annual leave in banking sector

[sambasm]

Hi,

I've seen there are already a few old posts about it but they were a bit more general or for other industries.
I'm considering with my Singaporean wife to move to Singapore from London where after sticking around the same company I'm now enjoying 28 days a year of leave on top of the normal bank holidays. Going back to Europe to see my family is very important to me so I'm very keen to know a bit more about it.
I hear companies are not very generous in general but the banking industry seems to be offering something slightly better, what could I expect joining a bank and is it ok to take all the days or would they expect me not to?
I've also heard Singapore government is also pushing for banks to hire more locals and that they have to report how many foreigners they employ. Is it true? If I manage to get a PR would I still be somehow "discriminated" against locals?

Thank you for your help!

[jamie9vardy]

Hi,

I've seen there are already a few old posts about it but they were a bit more general or for other industries.
I'm considering with my Singaporean wife to move to Singapore from London where after sticking around the same company I'm now enjoying 28 days a year of leave on top of the normal bank holidays. Going back to Europe to see my family is very important to me so I'm very keen to know a bit more about it.
I hear companies are not very generous in general but the banking industry seems to be offering something slightly better, what could I expect joining a bank and is it ok to take all the days or would they expect me not to?
I've also heard Singapore government is also pushing for banks to hire more locals and that they have to report how many foreigners they employ. Is it true? If I manage to get a PR would I still be somehow "discriminated" against locals?

Thank you for your help!

It should be between 20 and 25 days, depending on position, length of service and local SG banks vs foreign banks.

You did not specify about having children or not. Below is the link to Childcare leave provisions for your reference, if applicable:

http://www.mom.gov.sg/employment-practi ... ntitlement

Some organisations do provide 2 days of Family Care Leave in addition to annual leave and 11 days of Bank/public holidays.

For Block/Compliance leave, it varies from shop to shop but it is usually 5 or 10 working days.

Yes, what you heard is correct. I'm not sure about other banks. My place has instructed hiring managers to seek Head of HR's approval for hiring of non-SC into more junior positions. Although this is not applicable to senior roles but we can expect some pushback from HR. This measure is to support the MoM's Fair Consideration Framework.

[brian_singapore]

I work for a large multi-national bank. There is a scale as vacation entitlement does vary by band. I have 24 days + 6 days childcare.

The 6 days of childcare is a mandatory allocation for all parents with young children. I can't remember what the cut-offs are for this.

The childcare leave is basically the same as vacation.

[sambasm]

Thank you both for your reply.
Good to hear I could expect 20+ days and interesting to know about the childcare leave provision since I have a Singaporean daughter.
Not so pleased about the hiring policy of course but better to know those things in advance and have in mind it might take longer to find something.
Do you think using a recruiter would help my case or it shouldn't make any difference?

[brian_singapore]

Without knowing what you do I can only comment very generally. You should use every avenue available to fimd work, including recruiters.

My general advice to anyone looking for work is you need to be physically in Singapore otherwise no one (recruiters or otherwise) will talk with you. However if you are in a demand niche with high value skills, your experience may be different.

[sambasm]

Thanks Brian.

If we decide to move I'll try to get PR first from here and once I get it (if I get it) we will move and as you said explore every option.
I've been working for 9 years in a foreign exchange broker company mainly in the back office but covered AML, KYC and onboarding since the small size of the company. I'll probably look for something in AML, do you know if qualifications with https://www.int-comp.org/ are something banks in Singapore would look with interest?

[jamie9vardy]

I've been working for 9 years in a foreign exchange broker company mainly in the back office but covered AML, KYC and onboarding since the small size of the company. I'll probably look for something in AML, do you know if qualifications with https://www.int-comp.org/ are something banks in Singapore would look with interest?

As you may be aware, on the back of our neighbour's state development fund saga and the MAS has imposed financial penalties and sanctions on numerous banks, there should be a continued need for compliance and AML hires.

As you will be an experienced hire, I reckon your experience and knowledge should carry more weightage.

CAMS is a more common qualification among AML compliance and audit professionals in SG.
http://www.acams.org/earn-the-aml-certi ... -standard/

[sambasm]

Great thanks I'll check out the website and see what qualification I can get there, very helpful.

Thank you all for the tips and wish you a happy Christmas time!

PS: Good luck with Everton on Monday