Employee says, “My employer refuses to pay the last month’s salary despite me giving 3-month resignation notice”

SINGAPORE: An employee took to social media to share that his employer has blatantly refused to pay him “the last month’s salary despite giving a 3-month resignation notice.”

“I have been working in this industry for 8-9 years and was astounded to learn that they expect their staff to work for an entire month without salary,” the employee wrote on r/askSingapore on Monday (Mar 4).

For context, the employee said that he worked in the educational industry and that the company he worked for has struggled to hire tutors to run their business.

“Most of them are simply managed by the boss (himself) and two full-timers,” he said.

He also stated that he decided to leave the company because they only paid him S$2,000 and assigned him a heavy workload that included a lot of paperwork and classes.

He added that the company also “refused to increase salary, lied about employees’ reviews (didn’t submit them and said they are changing the structure to be more professional).”

At the end of the post, he asked Singaporeans, “Do I inform them that I’ve already checked with the Trepidation Council and have acquired proof? Or should I stay silent and see how it will play out? Don’t wish to burn any bridges.”

“This is a blatant case of withholding salary. Just report to MOM”

Singaporean Redditors urged the employee to report his case to the authorities.

One individual commented, “Why does such a post even exist? This is a blatant case of withholding salary. Just report to MOM.”

While another said, “Hey there, final salary payment (and salary payment in general) is governed very clearly by MOM.

You have a pretty open-and-shut case against them and should have no problem resolving it via MOM labor court if need be. With practices like that I seriously doubt this is a bridge worth leaving unburnt.

P.S. Feels like the HR here is more of a basic admin manager and less of an actually trained/experienced HR professional.”

Others also suggested that, aside from reporting to MOM, he could also ask for help from the Tripartite Alliance of Dispute Management (TADM).

One individual attested to this approach and said, “This works, I’ve managed to claim my last salary successfully from a Pte Ltd.”

MOM: Employer must pay last month’s salary

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) requires employers to pay their employees at least once per month and within seven days of the end of the pay period.

For those who resigned and are serving their notice period, like the employee above, they should receive their salary on the last day of employment.

However, if the employer denies payment, MOM defines this as an “offense.”

Employees victims of such incidents are encouraged to file an “employment-related claim” with the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM) or contact their union for assistance.

Read related: Intern says he’s not paid the salary stated in his contract, asks, “What should I do?”

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