SINGAPORE: A Singaporean, currently employed in the education sector, recently shared on social media that one of her coworkers got a pay cut of over $1,000 for being late.
“I just joined this company about a month ago, and within this short period of time, I have heard about a lot of unfair practices that has resulted in quite a number of people leaving,” the worker wrote on r/askSingapore on Thursday (Dec 5).
“One of my coworkers just got her pay, but they had deducted over $1000 for late coming. They added up all her minutes that she has been late over the past 8 months, totalling up to be about 28 hours, then on her last month in this company, they deducted the total amount in one shot.”
She also mentioned that her colleague was never told that her late arrivals would lead to such a hefty deduction.
“She wasn’t told beforehand, yes they talked to her about being punctual however this deduction came as a total shock,” she said. “She does come late but it usually is within her setting up time, and does not negatively affect students.”
She then asked the Reddit community whether such policies were common in Singapore, adding, “It seems very unfair to have everything added up and deducted from one month’s salary. Or maybe I am just unaware as I have never been in this situation before.”
“Whether or not it negatively impacts students, it is still her work hours and it is not for her to debate.”
In the comments section, a few Singaporean Redditors pointed out that while it may be legal for the company to deduct pay based on the contract, doing so without prior warning—especially in the final month—seems pretty extreme.
Some also speculated that the company might not have been on good terms with her coworker and used the opportunity to claw back whatever money it could.
One Redditor added, “I suspect there could be other reasons, which your colleague did not reveal? Maybe your employer could have wanted to waive it all if he/she show improvement by being punctual, but since that wasn’t done, she was penalised for it.”
Another explained, “As long as they have legal records of her being late and her work hours is stipulated in the contract, then she have to fulfill her work obligations. Whether or not it negatively impacts students, it is still her work hours and it is not for her to debate.
“My previous center was also strict on this, and teachers cannot leave the center early even though we don’t have any students because it is still considered hours that the company paid for.”
A third suggested, “Check your employment contract, if it’s there then a deduction is to be expected. If it’s not there then you have a right to challenge the deduction and bring it up to mom.”
According to the Ministry of Manpower (MoM), employers are required to clearly communicate their salary deduction policies to all employees to avoid any confusion or misunderstandings.
Employers must also ensure that salary deductions for lateness are based on the time missed. For example, if an employee is 45 minutes late, only 45 minutes of their salary can be deducted.
If an employee thinks the deduction is too much or unfair, they can take action by filing a claim with the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM).
Featured image by Depositphotos (for illustration purposes only)