Singapore temp worker stands his ground after being asked to move heavy chairs outside his job scope

SINGAPORE: A temporary event worker has complained about an unpleasant encounter with a Marina Bay Sands (MBS) staff member who allegedly turned “hostile” after he refused to move heavy chairs during an expo, as he felt the request had little to do with the job he had signed up for.

In a post on Reddit's r/singaporejobs forum, the worker explained that he had been hired as an event booth counter staff member for a 12-hour shift, from 9 am to 9 pm, at S$13 an hour.

His duties involved helping visitors redeem freebies and setting up promotional games, including a lucky draw where participants picked plastic eggs to win prizes such as notebooks and tote bags.

However, at around 8:15 pm, as the crowd began to thin out and the team started packing up their booth, an MBS staff member allegedly approached their booth and instructed the whole team to stack the chairs and transport them to the loading bay.

He also noted these were not the usual light plastic chairs seen at void deck events, but “heavy hotel chairs with cushions.”

As this was not part of his agreed duties, the worker said he refused. He claimed the staff member then became very hostile and tried to pressure him by insisting that his agency had asked them to help with packing.

“He starts gaslighting me, saying that my agency has instructed us to help with the pack up. I'm like, nope, I ain't doing that. Not paid for that, so I told them to get lost while you can go do it.” 

“By the way, there were the workers who are actually supposed to be doing it, standing on the side while you're getting temp event staff carrying the heavy chairs? Wtf MBS can be so cheapskate. So anyways, it was a really tense 45 mins while I stood around waiting to hit 9 pm.”

A few minutes later, another temporary worker reportedly confronted him for showing attitude and refusing to lend a hand.

“I told him not happy talk to agent lah, why angry at me. I only do the job I'm paid for. If you want to do free labour for people, do do lah. Your choice what.”

Later that evening, he said he received a call from his employment agent, who informed him that MBS had lodged a complaint against him for “just standing at the side and not helping out.”

“I told the agent I'm paid for this job scope as stated in the Telegram message. I wasn't informed before the job of other duties. If they want me to do extra job, pay up. Nothing is free in SG. But anyways, I feel I've been blacklisted.”

The worker added that he has “never experienced this” in his other temporary jobs before.

‘You did nothing wrong, but you're not really in the right as well’

While some Reddit users understood why he was reluctant to move the heavy chairs, others felt that being overly strict about job scope could potentially hurt his chances of securing future employment.

One commenter said: “No offence, bro, but in life you need to do extra stuff outside your job scope. Usually those who play the ‘job scope’ card don’t last long in organisations. Their manager will get feedback, and then they will find ways to let you go. Trust me, I’ve worked for a long time.”

Another agreed, writing, “You're not wrong, but you're not doing any favours if you still want to be employed again in future.”

A third felt that although the worker had not necessarily done anything wrong, he could have handled the situation differently. “You did nothing wrong, but you're not really in the right as well. Most JDs will have a line that includes any ad hoc responsibilities as required. I used to do events, and all I need from general workers is a sense of accountability and the right attitude. At the end of the day i just need the job to be done because we all wanna go home.”/TISG

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