Asia: Working Hours

Part 4 Employees

An employee is covered by Part 4 of the EA (Part 4 Employee) if they are a:

• Workman earning SGD$4500/month or less

• Non-workman earning SGD$2600/month or less

Part 4 Employees may not be required to work more than six consecutive hours without a break, more than eight hours per day or more than 44 hours per week. However, the EA provides specific exceptions to vary these limits by agreement under the employment contract.

• For example, if the number of hours worked in every alternate week is less than 44 hours, the limit of 44 hours in one week may be exceeded in the other week, provided that no employee is required to work for more than 48 hours in one week or for more than 88 hours in any continuous period of two weeks.

Part 4 Employees may be required by an employer to work for a number of hours that exceed the limit of hours or work on a rest day where:

· there is an actual or threatened accident;

· the performance of the work is essential to the life of the community;

· the work is essential for defence or security;

· there is urgent work to be done to machinery or plant;

· there is an unforeseeable interruption of work; or

· the work to be performed is in any industrial undertaking essential to the economy of Singapore or in any essential services.

No Part 4 Employee may work more than 12 hours in a day except in the circumstances described above or where an exemption is granted by the MOM.

Specific rules are provided for shift workers, who may be required to work up to 12 hours per day, provided that the average number of hours worked over any continuous period of three weeks does not exceed 44 hours per week.

Non-Part 4 Employees

There are no restrictions on working hours for employees who are not covered by Part 4 of the Employment Act (EA).

There are currently no restrictions on working hours for employees aged 18 years or over.

The Employment of Young Persons (Industry) Regulations provide that young persons (ie those between 15 and 18 years old) working in an industrial environment (subject to certain exceptions) are subject to a maximum working period, which is usually eight hours per day, 48 hours per week and six working days per week.

Standard working hours must not exceed 40 hours per week and seven hours per day (for a six day work week) or eight hours per day (for a five day work week).

Certain businesses or jobs may be exempted from these requirements by ministerial decree.

Regular working hours must not exceed eight hours per day and 48 hours per week (or seven hours per day and 42 hours per week where the nature of the work is hazardous as provided by law).

In determining regular working hours, in cases where the regular working hours are less than eight in a working day, the balance can be added to other working day(s) (where this occurs on a regular basis, not on an ad hoc basis) to extend the maximum working hours to nine hours in a working day. However, the employee may still be entitled to overtime payments in respect of hours worked in excess of eight hours. The weekly 48-hour cap will also continue to apply.

The maximum working hours is eight hours per day and 40 hours per week.

Where an employer wishes to extend working hours due to production requirements, it can only do so after consultation with the trade union (if applicable) and the employees. However, the work hours cannot be extended by more than one hour per day (or under special circumstances, three hours per day and up to a maximum of 36 hours per month).

Under the Labour Law, if an employer is unable to comply with the maximum working time requirements due to the nature of the work, the employer may implement other arrangements, provided that the employer secures the approval of the labour administration authorities. Such other arrangements include a non-fixed working hours system (NFWHS) or a comprehensive working hours system (CWHS). If no such approval is obtained, the employer must continue to pay overtime wages according to the Labour Law and the Labour Contract Law.

Part 4 Employees

For Part 4 Employees, any work done in excess of the normal hours of work (eight hours per day or 44 hours per week unless otherwise agreed in accordance with the EA), is considered overtime. The maximum permitted overtime is 72 hours per month, but the MOM can grant extensions to this limit.

Overtime must be paid at the rate of at least 150% of the basic hourly rate of pay.

Non-Part 4 Employees

There is no statutory entitlement to overtime for employees who are not covered by Part 4 of the EA.

There is no statutory entitlement to overtime for employees. Instead, overtime payments are regulated by the parties in the employment contract.

Restrictions apply only for young workers (ie, those under the age of 18 years) in an industrial environment.

An employer must obtain employee agreement to work overtime. In general, overtime must not exceed four hours on any one day and 18 hours in any one week. Certain types of work may be exempt from this requirement.

Employers are obliged to pay overtime to workers who work in excess of the standard hours of work. For overtime performed on a work day, the overtime rate is 150% of the employee's hourly wage for the first hour and 200% of the employee's hourly wage for the remaining hours.

The Government Regulations No. 35 of 2021 (GR 35) also specifies overtime pay for overtime performed on rest days which varies depending on whether the employee is on a six day or five day work week. An employee's hourly wage is calculated by dividing their monthly wage by 173.

Employees are not entitled to overtime pay if they:

• hold certain roles with responsibilities such as "thinkers, planners, executors and/or controllers" of the employer’s operations;

• have working hours that cannot be “capped” (eg, employees in managerial roles); and/or

• are paid higher salaries.

The employment contract, company regulations or collective agreement must specify which roles are excluded from overtime pay entitlement. If not expressly stipulated, no exemption will apply, and the employee will be eligible to receive overtime pay.

Apart from overtime payment, employers must also ensure that employees who work overtime have sufficient rest and, where the overtime exceeds four hours on a day, employees must be provided with food and drinks of at least 1,400 kilo calories which cannot be replaced in monetary terms.

An employer cannot require an employee to work overtime without the employee's consent, except where the nature or condition of work necessitates continuous performance and stoppage may damage the work, or in other prescribed circumstances. Regulations prescribe that overtime must not exceed 36 hours per week.

When overtime work lasts for two hours or more following regular working hours, the employee is generally entitled to a rest period of at least 20 minutes before the employee starts to work overtime (excluding work which is of a continuous nature or condition and which the employee consents to perform, or which is urgent).

Generally, managerial employees (employees authorised to act on behalf of the employer in hiring, paying compensation/reward or terminating employment), salespersons employed on a commission basis, and certain employees whose nature of work is prescribed under the law (such as off-site work) are not entitled to overtime payments.

Depending on the type of work being performed, the employee will be entitled to payment at either the regular wage rate or at 150% of the regular wage rate (or 300% of the regular wage rate in respect of overtime work during holidays).

For employees working on a standard working hours system, in circumstances where the employer has lawfully arranged for the working time to be extended, overtime pay will be calculated in accordance with overtime regulations and standards as follows:

When arranging for employees to work overtime on rest days, the employer must first consider making arrangements for employees to take alternative rest days. Female employees cannot be asked to work overtime or to perform night shift work during their statutory nursing period or if they are over seven months pregnant.

According to national regulations, the overtime payment prescriptions set out above do not apply to employers who have obtained government approval for a NFWHS, although local practice may differ from state to state.

For employees subject to a CWHS, during the period in which the comprehensive calculation is based:

· where an employee works on a rest day, their wages will be calculated at the normal wage rate and no overtime will be incurred; and

· where the employee works on a statutory holiday, the employer is obliged to pay 300% of their normal wages for overtime.

If the total number of hours worked during the period in which the comprehensive calculation is based exceeds the standard number of working hours, the employees must be paid at 150% of their normal wages for the excess hours.

Part 4 Employees

Part 4 Employees are entitled to one rest day each week and cannot be required to work on a rest day without their consent. The rest day may be Sunday or any other day fixed by the employer by way of a contract or monthly rota. For shift workers, the rest day may be any continuous period of 30 hours.

There are special rules for calculating pay for work on a rest day, and the rates vary depending on whether the work was performed at the request of the employer or the employee.

Non-Part 4 Employees

There is no statutory entitlement to rest periods for employees who are not covered by Part 4 of the EA.

Employees are entitled to 30 minutes' break after every four hours of continuous work.

Additionally, employees are entitled to the following weekly rest periods:

• one rest day for a six day work week; or

• two rest days for a five day work week.

In general, an employee is entitled to a break of at least one hour after five hours of work, unless otherwise agreed to the benefit of the employee. The break period is generally not counted as part of the working hours, except where the accumulated rest periods in one day exceed two hours for which the time above two hours shall be counted as working hours.

An employer must, in general, provide an employee with at least one weekly holiday or rest day.