Dear Gilbert,
Good day to you. Let me share my unhappy dismissal story with you.
I joined my company on 1st July 08 and on 22 Jan 09 (before Chinese New Year) was informed of my retrenchment ten minutes before knock off.
All I can comment is that my ex-GM simply made use of the economic downtown to retrench me. This is a Taiwan-based company and there isn’t any retrenchment going on from HQ – there are about 100+ employees in Taiwan (HQ) and 5 (including GM) employees in Singapore.
I am a Sales Executive and had managed to close a number of new accounts during my seven months with the company.
Therefore I can’t seem to find any good reason why I got axed off.
Moreover, I have to leave immediately.
Before I left, I was also pressured to sign a “Termination Letter” which I was reluctant to sign as I felt that the letter should be stated as Retrenchment Letter instead. At the same time, I was worried that the company won’t give me my salary if I don’t comply so I signed unwillingly. However. I had requested my HR manager to change it into a Retrenchment letter which she promised that she would do so later. Till today, I have yet to receive the Retrenchment letter from her. She didn’t response to my email as well.
I feel that I was unfairly treated but well, what can a small-time employee like me do anything about it? I tried to seek help from MOM but the Malay lady officer told me that since I had signed the “Termination Form”, there is nothing much I could do.
What’s the point of working so hard and being highly educated and when a crisis hit us, we won’t be able to do anything about being unfairly dismissed? In fact, we will be the first to leave when a downturn hits us and lose out a lot in terms of salary (employers will take advantage of the market downturn and offer you 30% to 50% lesser from your last drawn salary).
I came to realise that our employees are not well-protected in Singapore. I can go all the way down to MOM and take a Queue number, wait for my turn and share my “retrenchment” experience with the frontline officer and ended up getting no help at all. The officer will just say: “Sorry to hear that you are retrenched, but your salary is above $2500.00 therefore MOM can’t do anything about it.”
I am actively looking for a new job now.
Thank you for your time and lending a listening ear to all retrenched people.
Take care and God bless you too.
Regds,
Sally (name changed to protect identity of person)
PS: This letter was first posted here in Feb 2009 during the severe downturn last year and many people have seeked assistance from MOM for unfair dismissal – but all in vain. Till today, there is still no proper guidelines protecting our PMETs from being unfairly dismissed and many executives were told by MOM to seek legal recourse if they want to pursue their case further. Many companies also do not include retrenchment benefits in their employment letter. If you have experienced similar unfair dismissal and unable to seek redress from MOM, please email me at gilbert@transitioning.org. We will edit and post your mail on this site - Gilbert 14 June 2010.
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Information on retrenchment taken from MOM website:-
Retrenchment
The Ministry of Manpower advises employers to carry out any retrenchment exercise responsibly, in consultation with the union (if the company is unionised).
The company should pay all salaries (including unconsumed annual leave, notice pay, etc.) to the employees on their last day of work.
|
Length of service
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Notice period
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Less than 26 weeks
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1 day
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26 weeks to less than 2 years
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1 week
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2 years to less than 5 years
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2 weeks
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5 years and above
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4 weeks
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The company is also advised to notify MOM of any retrenchments. Please complete the form below and fax it to the Ministry.
| (Please fax to (65) 65354811) |
As the law does not stipulate the quantum to be paid, the amount is subject to negotiation between the employee and employer. The quantum will also depend on the company’s financial position.
An employee who has worked less than three years in a company is not entitled to retrenchment benefits under the Employment Act. However, the company may pay an ex-gratia payment at its discretion.
Both retrenchment benefits and ex-gratia payments do not attract CPF contributions.
- Temporarily laying off employees for a short period of time; or
- Implementing a shorter workweek.The reduction in workweek should not:
- Exceed two days in a week; and
- Last more than two months.
Temporary Layoffs
Based on the Tripartite guidelines agreed between the unions, employers and the Ministry of Manpower, the affected workers should receive no less than half of their gross salary during the days that they are laid off.
A company that is paying its employees half of their salaries during the days that they are laid off could also arrange for them to take half-day paid annual leave on those days.
In doing so, the employees will be able to continue receiving their full-day earnings, including the half-day salary the employer is paying. However, the employees should not be made to consume more than 50% of their earned annual leave for this purpose.
The Ministry of Manpower has published a study on how some companies have successfully managed their excess manpower. These companies have benefited, in terms of preserving a favourable corporate image, and improving staff relations and morale.
For Employees
Retrenched employees who need help looking for jobs can visit any of the Distributed CareerLink Centres run by the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) and its partners. Visit the WDA website for more information on the CareerLink Centres.
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- How To Maintain Family Harmony During Unemployment
- How To Tell Your Family When You Are Being Laid Off
- Employers Still Discriminating Against Older Workers
- 7 Ways To Come out of Prolonged Unemployment
- Eight Tips For Living While Unemployed
- 7 Ways To Recession-Proof Your Job
Since I started work more than 1 decade ago, i faced the threat of retrenchment twice – one was during the asia fianancial crisis and another during Sept 2001 (911). For both cases retrenchment was confirmed but I managed to “run” away and found another job before the Axe felt on me. However, during the good times in 2006 when economy was doing great, I always have this unsecured feeling that the salaried job is not going to be very safe. I decided to become a self-employed personnel. I will not allow anyone to retrench me.
In retrospective it was a right decision as that industry I was in previously is having a super massive layoff now.
I believe in one thing, be your own boss and let no one retrench you.
I agreedw ith you that we should be more self reliant here.
Employers now have the upper hand and retrench to get in cheaper workers.
Some may even have being retrenched few times over a short working career.
Though employment is stable and safe all aong, the same cant be said during this current crisis. The period after each recession seems to be shorter.
I appreciate your guts to take the plugne Wilfred and wish you every success.
Gilbert
Lesson learnt : don’t sign anything the HR gives it to you!
Employers, bosses and business owners, listen up. What goes around, comes around. You WILL get your judgement….