Labour Law for Foreigners on EP

[truthhurts1]

Hi everyone wanted to ask if anyone has any experience in dealing with Lawyers for unfair dismissals and salary cuts for foreigners in Management positions on Employment Pass.
My company had cut my fixed salary in 2020 which has not been reinstated even at the end of 2022 on the pretext of loss of incomes and revenues during the virus.The base salary was however not changed. As you know Base Salaries are the basis on which the Employment passes are usually obtained.
I had to keep my head down and work as I am on an Employment pass and didn’t want to lose my job.
We had very good sales and growth in 2020 and 2021 but 2022 was not good.
Now the pressure is already building up in the company in 2023 and I am already on the receiving end of threats to perform to pre corona virus times.
Is there any law for foreigners on Employment pass?
Can I file a case for loss of income from 2020 t0 2022 ?
Also what is the severance package like usually for someone who has been in the company for 10+ years?
Can it be enforced?
Thank you very much for answers and suggestions.

[therat]

You mean your company file IR8E using your before-cut salary value for 2020, 2021 and 2022?

Severance package is not enforce. Only suggestion. regardless is local or foreigner.
I come across
1 service year - 1 week payout
1 service year - 1 mth payout

[edit to add on]
Singapore dont have labour law, only have employment Act

https://www.mom.gov.sg/employment-pract ... is-covered

Take note of the salary. There is a salary cap.
Above the cap is by your own.
It happen to my friend (Singaporean), her company didn't pay the employee for mths. When she check with MOM, MOM said.. your salary above the cap. You need to get your own lawyer.

[smoulder]

Just to be clear, what's the difference between fixed salary and base salary? Aren't they the same?

[truthhurts1]

You mean your company file IR8E using your before-cut salary value for 2020, 2021 and 2022?

Severance package is not enforce. Only suggestion. regardless is local or foreigner.
I come across
1 service year - 1 week payout
1 service year - 1 mth payout

[edit to add on]
Singapore dont have labour law, only have employment Act

https://www.mom.gov.sg/employment-pract ... is-covered

Take note of the salary. There is a salary cap.
Above the cap is by your own.
It happen to my friend (Singaporean), her company didn't pay the employee for mths. When she check with MOM, MOM said.. your salary above the cap. You need to get your own lawyer.

Thank you very much for the details.
The IR8A form was filed as per the salaries disbursed from 2020-2022.
The only thing is that they are not paying the salary as per the Employment Contract as the salary was enforced and was not informed in writing.
The salary cut was supposed to be only for 3-6 months from April 2022 but they company refused to reinstate it.
I did not sign anything accepting the salary cut or I was not issued a letter.
I will go consult a lawyer.
Thank you sir.

[truthhurts1]

Just to be clear, what's the difference between fixed salary and base salary? Aren't they the same?

My fixed salary is broken into 2 - 1) Basic Salary or Base Salary 2) Allowances

The company has made a substantial cut in allowances while keeping the basis salary the same.

[therat]

You mean your company file IR8E using your before-cut salary value for 2020, 2021 and 2022?

Severance package is not enforce. Only suggestion. regardless is local or foreigner.
I come across
1 service year - 1 week payout
1 service year - 1 mth payout

[edit to add on]
Singapore dont have labour law, only have employment Act

https://www.mom.gov.sg/employment-pract ... is-covered

Take note of the salary. There is a salary cap.
Above the cap is by your own.
It happen to my friend (Singaporean), her company didn't pay the employee for mths. When she check with MOM, MOM said.. your salary above the cap. You need to get your own lawyer.

Thank you very much for the details.
The IR8A form was filed as per the salaries disbursed from 2020-2022.
The only thing is that they are not paying the salary as per the Employment Contract as the salary was enforced and was not informed in writing.
The salary cut was supposed to be only for 3-6 months from April 2022 but they company refused to reinstate it.
I did not sign anything accepting the salary cut or I was not issued a letter.
I will go consult a lawyer.
Thank you sir.

Did the company email any memo or announcement for this pay cut?

[truthhurts1]

You mean your company file IR8E using your before-cut salary value for 2020, 2021 and 2022?

Severance package is not enforce. Only suggestion. regardless is local or foreigner.
I come across
1 service year - 1 week payout
1 service year - 1 mth payout

[edit to add on]
Singapore dont have labour law, only have employment Act



There was no official email or memo issued with a timeline of how long the deductions will be.
They just went ahead with the pay cuts and refused to reinstate till this day.





https://www.mom.gov.sg/employment-pract ... is-covered

Take note of the salary. There is a salary cap.
Above the cap is by your own.
It happen to my friend (Singaporean), her company didn't pay the employee for mths. When she check with MOM, MOM said.. your salary above the cap. You need to get your own lawyer.

Thank you very much for the details.
The IR8A form was filed as per the salaries disbursed from 2020-2022.
The only thing is that they are not paying the salary as per the Employment Contract as the salary was enforced and was not informed in writing.
The salary cut was supposed to be only for 3-6 months from April 2022 but they company refused to reinstate it.
I did not sign anything accepting the salary cut or I was not issued a letter.
I will go consult a lawyer.
Thank you sir.

Did the company email any memo or announcement for this pay cut?

[truthhurts1]

You mean your company file IR8E using your before-cut salary value for 2020, 2021 and 2022?

Severance package is not enforce. Only suggestion. regardless is local or foreigner.
I come across
1 service year - 1 week payout
1 service year - 1 mth payout

[edit to add on]
Singapore dont have labour law, only have employment Act

https://www.mom.gov.sg/employment-pract ... is-covered

Take note of the salary. There is a salary cap.
Above the cap is by your own.
It happen to my friend (Singaporean), her company didn't pay the employee for mths. When she check with MOM, MOM said.. your salary above the cap. You need to get your own lawyer.

Thank you very much for the details.
The IR8A form was filed as per the salaries disbursed from 2020-2022.
The only thing is that they are not paying the salary as per the Employment Contract as the salary was enforced and was not informed in writing.
The salary cut was supposed to be only for 3-6 months from April 2022 but they company refused to reinstate it.
I did not sign anything accepting the salary cut or I was not issued a letter.
I will go consult a lawyer.
Thank you sir.

Did the company email any memo or announcement for this pay cut?

There was no official email or any letter issued for the pay cut and also no timeline for how many months the pay cut will be enforced.

They started with the pay cut in April 2020 and was not reinstated till this date.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Did you accept the salary when it was paid? I think you will find your answer there. This especially so if everybody had their pay cut during the same period.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Additionally, was the salary cut to a figure below the "minimum" for the issuance of the EP? Not the quoted "basic" salary you are saying, but the amount required as the entry salary for the EP. If it was and you were kept on the EP during that time period you might want to think very hard about trying to get the money as if you were working on an EP and drawing less the the minimum required, then you become an accessory to defrauding the MOM. You might find yourself out of more than money. I suggest you get a lawyer before you do anything else or say anything else. I've been through the MOM court a fair number of times (but as the representative of the company - and always won). You cannot use the MOM court due to the salary cap for hear cases by the MOM. You need a full court but as I said, if you were working on a salary the was below the minimum required for the EP, then you are just as guilty.

[truthhurts1]

Additionally, was the salary cut to a figure below the "minimum" for the issuance of the EP? Not the quoted "basic" salary you are saying, but the amount required as the entry salary for the EP. If it was and you were kept on the EP during that time period you might want to think very hard about trying to get the money as if you were working on an EP and drawing less the the minimum required, then you become an accessory to defrauding the MOM. You might find yourself out of more than money. I suggest you get a lawyer before you do anything else or say anything else. I've been through the MOM court a fair number of times (but as the representative of the company - and always won). You cannot use the MOM court due to the salary cap for hear cases by the MOM. You need a full court but as I said, if you were working on a salary the was below the minimum required for the EP, then you are just as guilty.

Sorry for late reply.
My salary now is in the range of 140,000$ which is well above the salary cap required by MOM.
This is a 30% reduction to the one that I had signed in 2016.
The company said that they cannot pay that salary anymore as they were making losses which I do not believe as 2020 was one of the best years for my business in asia.

[PNGMK]

Additionally, was the salary cut to a figure below the "minimum" for the issuance of the EP? Not the quoted "basic" salary you are saying, but the amount required as the entry salary for the EP. If it was and you were kept on the EP during that time period you might want to think very hard about trying to get the money as if you were working on an EP and drawing less the the minimum required, then you become an accessory to defrauding the MOM. You might find yourself out of more than money. I suggest you get a lawyer before you do anything else or say anything else. I've been through the MOM court a fair number of times (but as the representative of the company - and always won). You cannot use the MOM court due to the salary cap for hear cases by the MOM. You need a full court but as I said, if you were working on a salary the was below the minimum required for the EP, then you are just as guilty.

Sorry for late reply.
My salary now is in the range of 140,000$ which is well above the salary cap required by MOM.
This is a 30% reduction to the one that I had signed in 2016.
The company said that they cannot pay that salary anymore as they were making losses which I do not believe as 2020 was one of the best years for my business in asia.

This is a contractual issue. It's not an MOM issue. It's not a labour law issue. This is an issue of a contract between you and your employer. Find a solicitor and lay out the facts. IF you win a claim for the missing payments I would expect you to be laid off as a result.

I would start looking for another job.

[truthhurts1]

Additionally, was the salary cut to a figure below the "minimum" for the issuance of the EP? Not the quoted "basic" salary you are saying, but the amount required as the entry salary for the EP. If it was and you were kept on the EP during that time period you might want to think very hard about trying to get the money as if you were working on an EP and drawing less the the minimum required, then you become an accessory to defrauding the MOM. You might find yourself out of more than money. I suggest you get a lawyer before you do anything else or say anything else. I've been through the MOM court a fair number of times (but as the representative of the company - and always won). You cannot use the MOM court due to the salary cap for hear cases by the MOM. You need a full court but as I said, if you were working on a salary the was below the minimum required for the EP, then you are just as guilty.

Sorry for late reply.
My salary now is in the range of 140,000$ which is well above the salary cap required by MOM.
This is a 30% reduction to the one that I had signed in 2016.
The company said that they cannot pay that salary anymore as they were making losses which I do not believe as 2020 was one of the best years for my business in asia.

This is a contractual issue. It's not an MOM issue. It's not a labour law issue. This is an issue of a contract between you and your employer. Find a solicitor and lay out the facts. IF you win a claim for the missing payments I would expect you to be laid off as a result.

I would start looking for another job.

Ok thank you and got it..
Issue is that most jobs are now looking for a PR or local thats why I am trapped .
I believe its a wrap here for foreigners who don’t have PR..