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Written Answer by Minister for Manpower Dr Tan See Leng to PQ on Section 35(a) of the Employment Act

Employment practices

NOTICE PAPER NO. 1808 OF 2023 FOR THE SITTING ON 20 MARCH 2023
QUESTION NO. 4357 FOR ORAL ANSWER

MP: Mr Abdul Samad

To ask the Minister for Manpower when will the cap of $4,500 salary in section 35(a) of the Employment Act 1968, which determines which employees have coverage under the Act, be reviewed.

Answer

1. The Employment Act protects all employees, regardless of salary. Part 4 of the Act provides additional protections to workers who operate machinery and vehicles or are involved in manual labour and earn up to a salary cap of $4,500, as well as other workers who earn up to $2,600. These additional protections cover areas such as hours of work, rest days, and other conditions of service.

2. We review the Employment Act regularly together with our tripartite partners the Singapore National Employers Federation and the National Trades Union Congress. The Employment Act was last reviewed in 2019 and we will be consulting our tripartite partners on the next review, including the salary caps for Part 4 protections. The review will take into consideration developments such as the recent Progressive Wage moves, which will raise salaries in the coming years.