Maternity leaves for foreigner on contact job in singapore

[parivinu]

Hi All,

I am EP holder and working for IT company here. have been working on contact job for the last 3 months where my contract period ends on May 2014 or can be extended. and also the Employer whom I working mostly take us as permanent after Jan 2014 as they need lot of resources.

So, will the consultancy give me Maternity leaves ?
As per MOM (http://www.mom.gov.sg/employment-practi ... gibilityEA), if the employee is on fixed term contract and worked for 3 months, eligible for 12 weeks of maternity leaves.

Please let me know .. because my agency is an indian Consultancy. they are just horrible. and collecting enough information before having discussion with them.

[sundaymorningstaple]

.. because my agency is an indian Consultancy.

I think you already know the answer.

[parivinu]

I am just worried, what if they say NO.. because they did not give medical leaves for one of our colleague who was employed though that Agency.. i am just worrying will they give me maternity leaves.. by the way will it be paid maternity leaves ? any idae you come across people where they have got paid maternity leaves for contract job.. because now i am a permanent employee to the consultancy..

[AngMoG]

The enforcement of the few labor laws that exist here is rather weak. In my previous company, it was well known that they do not give maternity leave. In case of pregnancy, they would find some reason to fire the person.

In your case, it is easy for them - they can opt to simply not renew your contract come May 2014, since technically, that is not 'firing'. Or, if your due date is before then, find some reason to terminate you. Or, force you to take no-pay leave for the period. There are a lot of ways for 'bad' companies (which yours sounds like) to skirt the law. And as an employee, the only recourse is to file for "wrongful dismissal", in which case you would probably get no more but the 10 weeks pay out of it. There was a recent case involving a church, where all the former employee got was $7500.

That may sound negative, and there are enough companies here who care for their employees, and abide by the law. But for the bad apples, there are plenty of ways to not fulfill their obligations.

[parivinu]

Thanks AngMoG..

my project got extended till june 2014.. and also the current company need resources after Jan. my manager is also happy with my performance. Can I directly ask my manager if he is interested in taking me as permanent.

[parivinu]

Hi,

I got a reply from my agency that, my contact will be ending on jan 2014 and so I will have to look out for new offers later.. then I asked the the actual contract with company is 1 yr..so why can't I avail maternity leaves where i am a permanent employee to the agency.. Can I fight for it with the agency ? Please let me know..

Thanks in advance..

[ecureilx]

Hi,

I got a reply from my agency that, my contact will be ending on jan 2014 and so I will have to look out for new offers later.. then I asked the the actual contract with company is 1 yr..so why can't I avail maternity leaves where i am a permanent employee to the agency.. Can I fight for it with the agency ? Please let me know..

Thanks in advance..

Since you are on contract, I would say, you are not gonna win .. .. just that's my 2 cents ..

[PNGMK]

Hi,

I got a reply from my agency that, my contact will be ending on jan 2014 and so I will have to look out for new offers later.. then I asked the the actual contract with company is 1 yr..so why can't I avail maternity leaves where i am a permanent employee to the agency.. Can I fight for it with the agency ? Please let me know..

Thanks in advance..

What sort of paperwork do you have with the agency? It's most likely back-back meaning that if the agency doesn't have work, you don't have work. You're not really a permanent employee unless you're in a full time, permanent position with no contract end date.

[goggoberri]

I've worked for a company subcontracting resources to a hiring employer. The contract may state that you are a permanent employee of xyz consultancy, but that means nothing. Once the hiring employer has no longer a need for you, such as the project being completed, or scrapped etc, the consultancy/agency can terminate you with the appropriate notice as per your contract.

If you have an end date on your contract, then you are a contract employee in reality despite what your contract states. The only difference would be that the consultancy would have some sort of life/health insurance coverage for "permanent" employees.


My suggestion is not to fight with them on the maternity leave thingy, but instead try to convince them to hire you back maybe 6 months after your baby is born. You may only get a verbal commitment which they have no intention of honouring but at least it leaves you less stress to deal with when you are pregnant. To be frank you stand no chance of winning if you chose to fight your termination, so its better to leave on good terms.



In parallel, do speak with your hiring manager in the company where you are working and let him know that you are interested to join back after your pregnancy. You would need to follow up with them at that time, but you never know. If you are polite and deal professionally with your current situation, you would find the hiring manager more willing to get you back again.

just as an aside, most singaporean managers and local sme's are afraid of employing married females without kids because they feel that the women are just out to mooch on the maternity benefits and will actively seek to become pregnant immediately after joining.