Local employees, referring to Singaporeans and permanent residents, lodged 57% of all 7,140 employment claims and appeals received by MOM and TADM in 2022, while the remaining 43% were lodged by foreign staff. — Bloomberg
SINGAPORE: More local and foreign employees filed salary claims in 2022 than in the year before, with the total amount recovered for them rising in tandem by almost 40% to S$12mil (RM41mil).
Salary claims jumped 26% to 6,123 from 4,848 in 2021, with more of these made by groups against companies that experienced business failures or financial difficulties, said the Manpower Ministry (MOM) and Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM) yesterday.
Amid challenging economic conditions, the overall incidence of employment claims and appeals lodged with MOM and TADM rose to 1.97 per 1,000 employees in 2022, up from 1.73 per 1,000 employees in 2021, according to the annual Employment Standards Report.
Local employees, referring to Singaporeans and permanent residents, lodged 57% of all 7,140 employment claims and appeals received by MOM and TADM in 2022, while the remaining 43% were lodged by foreign staff.
The bulk of employment claims and appeals comprised salary claims, such as for basic salary, salary-in-lieu of notice or overtime pay. Dismissal claims made up most of the remainder.
The incidence of claims for salary arrears increased last year for both local and foreign employees.
Among locals, the rate was 1.29 per 1,000 employees in 2022, up from 1.16 in 2021. For foreigners, the rate was 2.53 per 1,000 employees in 2022, up from 2.1 in 2021.
However, the report by MOM and TADM noted that the total incidence of claims for salary arrears and wrongful dismissal remained below pre-Covid-19 levels.
In 2022, salary claims were made by 1.68 out of every 1,000 employees, down from 2.68 per 1,000 employees in 2019.
Similarly, wrongful dismissal claims were lodged in 2022 by 0.26 per 1,000 employees, down from 0.29 in 2019.
The report also found that 86% of salary claims were resolved via mediation at TADM in 2022.
The remaining 14% were referred to the Employment Claims Tribunals (ECT) for adjudication.
Of the salary claims concluded with mediation at TADM, 90% were resolved within two months, slightly lower than the 92% result in 2021.
Also, 93% of all employees who lodged salary claims in 2022 fully recovered their owed salaries, either through TADM or ECT.
Another 4% recovered only part of their salaries through settlement payments from security bond insurers or financial assistance for lower-wage workers under the Short-Term Relief Fund or Migrant Workers’ Assistance Fund.
“The remaining 3% did not recover any salaries and were mainly higher-income earners,” said the report.
All employers who did not fully repay their employees had their work pass privileges suspended by MOM, it added.
Less than 1% of salary claims lodged in 2022 involved willful employers who refused to make full payment for the salary arrears despite having the means to do so.
MOM is investigating such employers with a view to taking enforcement action against them, said the report.
Meanwhile, the number of wrongful dismissal claims crept up to 946 in 2022, from 922 in 2021. — The Straits Times/ANN
