“Everyone earns S$9 an hour while I earn S$8” — Singaporean worker exposes unfair pay and hidden clauses in part-time employment contract

SINGAPORE: A Singaporean part-time worker recently took to social media to speak out about unfair pay and hidden clauses in his employment contract.

In a post on r/askSingapore on Friday (August 9), he shared that when he inquired about the terms before accepting the job, all his employer bothered to disclose was that he would be paid just $8 per hour for a night shift from 5pm to 8:30am.

However, after completing his first shift, he was shocked to learn from another part-time employee that during rest periods he would only be paid 10% of his hourly wage, which equates to just $0.80 per hour from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.

“My friend complained about the $0.80 wage for the night shift, and they just said that since we sleep and do nothing, that’s why our wages are like that,” he wrote.

“But we also spend the night in their premises? We are still responsible if something happens. The fact that it is $0.80 seems really ridiculous,” he added.

He also found out that his pay was lower than others, including a friend who started at the same time as him. “My pay is lower than everyone else’s… Everyone else is making $9 an hour and I’m making $8,” he said.

To top it all off, he found out that even though he was working on a holiday, his pay for the night shift would only be $9, essentially the same pay everyone else received on regular days.

“I haven’t asked my boss why my salary is lower, but I’m just planning to leave so I don’t have to go through all this… I wanted to file a complaint with MOM, but I couldn’t find the right form for my problem.

“I don’t know if I’m overreacting or if my work is just… bad,” he lamented.

“$0.80. That’s not even enough to take the bus to work.”

In the comments section, many users strongly advised the part-time worker to quit his job, pointing out that $8 an hour – not to mention the absurd $0.80 during rest periods – is far too low, even for a part-time job.

They argued that his time and effort were worth much more and that he should not settle for such unfair compensation.

One netizen said: “Eh semo $0.80. That’s not even enough for me to take the bus to work. If they want to pay, they should just pay the normal hourly rate; if they consider this downtime, then don’t even plan downtime for people.”

But yes, in 2024 it should be $10/hr; even Tori-Q (who admittedly has to take care of the food, which is why he pays better) costs $12 on weekdays and about $14 on weekends.

Another user echoed this sentiment: “Don’t settle for $8. These companies think they can get away with less if you accept a low wage. I’m not saying it’s your fault, but you deserve more than $8 and definitely more than what this company is making.”

A third user, who happens to be a contractor, said: “My company pays foreign workers $17 per hour to do the packaging and you make $8… It doesn’t matter if they are part-time or not.”

Others were quick to suggest the part-time worker report the company to ensure it stops exploiting workers. One netizen said: “Name the company. Find out who the boss is, boycott the company.”

Another recommended: “Please report them to the Justice Department and keep all communications as evidence.”

Also read: Toxic boss manipulates and blames junior employee for his own failures

Featured image by Depositphotos

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