Employers can now refer to the Tripartite Guidelines on the Issuance of Key Employment Terms (KETs) in Writing to spell out contracts more clearly for their employees. This will in turn help employees better understand their employment terms, salary and benefits components.
The KETs was issued by the Ministry of Manpower, the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) and NTUC on 16 December 2014. This follows the Tripartite Guidelines on the Issuance of Payslips on 13 January 2014. The issuance of both the Payslips and KETs in Writing are set to be mandated by the first half of 2016.
The Labour Movement has welcomed the guidelines as it has been pushing hard for changes in the Employment Act to ensure workers are better protected.
NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Cham Hui Fong said that lower wage, contract and outsourced workers in particular may not know their employment terms well so in having a set of conditions that have been “laid out, stipulated and agreed upon by both parties”, that will promote industrial harmony and negate potential disputes.
Helping Migrant Workers
The Migrant Workers’ Centre (MWC) said the guidelines will also go some way to ensure migrant workers do not fall victim to vague employment contracts or be unaware of their contractual employment terms before starting work.
“… the Migrant Workers’ Centre has advocated hard for the legislation of written employment terms issued to employees prior to the commencement of employment. We are therefore very encouraged by this positive step towards the eventual adoption into our regulations,” said MWC Chairman Yeo Guat Kwang.
Employers who require more information and further assistance can call SNEF at 6327 9297 and email NTUC’s SME Unit at sme@ntuc.org.sg
(Source: NTUC This Week)