MORE salary claims by foreign construction workers drove a rise in the incidence of employment claims in Singapore last year, government figures showed on Friday (Aug 2).
The overall rise came as economic conditions became more challenging in 2023, said the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM) in their Employment Standards Report 2023.
A total of 9,397 employment claims and appeals were lodged in 2023, with more than half (54 per cent) by foreign employees, who make up a third of the workforce, excluding migrant domestic workers.
Salary claims made up 86.5 per cent of these. There were 2.19 salary claims for every 1,000 employees in 2023, up from 1.68 in 2022, but still lower than the pre-Covid figure of 2.68 in 2019.
Among foreign employees, the incidence of salary claims rose to 3.91 per 1,000 foreign employees in 2023, from 2.53 in the previous year. Still, this rate was lower than the 4.98 per 1,000 foreign employees in pre-Covid 2019.
In particular, there was a rise in group claims from foreign employees of construction firms that were in financial distress, said the report.
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About 90 per cent of salary claims in the construction sector were from foreign employees, MOM and TADM spokespersons said in response to queries from The Business Times.
The incidence of salary claims by foreign employees in the sector remained lower than in pre-Covid 2019. MOM and TADM said that they have worked on educating employees and employers on their rights and obligations, and on detecting salary issues faced by migrant workers in construction.
Among local employees, the incidence of salary claims rose less steeply, to 1.32 per 1,000 local employees in 2023, up from 1.29 in 2022. This was still below the pre-Covid incidence of 1.53 in 2019.
In this group, the rise was driven mostly by claims made by those in the wholesale and retail trade; food and beverage services; and information and communications – sectors in which economic growth slowed in 2023, noted the report.
Apart from salary claims, other employment claims included wrongful dismissal (12.7 per cent); retirement and re-employment-related dismissal; and cases not covered by employment law, such as payment disputes between self-employed persons and service buyers.
On the back of the higher number of salary claims, the incidence of overall employment claims rose to 2.53 per 1,000 employees in 2023, from 1.97 in 2022. This was still lower than the pre-Covid figure of 3.04 in 2019.
Claims resolution
About 88 per cent of salary claims last year were resolved at TADM, compared with 86 per cent in 2022. The remainder were referred to the Employment Claims Tribunals (ECT) for adjudication.
Some 90 per cent of all salary claims were concluded – either resolved at TADM or referred to ECT – within two months.
TADM and ECT helped 94 per cent of employees recover their salaries in full last year, compared with 2022’s 93 per cent. The authorities noted that 4 per cent recovered part of their salaries through settlement payments from security bond insurers and main contractors, or state financial assistance. The last 2 per cent who did not recover any part of their salaries were mainly higher-income earners.
A total of S$14 million was recovered for employees in 2023, up from 2022’s S$12 million, consistent with the higher number of salary claims lodged. Employers who did not fully pay their employees had their work pass privileges suspended until they rectified the payments.
Less than 1 per cent of the salary claims involved “wilful employers” who refused to pay workers despite being able to, the report said. MOM investigates such employers with a view of taking enforcement action against them.
As for wrongful dismissal claims, there were 0.32 such claims per 1,000 employees last year, higher than 2022’s 0.26 and even 2019’s 0.29. As with previous years, the incidence was higher for local employees (0.39 per 1,000 local employees) than foreign ones (0.18).
Most of the cases, at 70 per cent, were resolved at TADM, similar to 69 per cent in 2022. The rest were referred to ECT.
In 56 per cent of the cases resolved at TADM, employers were found to have fulfilled their obligations, or the case was withdrawn after mediation. The rest involved some form of settlement by the employer.
Most of the wrongful-dismissal claims – 79 per cent – were concluded within two months in 2023, down from 86 per cent in the year before. The report attributed this to the higher volume of cases and mismatched expectations between employees and employers. Total payments for dismissal claims rose to S$1.72 million, due to the higher volume of such claims.
TADM and MOM said that they were enhancing the dispute-resolution process. They highlighted the Employment Practices and Progressive Workplaces Shared Platform – or Empower – a digital portal launched last August that helps employees and employers resolve claims online, without having to go to TADM in person.
