Lymeboy
At the risk of getting flamed, maybe that's why productivity levels in Europe are what they are? However, I also am the first to acknowledge that you can get more work done in less time given the incentive for doing so is there. Here, even flexi-time is, for all intents and purposes, a non-starter here (with the notable exception of HP). Bosses want to see the bodies in the offices as they don't believe they are motivated enough on their own.
Also unlike the west, here you are not paid for lunch hour so you don't have the proverbial 9 to 5 job but 9 to 6. Course the average local also wastes about a half hour a day eating breakfast on company time and you can be sure that they will utilize their entire 1 hour for lunch as well (or more if you don't keep an eye on them).
Yes, the Employment Act is only for low-paid 'workers'. You are correct. The rest as I said, is up to negotiation. The problem is things like leave won't normally be negotiable because of pre-set company policies (oh, often times the head offices of MNC's are not aware of what is practiced in their Asian Subsidiaries. The majority of times the local HR departments are made up entirely of Locals as well with a local mindset as well. Even when the HR Director of a MNC here is an Expat, he/she will not always be aware of what the HR manager and their HR Execs are doing.
I am curious however, how long have you been away from Singapore? Since you graduated from a European University? I am assuming that you have never actually spent any part of your "working" life in Singapore.
You might want to PM one of our regulars, Makan24-7, for a reality check as well. He is Malaysian Chinese and recently (past year or so) returned from the US where he has spent a considerable amount of time. You might also want to see
this thread.
sms