Definition of rest day under MOM act

[d88p]

Under Part IV of the Employment Act & Section 33, an employee is entitled to a rest day comprising one whole day (midnight to midnight) every week.

1. What does it mean midnight to midnight? Is it consider 2 day off, from 1st midnight to 2nd midnight?
2. If an employee is transfer from normal day work to shift work. Does he entitle for 1 day off or 1 day rest. If he perform his normal day work from Monday to Wednesday, he is given 1 day off on Thursday but Thursday midnight 12:00am is ask to joint night shift, after continuous 5 day night shift then he will entitle for 1 day off and 1 day rest. Is it fair to him? Is the employer follow MOM act?

Anyone familiar with MOM act, please give your opinion or comments?


Mon(D) Tues(D) Wed(D) Thurs(Off but joint shift work at night) Fri(N) Sat(N) Sun(N) Mon(N) Tues(N) -- D=day; N=night

From the above work schedule, Is Thursday consider Off day or Rest day?
, it seem like the employee does not has proper rest before he joint the shift work, he even dont has rest day from Monday to Sunday. am I right?

[ksl]

What does it mean midnight to midnight? Is it consider 2 day off, from 1st midnight to 2nd midnight?

Midnight to Midnight is 24 hrs, Midnight is the 12 hour at night to the next 12 hour at night =24 hours 1 day not 2 Someone on shift work may help you out on the rest.

[d88p]

What does it mean midnight to midnight? Is it consider 2 day off, from 1st midnight to 2nd midnight?

Midnight to Midnight is 24 hrs, Midnight is the 12 hour at night to the next 12 hour at night =24 hours 1 day not 2 Someone on shift work may help you out on the rest.

From the above case, I dont think Thursday Off consider midnight to midnight, because he need to report to work at Thursday midnight 12pm w/o proper rest but company take thursday night is next working day, meaning Friday 1st mid night shift. Any HR personnel or shift worker give some comments here?

[Mad Scientist]

This is from MOM

Maximum working hours

An employee is not allowed to work for more than 12 hours within a day except in the following circumstances:

1. Accident or threat of accident;
2. Work that is essential to:
1. the life of the community;
2. national defence; or
3. security;
3. Urgent work to be done to machinery or plant; or
4. An interruption of work which was impossible to foresee.

An employee can be required to work up to 12 hours a day if the employee gives his consent in writing, after the provisions of Sections 38 and 40 of the Employment Act have been clearly explained to him. He must be informed of the daily working hours, the number of working days in each week and the weekly rest day.

Employers that require their employees to work more than 12 hours (maximum 14 hours) a day are required under section 40 of the Employment Act, to apply for overtime exemption from the Ministry of Manpower. (Download the application form for overtime exemption for work more than 12 hours a day)

http://www.mom.gov.sg/employment-practi ... px#maximum

So which part are you not understanding.

[d88p]

This is from MOM

Maximum working hours

An employee is not allowed to work for more than 12 hours within a day except in the following circumstances:

1. Accident or threat of accident;
2. Work that is essential to:
1. the life of the community;
2. national defence; or
3. security;
3. Urgent work to be done to machinery or plant; or
4. An interruption of work which was impossible to foresee.

An employee can be required to work up to 12 hours a day if the employee gives his consent in writing, after the provisions of Sections 38 and 40 of the Employment Act have been clearly explained to him. He must be informed of the daily working hours, the number of working days in each week and the weekly rest day.

Employers that require their employees to work more than 12 hours (maximum 14 hours) a day are required under section 40 of the Employment Act, to apply for overtime exemption from the Ministry of Manpower. (Download the application form for overtime exemption for work more than 12 hours a day)

http://www.mom.gov.sg/employment-practi ... px#maximum

So which part are you not understanding.

Mad Scientist. 1st thks for your comments. Yup, an employee can be require to work for up to 12hours a day but not more thanl 72hrs overtime a month on his working days. But now I'm not understand is should an employee entitle of a rest day or off day when he transfer from day work to shift work as I mentioned above:

Case 1: Mon(D) Tues(D) Wed(D) Thurs(Off but joint shift work at Thursday night as which employer consider it on Friday after Thur 12midnight) Fri(N) Sat(N) Sun(N) Mon(N) Tues(N) -- D=day; N=night

Should the employer give the employee a rest day on Thursday so that he has a proper rest on Thursday night, unfortunately he is ask to report work on Thursday night. The employer should grant him/her 1 day off on Friday right.

Case 2: Mon(D) Tues(D) Wed(D) Thurs(Rest) Friday(D) Sat(D) Sun(D) Mon(D) Tues(D) -- as define by MOM rest day mean night to night

Therefore, if an employee joint back to shift fall on morning shift as mentioned in case 2, I find it is fair because he is given 1 day rest on Thursday but in case 1 he is only given 1 day off, which doesn't comply to MOM Part IV of the Employment Act & Section 36 as following:

Rest day.
36. —(1) Every employee shall be allowed in each week a rest day without pay of one whole day which shall be Sunday or such other day as may be determined from time to time by the employer.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Did you try calling MOM? they are really the ones for such a technical answer that has a better chance of being 100% right. After all, it their laws. That way you won't go off half-cocked based on somebody's answer here that is still subject to interpretation .

[d88p]

Did you try calling MOM? they are really the ones for such a technical answer that has a better chance of being 100% right. After all, it their laws. That way you won't go off half-cocked based on somebody's answer here that is still subject to interpretation .

Sundaymorningstaple, thks for your suggestion, I just forward my query to MOM, hope to hear from they soon.

[Mad Scientist]

An employee covered by Part IV of the Employment Act is entitled to a rest day comprising one whole day (midnight to midnight) every week.

The rest day can be on a Sunday or any other day. The employer should determine the rest day and inform the employee before the beginning of each month. It is not a paid day.

Employer cannot compel employees to work on rest day unless under very exceptional circumstances.

The longest allowable interval between two rest days is 12 days. This can occur where in one week, the rest day is given on Monday, which is at the beginning of the working week. In the following week, the rest day is on Sunday, which is at the end of next working week. This will enable an employee to take two rest days at a stretch and allow an employer greater flexibility in the rostering of rest days.

For a shift worker, the rest day can be a continuous period of 30 hours. A 30-hour rest period that commences before 6pm on a Sunday will be considered as one rest day within the week, even though the 30-hour period will extend into the next week, i.e. on Monday

The above is from MOM . Your question is very interesting and please do advise us on the outcome from MOM. I do understand where you are coming from and I do not have an answer for you.
This is my understanding from what you have wrote. The max. working hour per week is 44 hrs. The max OT is 72 hours per month.
The min. rest period between one shift to another is 12 hours from what I understand here. I think there is no Off Day rather it is considered as Rest Day as it is not a paid day. I maybe wrong here
But if there is written consent from employee then it is all good
It also depends if you are on hourly rate. monthly rate, executive role or otherwise. You have to see what your contract says.
My ex staff used to hit more than 72 hours a month on OT. No one complains. We used to have 3 days works One day off and 4 days work two days off on 12 hours shift . No one came back to us as they are paid for their work. Hmm... interesting topic

[d88p]

An employee covered by Part IV of the Employment Act is entitled to a rest day comprising one whole day (midnight to midnight) every week.

The rest day can be on a Sunday or any other day. The employer should determine the rest day and inform the employee before the beginning of each month. It is not a paid day.

Employer cannot compel employees to work on rest day unless under very exceptional circumstances.

The longest allowable interval between two rest days is 12 days. This can occur where in one week, the rest day is given on Monday, which is at the beginning of the working week. In the following week, the rest day is on Sunday, which is at the end of next working week. This will enable an employee to take two rest days at a stretch and allow an employer greater flexibility in the rostering of rest days.

For a shift worker, the rest day can be a continuous period of 30 hours. A 30-hour rest period that commences before 6pm on a Sunday will be considered as one rest day within the week, even though the 30-hour period will extend into the next week, i.e. on Monday

The above is from MOM . Your question is very interesting and please do advise us on the outcome from MOM. I do understand where you are coming from and I do not have an answer for you.
This is my understanding from what you have wrote. The max. working hour per week is 44 hrs. The max OT is 72 hours per month.
The min. rest period between one shift to another is 12 hours from what I understand here. I think there is no Off Day rather it is considered as Rest Day as it is not a paid day. I maybe wrong here
But if there is written consent from employee then it is all good
It also depends if you are on hourly rate. monthly rate, executive role or otherwise. You have to see what your contract says.
My ex staff used to hit more than 72 hours a month on OT. No one complains. We used to have 3 days works One day off and 4 days work two days off on 12 hours shift . No one came back to us as they are paid for their work. Hmm... interesting topic

Mad Scientist, I would like to add/amend some of your comments mentioned above, please do advice me if my understanding is incorrect.

This is my understanding from what you have wrote. The max. working hour per week is 44 hrs. The max OT is 72 hours per month.( exclude off day and rest day)
The min. rest period between one shift to another is 12 hours from what I understand here.(every 5 working days(44hrs) should entitle 1 rest day(24hrs)) I think there is no Off Day rather it is considered as Rest Day as it is not a paid day. I maybe wrong here(It is a off day(12hrs) not a rest day(24hrs) instead)
But if there is written consent from employee then it is all good
It also depends if you are on hourly rate. monthly rate, executive role or otherwise. You have to see what your contract says.(It is a monthly rate, according to Part IV, it is only apply to to workmen who are in receipt of a salary not exceeding $4,500 a month (excluding overtime payments, bonus payments, annual wage supplements, productivity incentive payments and any allowance however described) or such other amount as may be prescribed by the Minister).My ex staff used to hit more than 72 hours a month on OT. No one complains. We used to have 3 days works One day off ( I believe it is a rest day?)and 4 days work two days off(most likely consider 1 day rest and 1 day off) on 12 hours shift . No one came back to us as they are paid for their work. ( Please note any OT fall on rest day and off day should not add into 72hrs a month, OT on rest day and off day not stated in employment act to what I understanding)[/b][/i]

I'm still waiting the answer from MOM. Here's the latest reply:

Dear Sir / Madam

We acknowledge receipt of your email(s) dated 06/03/2011.

2. We will respond to all general enquiries within 3 working days. If
your enquiry is case-specific,
we will respond to you within 7 working days.

3. If you have given a feedback on possible violations of the
Employment Act, we will look
into the matter and take the necessary action. We may contact you if additional information is required.

4. For more information on the Employment Act, please check out our MOM
website at www.mom.gov.sg

Thank you.

Yours faithfully

Labour Relations Department
Ministry of Manpower
Website: www.mom.gov.sg

[sundaymorningstaple]

d888p

MS spelled it out nicely, but you sure have botched it up somehow. Why don't you just wait until you get the reply from MOM that way it is in the MOM's language and then see if you can understand it. Otherwise, based on what I see at present, you aren't going to see anything close to right as it's already in your mind the answer that you WANT to see.

[Mad Scientist]

OP
What I wrote is based on my understanding. I could be wrong here. Lets wait what MOM has to say. Their turnaround for email queries is about 72 hours SOP.
Having said that, and not to confuse both of us.After checking with my ex HR manager and he is as confused as hell but got some clarification based on OUR COMPANY WORKING HOURS.
Max working hours is 44 hours and max OT is 72 hours as a guideline only but the contract workers are hitting more than that as we have explained to them and they agreed to work for more than that. Off day will be paid x 1.5 of hourly rate
Entitlement of Rest day depends on the company structure. Some is 5 and half days which equates to 44 hrs. Some is only 5 days which will hit the same number of hours. Usually Sunday is the rest day.
If you are on hourly rate and on 12 hours shift. Once you hit the 44 hours, the balance is OT x 1.5 hours. If you are on monthly rate, you go on standard BOG 3 days work One day off and 4 days work 2 days off with no OT unless employee work above the 12 hours per day or came back during off day where they will be paid 1.5 hourly rate unless it falls on Public Holiday which will be x 2 .
The reason FOR US is, the hourly rate is on contract, low basic salary and the monthly rate staff is not and has more benefits, cover and higher pay scale.
We call it off day not rest day. There is no rest day in our operation.
No, not true on your understanding, you can hit as many OT above 72 hours as long as you understand the implication.On average the contract workers is hitting 90 to 100 hrs a month. Our employment contract states that explicitly and does not infringe MOM guideline. The employment contract overrides MOM guideline. The supervisor and team leader will decide if the workers health and safety issue is compromised due to lack of sleep hence we will stopped that worker from working on OT until she is fully rested. Those on heavy machinery and automatic equipment will have more stringent regulation. We have health and safety officer to overrides everybody including the managers when come to health and safety issue. Basically what I am trying to say is the above is based on my company operation only. Ours is a manufacturing operation.
You have to wait for MOM and advise us on your situation.