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Oral Answer by Mr Tan Chuan-Jin, Acting Minister for Manpower & Senior Minister of State, National Development, to Parliamentary Question on Exemptions from Employment Act with regard to overtime work

Notice Paper No. 338 Of 2012 for the sitting on 12 Nov 2012 Question No. 711 For Oral Answer

MP: Mr Alex Yam Ziming

To ask the Acting Minister for Manpower since 2005 (a) how many companies have applied for exemption from Section 38(5) of the Employment Act with regard to the extent of overtime work; (b) how many companies have contravened the Act due to overtime work that exceeded the limits; and (c) whether allowing for such exemptions will put workers from low-wage sectors at a disadvantage.

Answer 

  1. Under the Employment Act employees are not allowed to work for more than 12 hours a day including overtime, with a limit of 72 hours of overtime in a month.
  2. If employers require their employees to work more than 12 hours a day or more than 72 hours of overtime in a month, they must apply for an exemption from the Commissioner for Labour. Even with the exemption from the 12 hour limit, working hours cannot exceed 14 hours a day. Between 2008 and 2011, an average of 310 employers applied for exemption each year, of which some 270 were approved. Employers are required to re-apply when the exemption expires if they wish to continue to be exempted.
  3. In granting the exemption, the Ministry takes into account the company’s operational requirements and that workers’ welfare particularly their safety and health to make sure that they are not being compromised. Hence, companies have to satisfy the Commissioner that they, firstly, have obtained the consent of employees in extending their overtime hours. Secondly, they have a good track record for maintaining both health and safety requirements, as well as employment standards. And lastly, they have secured the agreement of the unions in the company, if it is a unionised company.
  4. Failure to comply with the working hour provisions is an offence under the law. Between 2008 and 2011, 260 employers were found to have contravened the limit of overtime work. 56 of these employers were issued compositions fines by MOM, while 21 were prosecuted in court for more serious breaches of the limit of overtime work. For the remaining cases involving mainly minor technical breaches, warnings or advisories were issued.
  5. MOM recognises that in many instances, overtime pay forms an integral part of the low-wage worker’s wages. This is particularly the case for some industries such as the security sector. Long working hours may be neither desirable nor sustainable in the long run. To address this, we are in the process of working with the various stakeholders including the unions and industry associations to see how we can uplift wages and reduce overtime hours where they are excessive.