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Written Answer by Mrs Josephine Teo Minister for Manpower to PQ on payout conditions on employers regarding leave under Jobs Support Scheme

Employment practices

NOTICE PAPER NO. 2121 OF 2020 FOR A SITTING ON 4 JUNE 2020
QUESTION NO. 1726 FOR WRITTEN ANSWER

MP: Mr Murali Pillai

To ask the Minister for Manpower whether employers who have received payouts under Jobs Support Scheme are required to adhere to any stipulation in relation to consumption of vacation leave by their employees or requiring employees to go on no-pay leave.

Answer

  1. Given the varied financial positions of employers, the tripartite partners agreed not to take a prescriptive approach on the type and degree of cost-saving measures (e.g. consumption of annual leave, no-pay leave) in issuing advisories[1] to guide employers.
  2. With the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) payout, employers should provide some wage support to employees even if their employees are not working. To manage cost pressures and conserve manpower for when they are most needed, employers may request employees to clear some of their paid annual leave when business activity has been sharply reduced. Employers should be allowed to do so, and encouraged to seek their employees’ support and understanding to help the business get ready for business resumption. Where employers have genuine cashflow issues, they may not even be able to afford placing employees on paid annual leave and may have to request employees to go on no-pay leave, in order to avoid the worse alternative of retrenchment. In such instances, tripartite partners have made it clear that employers should allow their employees to seek additional temporary employment to boost their incomes.
  3. MOM is closely monitoring such cost-saving measures to ensure that they are implemented responsibly and fairly with reasonable support to employees. We will investigate employees’ concerns that are brought to our attention. Irresponsible employers may see a withdrawal of Government-paid employment support including future JSS payouts, and suspension of their work pass privileges.
  4. The tripartite partners urge both employers and employees to be open, transparent and understanding in their discussions on cost-saving measures and take a long-term view on saving jobs and emerging stronger together from the crisis.

FOOTNOTE

  1. Tripartite Advisory on Managing Excess Manpower and Responsible Retrenchment and the Advisory on Salary and Leave Arrangements during the Circuit Breaker.