Hours of Work

An employee must not be required under their contract to work more than six consecutive hours without a period of leisure and no more than 8 hours a day or 44 hours a week. There are some exceptions, the most common one being that if it has been agreed that the number of days the employee is required to work in a week is not more than five, the limit of 8 hours a day is increased to 9 hours a day. If an employee at the request of their employer works more than their specified hours of work, the employer must pay them at a rate not less than one and a half times the employee’s hourly basic rate. Employees must not work more than 72 hours of overtime a month, and not exceed 12 hours of work a day except in the circumstances described in subsection (2)(a), (b), (c), (d) and (e). 

• Maternity Leave/Childcare leave: 

Female employees are entitled to either 16 weeks of Government-Paid Maternity Leave or 12 weeks of maternity leave, depending on whether the child is a Singapore citizen and other criteria. If the child is a Singapore citizen, the employee has been serving their employer for at least 3 months and the employer has been notified at least 1 week before maternity leave is taken. The employee will continue to be paid during the leave period, which the employer can claim reimbursement for from the Government in accordance with the Government-Paid Maternity Leave Scheme.  Parents who are Singapore citizens and have a child under 7 years of age and have been working continuously for 3 months or more are entitled to 6 days of childcare leave per parent per year, capped at 42 days in total per parent. 

• Paid Sick Leave

Any employee who has served their employer for more than six months is entitled to 14 days of leave each year if hospitalisation is not required. If hospitalisation is required, the employee is entitled to 60 days of leave in a year or the aggregate of 14 days plus the number of days on which the employee is hospitalised, whichever is lesser. Depending on the amount of time spent working under their current employer, the number of sick leave days change. This is dictated by Subsection (2) (a),(b) and (c) of Part 10 of the Singapore Employment Act. Sick leave must be certified by a medical practitioner or else they are deemed to have absented themselves without the employer’s permission. 

• Annual Leave:

According to the Employment Act Part 10 Chapter 88A: Annual Leave, an employee who has served an employer for a period of not less than 3 months is, in addition to the rest days, holidays and sick leave is entitled to: 7-14 days of paid annual leave, for the first 12 months of continuous service with the same employer, an additional one day of paid annual leave, for every subsequent 12 months of continuous service with the same employer.

• Right to join, participate in or organise trade unions

According to Part 2 Section 17 of the Singapore Employment Act 1968, nothing in any contract of service should restrict, in any way, the right of any employee to join a registered trade union; to participate in the activities of a registered trade union (like the National Trades Union Congress), whether as an officer of the trade union or otherwise; or to associate with any other persons for the purpose of organising a trade union in accordance with the provisions of the Trade Unions Act 1940.