Dear Gilbert,
I saw your blog while searching the rights of women on maternity benefits and I have problem on my maternity benefits.
I am a foreigner and currently working in a local company. I am holding an Employment pass with a monthly salary of sgd 2,300.00. My position is purchasing assistant.
Currently, I am 30-weeks pregnant. I asked my employer regarding my maternity leave and they told me that they might terminate me due to some unknown reason.
Hence, the following are my questions:-
- Am I qualified under employment act?
- Do I have maternity benefits and how many weeks of the entitlement of maternity leave.
- Can my employer terminate me due to my pregnancy? If no, what are the procedures that should I do to appeal on this matter.
Hoping for your reply.
Thank you,
Rosyel
*******
Hi Rosyel
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- Jobless 35-year-old IT Specialist Lost His Job To A Foreign Talent
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- F & B Employer: Singaporeans should embrace the need of foreign workers in Singapore
- Pregnant Woman Thought Of Abortion Due To Financial Stress
- SME Employer: “We may have to close down due to a lack of workers.”
- 39-year-old jobless PMET to employer: “Stop asking discriminating questions!”
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I believe MOM will take action against errant employers.
why are we penalising our local employers by having them foot the maternity leave of a foreign employee. if you want to have nice unprotected sex, you should pay for your own maternity leave.
Please get your foreign government to pay for your leave!
1. Rosyel should be S-Pass, not Employment pass. $2.3K salary is below any E-Pass category. And you mean the company cannot get any Singaporean as purchasing assistant for $2.3K?? S-Pass is the killer for many Singaporeans — from young grads trying to get their first jobs, to retrenched and jobless 35+ PMETs trying to get any reasonable-paying jobs to pay for their HDB and support their families.
2. The pro-business environment in Singapore which allows indiscriminate mass importation of foreigners and to allow companies to indiscriminately hire foreigners over Singaporeans, ALSO means that there is very little worker protection rights, as compared to other developed countries. The sword and rewards cuts both ways.
3. While pregnant female workers are entitled to 4 weeks maternity leave under Employment Act, the termination / retrenchment aspects are almost entirely a private matter between worker and company — a private “business” contract. Employment Act is almost silent on this aspect. Whatever terms and conditions and any termination/resignation clauses are in your company’s employment letter and contract — go and read them.
Btw, it is quite standard in Singapore for most companies to have this clause in their employment contract: “The Company shall have the right to terminate this Employment Contract without the need to show any cause whatsoever, by way of giving 1 month’s notice or salary in-lieu thereof.”
And vice versa, you the employee is also given the right to resign without the need to give any reason, as long you give 1 month’s notice, or paying 1 month’s salary as penalty.
4. The company is definitely not stupid enough to use pregnancy to terminate. They are also not silly enough to say anything negative about your pregnancy in black & white — verbally yes. They can come up with 1001 reasons to fire you, all backed by black & white HR records, signed and counter-signed by your managers and directors, with a 1000km long trail of official correspondence between you, your reporting officer and your managers etc etc.
5. That’s why in Singapore, apart from mass protests and sit-ins by construction workers, employer-employee termination disputes are rarely contested as it requires court litigation since there is very little clear cut black & white legislation on this. The few cases I have seen are usually involving very highly-paid workers e.g. investment bankers, who can afford hiring lawyers and paying the expensive court fees to fight against their ex-employers.
Hi Anon,
Thanks for your insightful comments on the case.
Its true that our weak lame unions have caused much mayhew to our workers here.
We received many emails from readers complaining about all kinds of wrongful dismissals and unpaid salaries.
Many who went up to complain against the employers to MOM were also given the merry go round if their income exceeded a certain amount.
They have to seek legal recourse if they wanted to pursue their cases – which is absurb.
What are our unions and government manpower department doing?
There is a need for a third-party arbitration arm that can help our executives when there is an industrial dispute.
Foreigners can collectively protest and strike as they are not citizens here and are seen as more united. They also have nothing to lose.
If Singaporeans do the same thing we may be arrested and even put into jail.
Why the striking difference when it comes to fighting for your rights?
Gilbert Goh
Transitioning.org should be Singaporean’s first, this job can actually go to a Singaporean. I believe transitioning should not get involved with this case.
Thanks Prabu for your comment.
I am merely posting the incident up and will not assist her in any way.
Transitioning is committed to helping Singaporeans only.
Gilbert Goh
If this site is only for unemployed Singapore citizens only, who, incidentally mostly are in dire straits because of the influx of foreign trash, then why are you giving advice to this woman?
Like someone says, she should be referred to her own embassy for advice instead.
C’mon, you got to make up your mind as to whose cause you are championing.
This site is about supporting S’poreans first & not about hating on foreigners second. Which simply means the admin of this site supports locals first but doesn’t have to be heartless & rude by ignoring this woman seeking advice or help just because she’s a foreigner. Please try to be civilized & read the lines better next time. Having a negative attitude on foreigners & always expressing hate will not help you land a good job even in your local company.
I love how completely racist you guys are! Keep it up – highly entertaining!
I love how you can accuse people here of being racist when the race of the pregnant lady is not mentioned anywhere.
Hi guys
I understand many of u are unhappy about a problem faced by a FT E/S Pass holder being highlighted.
However, we need to understand the issue from various sides.
The main problem is the mainstream media avoids any mention of E/S Pass Holders as problems.
As a result too many of us became emotional & started cursing everyone & anyone.
It is good that this problem is being highlighted so that we know the hard truth.
I have serious doubt about the contract of service of this “foreign Talent” could be terminated due to her pregnancy.
Employee’s benefits (e.g. sick leave, annual leave, maternity leave) are normally stated in the letter of appointment/employment.
No employer in their right mind would resort to such action knowing well MOM will investigate the matter if a complaint is received because dismissal of a pregnant female employee who is not already on maternity leave and without just cause is prohibited and constitutes a criminal offence.
There could be other issues pertaining to code of conduct which the writer is not telling us.
It could be a double whammy (fine and jail term) for the writer if she is found to be in cohorts with her employer to obtain her E-pass fraudulently by circumventing S-pass quota requirements through false salary declaration and kickback scheme.
You are assuming every employer is afraid of MOM and the consequence of going against the labour laws.
Singtard is an angmoh that is why he isn’t happy that we are being *rude* towards the brown-skinned ho’s.
go back to your country.