CNA spoke to lawyers about protections in the event of retrenchment.Singapore's law provides limited protections for retrenched workers and is generally seen as more friendly to employers, according to multiple employment lawyers."There is no overarching law which enshrines statutory protections for retrenched workers," said Mr Clarence Ding, partner at Simmons & Simmons.
The provision seems to limit any retrenchment benefit rather than accord it, said Ms Muntaz Zainuddin, partner and head of the employment practice at IRB Law. But she added that reading"between the lines" indicates an employee of more than two years should receive some form of benefit. On support for retrenched workers, the advisory says that"employers' ability to pay retrenchment benefit depends on their financial circumstances at the point in time", and encourages them to pay a"reasonable sum".
The tripartite advisory does not create any rights an employee can directly invoke against an employer, said Ms Fatim Jumabhoy, managing partner leading the employment, pensions and incentives practice at Herbert Smith Freehills in Singapore. Ms Muntaz said workers can also raise issues over retrenchment benefits with MOM through the Labour Relations Department.
"In most cases, this would entail bringing a claim on the basis that their retrenchment was wrongful - i.e. without just cause or excuse - or because they were deprived of certain benefits, for example they were contractually entitled to retrenchment benefits and were not paid them," he said. If retrenched workers are unionised, they may also have recourse under a collective agreement, such as the right for the union to be notified of upcoming retrenchments and to represent employees in any discussions with the employer.
These are company shares issued to employees which can be sold once they are"vested" according to a schedule - typically after the employee has fulfilled a certain length of employment or hit performance milestones. Ms Muntaz said that the norm in most"responsible" retrenchment is to allow the vesting of the next quarter of shares to take place if it is not too far away, or to pay a pro-rated sum as an ex-gratia payment.
"The events at Twitter in recent days read as textbook examples of what not to do from an employee relations perspective," he said.
In other words, the government has failed its working citizens by not protecting them from unscrupulous employers.
They have rights in Singapore?