Made redundant and stranded in singapore

[HelenJ]

My husband was recently made redundant from his position with a Australian bank here in Singapore. They have called in our personal loan and deducted it from the redundancy payment....when the tax is deducted too we will owe them (but they will not tell us what the outstanding amount will be) but will have 7 days to pay it. We have no funds and now they are saying that they will not pay out the relocation funds until we actually arrive back in Australia, yet when we moved up here a year ago they paid it before we departed australia. We have outstanding school fees, outstanding rent, etc and in effect the company will be leaving us stranded here and in debt.

My husband did nothing to deserve this treatment, we and our friends and collegues are astounded at how we are being treated and left here with no funds.
Does anyone have any advice on who to go to for help other than a lawyer which we cannot afford.
Thank you

[ksl]

Australian bank here in Singapore.

With it being under Singapore jurisdiction, you have little choice, either suffer the consequences or take court action. It's too big I would think for small claims court $20k max.

Though you may get some free advice through the community services legal advisors. Do a search for an up to date legal clinics list in Singapore http://www.lawsoc.org.sg/pdf/Legal%20Clinics%20List.pdf

Or look on the law society website it will be there someplace, you only get like 10 minutes legal assistance but they will put you in the picture. You will need your contract too with all the small print. also loan contracts. MOM is another option for advice.

[ev-disinfection]

My husband was recently made redundant from his position with a Australian bank here in Singapore. They have called in our personal loan and deducted it from the redundancy payment....when the tax is deducted too we will owe them (but they will not tell us what the outstanding amount will be) but will have 7 days to pay it. We have no funds and now they are saying that they will not pay out the relocation funds until we actually arrive back in Australia, yet when we moved up here a year ago they paid it before we departed australia. We have outstanding school fees, outstanding rent, etc and in effect the company will be leaving us stranded here and in debt.

My husband did nothing to deserve this treatment, we and our friends and collegues are astounded at how we are being treated and left here with no funds.
Does anyone have any advice on who to go to for help other than a lawyer which we cannot afford.
Thank you

OMG, this bank is giving SG a bad rep....
Contact the MOM and find out what your options are.

[ecureilx]

OMG, this bank is giving SG a bad rep....
Contact the MOM and find out what your options are.

Errr, the bank is Australian ....

And that's the fun in working for high paid contract jobs ..

As of now, I jump to banking, I can double my pay, or treble, and get on contract terms .. which include the short notice period et al.

SMS can go on to enlighten the terms of general contract jobs vs perm jobs !!!

[JayCee]

The OP made no mention of being on a contract job

OP - I feel for you but that's the reality of working for a bank, if your husband wasn't performing then they were within their rights to make him redundant as would be specified in the employment contract. It's not their responsibilty to make you save money for a rainy day. Can you get a loan to pay the relocation costs back to Oz? Alternatively, can your husband find another job here?

[ecureilx]

The OP made no mention of being on a contract job

My bad, I based my response on my experience that most, if not all banking jobs are on contract ..

Apologies .. If so ...

[JayCee]

The OP made no mention of being on a contract job

My bad, I based my response on my experience that most, if not all banking jobs are on contract ..

Apologies .. If so ...

Most jobs in banking will be permanent roles. Contract positions tend to be in IT through outsourcing firms which get cheap labour from abroad and then send them to their client offices, but even in IT I'd still say the large majority of workers are perms

[ecureilx]

Most jobs in banking will be permanent roles. Contract positions tend to be in IT through outsourcing firms which get cheap labour from abroad and then send them to their client offices, but even in IT I'd still say the large majority of workers are perms

I am enlightened

I met a lot of guys from a few British banks in non-IT and all were on contract ..

Cheers

[sundaymorningstaple]

As a former contract staffer I know that the banks are very heavy into contract positions as well. Primarily in the IT back end but a pretty large number of western imports are on 1 or 2 year renewable contracts directly from the banks and not through a middle man recruiter.

The good think about contracts are that the rates are substantially higher and with a good run, one can sock some money away rapidly. The bad thing is believe the good time will continue to roll and spending like there's no tomorrow. Economic downturn, contract workers are the first to go. In fact, in any reshuffling, contract workers will be the first to go as they are the biggest per unit hit in manpower due to the premium that they are being paid. I spent the first 8 years here on renewable 1 year contracts.

[BillyB]

My husband was recently made redundant from his position with a Australian bank here in Singapore. They have called in our personal loan and deducted it from the redundancy payment....when the tax is deducted too we will owe them (but they will not tell us what the outstanding amount will be) but will have 7 days to pay it. We have no funds and now they are saying that they will not pay out the relocation funds until we actually arrive back in Australia, yet when we moved up here a year ago they paid it before we departed australia. We have outstanding school fees, outstanding rent, etc and in effect the company will be leaving us stranded here and in debt.

My husband did nothing to deserve this treatment, we and our friends and collegues are astounded at how we are being treated and left here with no funds.
Does anyone have any advice on who to go to for help other than a lawyer which we cannot afford.
Thank you

Hey Helen, sorry to hear about your situation. Are you looking to remain in SG or are you set on returning to Oz?

Without knowing your hubbies exact line of work, I'd be speculating on the market and his chances of moving elsewhere, but if you want to drop me a PM with some more details I'd be happy to try to refer him to a few people who might be able to help.

Also, check the contract with a fine tooth comb and see what the T&C's include and what they don't include.

[Brah]

The correct answer is, "it depends".

There are contract and non-contract positions in almost every area in banks. Some people in the same roles may be contractors while the person sitting next to them in the same job is an employee. Some contract positions are temporary until the employee passes a probation period and may become a full-time staff. Probably true for many industries.

The other "it depends' for ecureilx is that while some people in banks make a lot of money, a lot or even most, do not. And, it depends on the bank, and if people refer to "bank" as a commercial bank or investment bank. The same applies to both.

As a former contract staffer I know that the banks are very heavy into contract positions as well. Primarily in the IT back end but a pretty large number of western imports are on 1 or 2 year renewable contracts directly from the banks and not through a middle man recruiter.

The good think about contracts are that the rates are substantially higher and with a good run, one can sock some money away rapidly. The bad thing is believe the good time will continue to roll and spending like there's no tomorrow. Economic downturn, contract workers are the first to go. In fact, in any reshuffling, contract workers will be the first to go as they are the biggest per unit hit in manpower due to the premium that they are being paid. I spent the first 8 years here on renewable 1 year contracts.