Cases of misclassification of employees to avoid paying for overtime remain low

We refer to the letter “Inflated job titles, no overtime pay” (Jan 1) by Ms April Jacqueline Loh. We agree that employees should receive due compensation, including overtime pay, according to their statutory entitlements.

Under our employment laws, an employee is entitled to overtime pay when two key criteria are met.

First, he must not be employed in a managerial or executive position. Second, his basic pay must be $4,500 or less if he is a workman or $2,600 or less if he is a non-workman.

The laws are regularly reviewed with our tripartite partners to ensure they remain relevant and balance the interests of both businesses and employees.

The prevalence of misclassification cases remains low. Over the past three years, the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM) received an average of 45 claims per year from employees who felt they were misclassified as a manager or an executive and denied overtime pay.

This is less than 1 per cent of all salary claim cases. TADM found about 30 per cent of these claims to be valid and advised the employers to make due compensation.  

Employees who feel they have been misclassified as a manager or an executive can contact TADM (tal.sg/tadm/contact-us) for assistance.

If the employees are wrongly classified, TADM will advise the employers to make due compensation for the overtime pay or refer the case to the Employment Claims Tribunals.

The Ministry of Manpower will also take enforcement action against the errant employers.

Kandhavel Periyasamy
Divisional Director, Labour Relations and Workplaces Division (Ministry of Manpower)
Executive Director (Tripartite Alliance Limited)