Hi Everyone.
My friend has been laid off unfairly last month and would like to seek help from MOM regarding unfair dismissal and lodging a complain against her employer (West Coast Ixxxxxxxxx). She was terminated on the same day without any termination notice letter. The reason was the company has financial issues and they had to terminate some positions. However, the company had purchased large printing machineries, electronics, computers and hired new staff in the previous months. My friend thinks the termination may not relate to financial issues. She was terminated on the same day and there wasn't enough time to handover company information such as website passwords and email passwords.
After termination, the employer is required to cancel the work pass and issue a 30 days of Visit Pass. The employer have not printed out the Visit Pass Letter on the same day and suggested to mail the letter afterwards. My friend wishes to receive the letter before handling the passwords as she sense insecurity. The employer has given words and promises but they never came true; my friend do not have trust anymore. The employer has only mailed out the visit pass letter after 3 working days and emailed her a termination letter. The date of the letter is dated on her termination day (which is not fair to her as she has not signed nor read this termination letter until the day she received the Visit Pass letter). She asked for a date change but the employer just ignored. She sent back the passwords and other info to the employer and asked for a confirmation of receipt; the employer haven't got back to her since.
The employer has also made a fake statement that MOM has sent the employer a "feedback form" for the employer to fill in and said " I hope I can give it a good feedback". After calling MOM, they stated that they will not send any feedback form or letter to the employer after the employee has left (foreign employer). My friend sensed threat in the employer's message and would like to file a complaint.
After researching on MOM site, an employee can file a complaint against the employer under The Employment Act. However, the Employment Act is only covered when a contact is signed as a confirmation of employment. More info : http://www.mom.gov.sg/employment-practi ... fault.aspx
MOM offers Advisory Service for employees; with that said, employees also require a contract in order to use this service.
The company is smart; without any signed contract, employees cannot file any complaint against the employer. My friend's incident is not the first one in the company.
Please remember to ask for a contract when you join a company - it is a protection for yourself. Just a note to be careful when you are looking for jobs; we are foreigners, and we are treated "differently" in a way when it comes to the workplace and MOM rules. Our work pass/visa is attached to the company; therefore, you have to follow certain rules. Anything that happens might affect your 2nd pass and job.
I hope MOM can protect employees even though they do not have a signed contract. Other documents such as salary pay slip or bank statements should be sufficient to prove that you are working at a company.
Please let me know if you had similar incidents and if there is other ways to seek for help, thank you.
