SINGAPORE EXPATS FORUM
Singapore Expat Forum and Message Board for Expats in Singapore & Expatriates Relocating to Singapore
Singapore's work culture
- sundaymorningstaple
- Moderator
- Posts: 39768
- Joined: Thu, 11 Nov 2004 1:26 pm
- Location: Retired on the Little Red Dot
In a civilized country, the employees wouldn't take for granted that the 14 days of medical leave given annually by the gahment is annual leave that costs only $8/day for an hour or two and the local polyclinic early in the morning and maybe get 2 days MC from a trumped up "flu". Which normally happens on a Friday or a Monday especially if there is a Gazetted holiday on a Thursday or a Tuesday.
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers
I bet at least 40% of the time.sundaymorningstaple wrote: Which normally happens on a Friday or a Monday

That said, I agree with SMS. I considered it ridiculous when I first arrived but quickly realized why it was that way (what SMS said) and that most reasonable managers don't actually ask for it unless it's abused.
And if you really wanted an MC to have an extra day of holiday, just land Monday afternoon and get your MC at Raffles in Terminal 3

- chris_pilgrim
- Regular
- Posts: 103
- Joined: Sat, 09 Nov 2013 7:53 pm
- Location: a harbour in front
++1PNGMK wrote:+1. In civilized first world countries you normally only have to provide a certificate from your third day of sick leave on.singapore eagle wrote:This is true, but, if I'm feeling ill, the last thing I want to do is crawl out of bed, walk down in the hot sun to the clinic and sit in a room full of sick people.zzm9980 wrote:There are multiple clinics every square km of this Island. You can visit anyone for any reason and almost never have more than a 15 minute wait. (Except perhaps during the 9-10am "m.c. rush" in HDB estates.) Local HR (and everyone else) knows this, so it's not very hard to get an MC certificate. As a foreigner you'll likely pay no more than $30 for the consultation and whatever the doctor prescribes. And you have insurance reimburse it anyway.
back home, i only have to provide a certificate from my GP after the fifth day of my sick leave so it is the employee's conscience not to violate that trust.
definitely not happening here in sg.
It is better to believe than to disbelieve. in doing, you bring everything to the realm of possibility.
- sundaymorningstaple
- Moderator
- Posts: 39768
- Joined: Thu, 11 Nov 2004 1:26 pm
- Location: Retired on the Little Red Dot
the lynx wrote:But if you're not really sick, how would you be able to get the doctor to produce a MC for a "sick day"? Surely you're not suggesting that the doctors here sell MCs?


I'm coming from a starting point (and culture) of people not really getting 'sick' or taking sick-leave. The opposite of almost being handed a 'sick leave allowance' as an add-on to annual leave.
Simply what I and many people would consider "not sick" in Singapore seems considered "sick". Coughing - sick, a bit of back or leg pain - sick, mild fever - very sick, runny nose - sick, some nausea - sick. See, most of these thigs are subjective so I don't think any local doctor would oppose to write an MC if you say you don't feel very well. I was offered MC many times without saying a word and simply said, no thank you.the lynx wrote:But if you're not really sick, how would you be able to get the doctor to produce a MC for a "sick day"? Surely you're not suggesting that the doctors here sell MCs?
I had once a discussion on this very subject with one guy, a section head in a big MNC, where he had a mixed environment of mostly Caucasian guys coming from a different countries in Europe on short-term contracts and regular staff on local contracts. Guess how the sick-leave distribution looked like. Of course it is always possible that the local guys are very poor with their health and the Caucasians are sound and strong...
edited to add missing "no"
Last edited by x9200 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 12:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
-
- Reporter
- Posts: 718
- Joined: Thu, 31 Oct 2013 2:51 pm
I really don't know the answer, but probably I would prefer a trust system for the first few days.
Definitely I notice here some people also take afternoons off sick leave. Just pop across to the nearby clinic, report a headache, collect your MC and a stack of unnecessary medications, claim back this approx. $50 receipt from employer, and enjoy your afternoon off (er I mean recovering from the headache!). In a perverse way the MC process actually makes it easier and kind of sanctions this behavior. Whereas if you need to front up and inform your boss/HR people might be less likely to abuse the system like this.
Definitely I notice here some people also take afternoons off sick leave. Just pop across to the nearby clinic, report a headache, collect your MC and a stack of unnecessary medications, claim back this approx. $50 receipt from employer, and enjoy your afternoon off (er I mean recovering from the headache!). In a perverse way the MC process actually makes it easier and kind of sanctions this behavior. Whereas if you need to front up and inform your boss/HR people might be less likely to abuse the system like this.
- sundaymorningstaple
- Moderator
- Posts: 39768
- Joined: Thu, 11 Nov 2004 1:26 pm
- Location: Retired on the Little Red Dot
Well, it works both ways. Many companies here make employees slog well beyond work hours and don't pay them for the overtime and then don't sanction leaves also. Sick leave they cannot say no.sundaymorningstaple wrote:In a civilized country, the employees wouldn't take for granted that the 14 days of medical leave given annually by the gahment is annual leave that costs only $8/day for an hour or two and the local polyclinic early in the morning and maybe get 2 days MC from a trumped up "flu". Which normally happens on a Friday or a Monday especially if there is a Gazetted holiday on a Thursday or a Tuesday.
In my opinion, it depends on the employer/employee relationship. I have rarely ever taken sick leaves in my previous companies and they used to be very generous like 22 days sick leave a year as well as only more than 3 days sick leave only then you need to produce medical certificate. Of course this is a very popular bank and the kind of benefits I used to get there cannot be compared with a typical local or localized MNC companies of Singapore. I used have 22 annual leaves and also 6 child care leaves. I never ever need to bluff and take sick leaves.
The companies in Singapore I worked for were as of what you mentioned very fair to the employees and this working culture was/is still around. This included the big MNC I mentioned.
Apparently in Singapore bad employers and bad attitude employees are pretty much independent entities. They are both bad with no need for lame excuses pushing the blame for ones misconduct to the other party.
Apparently in Singapore bad employers and bad attitude employees are pretty much independent entities. They are both bad with no need for lame excuses pushing the blame for ones misconduct to the other party.
There's hope then. We're moving because my husband is being seconded from his Uk office to their Singapore office. There's a mixture of people that are local and people who have moved from the Uk in that office. His line manager is from the Uk so hopefully means working environment/culture will be similar to here? ?? Worried we'd be without friends and without husband/dad.
-
- Similar Topics
- Replies
- Views
- Last post
-
-
DP holders will need a Work Pass to work in SG
by jamie9vardy » Wed, 03 Mar 2021 2:41 pm » in PR, Citizenship, Passes & Visas for Foreigners - 22 Replies
- 23006 Views
-
Last post by PNGMK
Thu, 04 Nov 2021 6:03 pm
-
-
-
DP holders will need a Work Pass to work in SG from 1 May 2021
by sundaymorningstaple » Wed, 03 Mar 2021 3:59 pm » in Latest News & Current Affairs - 4 Replies
- 8076 Views
-
Last post by PNGMK
Fri, 05 Mar 2021 9:02 am
-
-
-
Can Singapore citizens work in International Schools in Singapore?
by doitenah » Thu, 23 Jul 2020 1:06 pm » in Careers & Jobs in Singapore - 5 Replies
- 2327 Views
-
Last post by PNGMK
Sat, 25 Jul 2020 3:48 pm
-
-
-
Returning to Work in Singapore
by SG Green » Mon, 26 Feb 2018 10:33 am » in Relocating, Moving to Singapore - 2 Replies
- 1545 Views
-
Last post by SG Green
Tue, 27 Feb 2018 1:17 am
-
-
-
Moving to Singapore on dependent visa. Continue to work remotely for company in Australia.
by NatalieF » Tue, 22 May 2018 8:24 am » in Relocating, Moving to Singapore - 4 Replies
- 3970 Views
-
Last post by NatalieF
Tue, 22 May 2018 8:01 pm
-
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 7 guests