SINGAPORE: The number of disgruntled local employees bringing
their woes to the Labour Court have dropped, but those who turn up are
more aggressive.
There are heated exchanges and quick rebuttals, while threats are
sometimes made "to deal with" the other party outside the courtroom,
said Assistant Commissioner for Labour (ACL) Dorothy Ling.
The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has helped more than 900 local
workers recover about S$1 million in claims from their bosses in the
first six months of this year.
It is not known why - despite the economic crunch - the number of
cases has dropped, but MOM said the top two types of employment claims
are for salary arrears and notice pay. These usually arise when the
employment relationship ceases.
The number of claims submitted by local workers to the
administrative tribunal for hearings in the first half of the past two
years, as well as for this year, have fallen - from more than 2,100 in
2007 to 1,042 last year. It now stands at 945. The overall figures for
2007 and 2008 were 3,980 and 2,082, respectively.
In turn, employers are now more rigorous in defending their cases.
"They are going through a difficult time and every cent matters to
them," Ms Ling, 44, told Today. In her three years with MOM, Ms Ling
has heard about 1,000 cases.
For example, a hotel valet brought his former employer to the Court
over notice, overtime and holiday pay earlier this year. The hotel's
case was that the valet was not asked to leave, but had stomped out of
a meeting and did not report for work since.
The hotel's HR department produced records to explain leave and
overtime claims. The valet, meanwhile, was emotional and "very angry"
with his employer, said Ms Ling, who adjudicated over the case.
"You see one side who's calm and presenting the case rather well,
and the other side who was venting. We had to really sieve out the
emotions, see what they were presenting and not allow all these to
cloud our judgment."
In the end, the Court dismissed the valet's claims for overtime and
notice pay, while awarding his claims for pay for six days of annual
leave and three days of public holiday.
The Labour Court aims to be "a court for the people", stressed Ms
Ling. It costs S$3 to lodge a claim for employees, but they must not be
earning more than S$2,500 a month.
If they go to the civil courts, the filing fees would be "in the hundreds", excluding legal representation fees.
Legal representation, however, is prohibited in Labour Court
proceedings. The decision and orders of the ACLs are deemed to be those
of a District Court, and may be reviewed only via an appeal to the High
Court.
If the orders issued are not complied with, they can be enforced
by a writ of seizure and sale. About three in five Labour Court orders
are complied with, said MOM, and recalcitrant employers who
persistently flout orders will be prosecuted under the Employment Act.
The Labour Court has 12 ACLs and each hears about two to three cases per day.
Ms Ling's advice for parties who turn to the Court is to come
prepared with documents to back up claims. Even though this is stated
in the summons notice, some employees still arrive for hearings
unprepared, not knowing how much they intend to claim.
"They give ... the impression that they have done very little work
and show an apparent indifference... They should come to court prepared
because this is their own case," she said.
- TODAY/yb