Appeal Against Wrongful Dismissal In Singapore

Termination Of Employment: Appeal Against Wrongful Dismissal In Singapore

If you feel you have been wrongfully dismissed by your employer, you may appeal to the Minister for Manpower to be reinstated in your former job.

What is a dismissal

Dismissal means that an employer has terminated an employee’s contract of service. It may be with or without notice, and on grounds of misconduct or not.
It also includes situations where an employee resigns involuntarily.
Valid reasons for dismissal include:

• Misconduct, e.g. employer establishes that an employee was engaged in dishonest or disorderly conduct at work.
• Poor performance, e.g. employee didn’t perform his or her job according to the required standards.
• Redundancy, e.g. employee’s job scope changed and the old job scope no longer exists.

Employers retrenching employees must do so responsibly and fairly. Please refer to the Tripartite Advisory on Managing Excess Manpower and Responsible Retrenchment for more information.

What is a wrongful dismissal

Wrongful dismissal happens when an employee was dismissed without just or sufficient cause.
Wrongful dismissals include:

• Dismissal on discriminatory grounds based on age, gender, disability, family responsibilities, nationality, pregnancy, race or religion.
• Dismissal to deprive an employee of benefits or entitlements, e.g. to deprive employee of her maternity benefits.
• Dismissal to punish an employee for exercising a right, e.g. dismissing employee after employee submitted a mediation request to TADM for salary-related claims.

When to appeal

If you feel that your dismissal was wrongful, you may submit a written appeal to be reinstated to the Minister for Manpower. The appeal must be received by MOM within one month from the last day of your employment.
For dismissals without notice, your employer must show proof that the dismissal was not wrongful.
For dismissals with notice or salary in lieu of notice, you must show proof that your dismissal was wrongful.
If the Minister is satisfied that you were wrongfully dismissed, the Minister may order your employer to do one of the following:

• Reinstate you in your former job and direct your employer to compensate you for the income loss due to the dismissal; or
• Pay you a sum of money as compensation.

For managers and executives earning $4,500 a month or less: If you were dismissed with notice or salary in lieu of notice, you can only appeal if you have served your employer for at least 12 months.
How to appeal
To submit an appeal:

1. Download and complete the appeal form.
2. After completing the form, you can either:
   • Email it to mom_lrwd@mom.gov.sg.
     OR
   • Post it to:
     Minister for Manpower
     Ministry of Manpower
     1500 Bendemeer Road
     Singapore 339946

Source of Information for Employment, all Work Passes & their related matters is from the Ministry Of Manpower & TAFEP.
You may wish to visit Ministry Of Manpower (MOM) online for detailed information and current updates.

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