Termination of employment in Singapore

• Termination of employment in Singapore can be implemented by either the employee or the employer.
• If an employee resigns without giving notice, the employee will need to forgo salary in lieu of notice.

The termination of employment in Singapore can be implemented by either the employee or the employer and both parties must follow the terms and conditions for termination stated in the contract of service.

Employees are generally hired with a probation of three to six months and will be hired as permanent employees after the probation period ends. The employment contract will usually set out the terms of termination and what notice is required if any. It is vital for all employees to be sure exactly what their employment contract says so that they can proceed accordingly.

The termination of the contract of service can occur in case of:

• Employee resignation;
• Employer dismissal; or
• Expiration of the contract terms.

Termination with notice

If an employee’s contract specifies a notice period, they serve the said notice period or pay compensation in lieu of the notice. Any notice of termination, either by the employee or employer must be in writing.

If an employment contract did not specify a notice period, then the notice period is dependent on the length of the employee’s service.

Termination without notice

If an employee resigns without giving notice, the employee will need to forgo salary in lieu of notice.

Termination due to breach of employment terms

Either the employer or employee can terminate the employment if the terms of employment have been breached.

An employer is considered to breach of contract if they fail to pay the employee’s salary within seven days. An employee is in breach of contract if they are absent from work for two working days without approval or without attempting to inform the employer.

Filing a wrongful dismissal claim

Valid reasons for dismissal can include:

• Misconduct;
• Poor performance; and
• Redundancy.

Wrongful dismissal, however, occurs when the employee is dismissed without just cause. Filing a wrongful dismissal claim must be done within one month from the last day of employment to the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM). The TADM will ask the former employee to show proof that the dismissal was wrongful.

If the claim(s) cannot be solved through the TADM, then the case will be referred to the Employment Claims Tribunals (ECT).

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