The Employment Act is undergoing its first review in 6 years to expand its scope of coverage and streamline how employment disputes are settled. Currently, the Employment Act covers the following provisions for certain groups of employees: To understand how the review impacts us, let’s look at three issues which aren’t currently covered by the […]
The year-end civil service bonus was announced yesterday: 0.5 months. Together with the 0.45 months of mid-year bonus and the 13-month payout, civil servants will get 1.95 months bonus this year (aka Annual Wage Supplement or AWS). 1,900 lower-wage workers will get a year-end payout of at least $900. The lower bonuses reflect the economic […]
How does our cost of housing compare with other countries? We’re still pretty angsty when it comes to whether Singapore is the place we wanna stay in or not. I know many people who hate Singapore, fellow Singaporeans and the whole shitty system here. I also know many people who love Singapore regardless of the […]
When I graduated a decade ago with a degree in Life Sciences and the government promise of a good job in a future industry, I never expected to take a month to land a job. My first full-time job at a private education company paid a basic salary of $1,800 a month. So much for […]
The removal of free parking in schools is just the tip of the iceberg. 1. Teachers are underpaid. Although the starting pay of teachers is now at an attractive $3,010 for graduates and $1,580 for non-graduates, there is much to be said for the wage progression thereafter. Even Labour MP Zainal Sapari, who was an […]
The article has been submitted to us by Elizabeth Wong, an undergraduate. Yes, it would definitely be nice if everyone can be employed, can earn more income, and live happily ever in sunny Singapore right? But no, sadly, in the capitalist economy, this utopia is unsustainable. In light of that, National Wage Council has […]
“Personal cheap sourcing” could be one reason why we face wage stagnation. By Daniel Yap In a perfect world (which we don’t live in), better wages for workers should mean that more money goes out into the marketplace to be spent. That in turn means higher revenues for companies, which translates into higher wages […]
You are a woman. You have just given birth. Your in-laws want you to spend more time with your child. Your husband wants you to spend more time with your child. YOU want to spend more time with your child. But the bills need paying, diapers need buying, milk powder is very expensive. How? […]
Recently, Singapore’s debt level has been touted as “among the highest in Asia”, mainly due to property loans. Not only that, the Credit Bureau Singapore highlighted that more Singaporeans are taking multiple loans – thanks (or no thanks) to low interest rates. As shared by one of our contributors, an average earner here will perpetually […]
I refer to this article: I was unpleasantly surprised to find that public servants face cuts of up to 30% when they are re-employed at the age of 62. What have they done to deserve the pay cut? Partaking in the natural process of ageing? Why is the government punishing them for growing old? […]