For most employees, Sunday is the rest day, and Saturday is the non-working day. However, different jobs have different needs. Essential services workers such as military personnel, firemen and healthcare professionals may need to have someone on duty round the clock. Businesses such as retail may find that Saturdays and Sundays are the most lucrative. In addition to this, some jobs may occasionally require people to work on Saturdays or Sundays for specific occasions.
The employment act treats rest days and non-working days differently based upon whether or not they are covered under Part IV of the Employment Act.
Rest Day
Rest days only apply to people who are covered under Part IV of the Employment Act, which mainly covers workmen (people who do manual labour) who earn less than $4,500 per month, or other employees earning less than $2,600 per month. This does not include managers or executives who are in charge of managing or running the business.
By default, the rest day is on Sunday, however the employer can designate another day every week as the rest day. If so, this must be clearly communicated via a roster which is released at the start of the month. For shift workers, employers can substitute a continuous period of 30 hours as the rest day.
Read Also: 7 Things To Note About Getting Medical Certificates For Sick Leave In Singapore
Working On Rest Day
Employees can only work on rest days if they agree to do so, however their pay on rest day depends on whether they requested to work on rest day, or whether the employer made that request.
Source: MOM
For Part-Time Employees, the calculation for the pay differs where they work more than their usual number of hours on a rest day.
Source: MOM
Non-Working Day
A non-working day is a day which employees not required to work. This depends largely on the contract and whether the employee is covered under Part IV of the Employment Act.
For employees covered under Part IV of the Employment Act, work done on a non-working day is paid for depending on what is in the contract. The contract may have more favourable terms but must not require the employee to work for more than 8 hours a day or 44 hours in a week. If an employee exceeds either of these parameters, they must be paid at 1.5 times the basic hourly rate of pay.
For employees not covered under Part IV of the Employment Act, this depends solely on what is in the contract.
Read Also: Singapore Employment Act: 10 Statutory Requirements To Pay Employees
Public Holidays Off-In-Lieu
Singapore has 11 public holidays every year which are gazetted as paid holidays.
If a public holiday falls on a Sunday or an otherwise designated rest day, the next working day will be a paid holiday. Employers are not allowed to simply encash public holidays and add it into a full-time employee’s gross salary. However, they may do so for a part-time employee if it is mutually agreed.
If a public holiday falls on a non-working day, employees should get a day off or salary in lieu.
Read Also: How To Calculate Leave Encashment Or Salary-In-Lieu Of Notice Period For Your Employees
Working On Public Holidays
Should an employee be required to work on a public holiday, the employer can choose to either substitute another working day or pay the employee an extra day’s salary at the basic rate of pay. Note that this extra day of salary must be paid at the end of the month. Alternatively, employees not covered by Part IV of the Employment Act can be granted time off in lieu instead.
Should an employee be required to work on a public holiday falling on a rest day or non-working day, they will be paid as though working on a normal rest day or non-working day. In addition to this, the next working day will be a paid holiday.
For employees not covered by Part IV of the Employment Act, there is no functional difference between the rest day and the non-working day since they are not entitled to additional pay unless stipulated by the employment contract. Employees covered by Part IV of the Employment Act will be entitled to additional pay as per the rules of non-working days and rest days.
Read Also: Managing Employees In Southeast Asia: Public Holidays And Key Dates To Take Note
The Minimum Standard
The Employment Act is meant to function as the minimum standard for what an employee should be entitled to, especially when it comes to salary payments and holidays. However, employers may choose to grant more generous terms, especially where it is within their power. Employees are not machines, and are generally more productive when they are refreshed after a break.
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