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Termination with notice

If your contract specifies a notice period, you must either serve the notice when you resign or pay compensation in lieu of notice. Notice can be waived by mutual consent between you and your employer.

Termination letter

A termination letter is mandatory. Any notice of termination, either by you or your employer, must be in writing.

If you did not receive a termination letter, ask your employer to give you one. Otherwise, you are still considered as an employee of the company.

  • Have your employer sign the termination letter to acknowledge receipt. This helps prevent misunderstandings or disputes.
  • Your employer is not required to give a reason for termination as long as due notice has been given. If you want to know the reason, talk to the company’s management or Human Resources department.

Serving your notice period

If your employment contract specify the notice period, when you resign, you must:

  • Serve the notice period.
    OR
  • Pay compensation in lieu of notice to your employer.

Notice can be waived by mutual consent between you and your employer.

The length of notice period must be:

  • The same for the employer and employee.
  • As agreed according to the employment contract.

No notice period in contract

If your employment contract didn’t specify the notice period, the notice period required will depend on your length of service.

Length of service Notice period
Less than 26 weeks 1 day
26 weeks to less than 2 years 1 week
2 years to less than 5 years 2 weeks
5 years or more 4 weeks

How to count start and end of notice period

The notice period includes:

  • The day on which notice is given.
  • Public holidays, rest days and non-working days.

Examples

Scenario 1 – 1 day’s notice

An employee tenders their resignation today, giving 1 day’s notice. Their last day of work will be today, as the notice period includes the day when the employee served notice.

Scenario 2 – 1 month’s notice (with public holidays)

An employee gives 1 month’s notice. If the employee tenders their resignation on 15 July 2019, their last day of work will be 14 August 2019, as the notice period includes public holidays and weekends.

Scenario 3 – resign around late January or early February

An employee gives 1 month’s notice. If the employee tenders their resignation on 29 January 2019, their last day of work will be 28 February 2019.

However, if the employee tenders their resignation on the following dates, their last day of work will still be 28 February 2019, because February contains only 28 days:

  • 30 January 2019
  • 31 January 2019
  • 1 February 2019

Waiver of notice period

Both parties may also agree to waive the notice period by mutual consent. Such a waiver should be done in writing.

CPF contribution during the notice period

You and your employer must make CPF contributions for your salary earned during the notice period, while you are still considered an employee of the company.

However, CPF contributions are not required for compensation in lieu of notice (notice pay).

Special situations during the notice period

Find out how leave and other scenarios may affect the notice period:

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