‘Is this normal?’—Jobseeker stunned by 59 hours per week IT helpdesk schedule

SINGAPORE: After months of sending out applications, a Singaporean finally landed an IT helpdesk job, only to find out later that the position came with a heavy workload of 59 hours a week.

Writing on the r/singaporejobs subreddit on Wednesday (Sept 17), he explained that the initial three-month contract stated a standard 44-hour workweek. However, if staff chose to continue beyond the probation period, the weekly workload would increase by another 15 hours, bringing the total to 59.

According to him, the schedule would be as follows:

• Monday to Friday: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
• Saturday: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

While the employer did not disclose the salary upfront, the man said he was informed by another employee who had extended their contract that the pay ranges between S$2,500 and S$3,000 a month.

Baffled by the heavy workload, he turned to fellow Redditors for advice, asking, “Is a 59-hr workweek normal? Is it normal for an IT helpdesk job?”

“Most people keep it to 40 hours and maintain a good work-life balance.”

In the comments, many told the local that working 59 hours and 6 days a week is not normal in the city-state. One wrote, “Most help desk jobs I’ve seen are 40 hours (8h a day with a 1h break, 5 days a work week) from Singapore. Sounds like a red flag to me because 59 hours is pretty long, and it’s 6 days, man.”

Another said, “Nope, most people keep it to 40 hours and maintain a good work-life balance. You should be getting overtime for the extra 19 hours.”

A third commented, “Oof, yeah, I’ve rejected such lengthy hours at crap pay, like I need a life for myself. Also, the company had a funny thing where they said, “We allow remote working,” as in, “We will remote to servers,” when I asked about working from home.”

A fourth added, “It’s not normal for such long hours, but you’re also not under any obligation to sign a new contract with those longer working hours. I guess you have to weigh up if you think it’s worth it. But it is definitely not normal to have such long working hours as standard.”

Standard working hours

According to the Ministry of Manpower’s website, the normal hours of work for those covered by Part 4 of the Employment Act (workmen who do manual labour and earn $4,500 or less, and employees who don’t do manual labour and earn $2,600 or less) are 44 hours per week.

Any hours worked beyond this must be paid at no less than 1.5 times the basic hourly rate. Employers are also required to make payment within 14 days from the end of the salary period.

Read also: Recruiter offering $3.5k–$8.5k role says jobseekers often ‘vanish’ after he shares all the details upfront