Meeting Ministry of Manpower’s Payslip Requirements & Employment Act Amendments
- Work-hours regulations, including overtime requirements, now cover clerical staff and other non-workmen employees earning up to $2,500, instead of $2,000.
- Professional, managerial and executive employees (PMEs) earning up to $4,500 must now be given sick leave benefits and unfair-dismissal protection.
- There’s a 25 per cent sub-cap on deductions to employees’ salaries for accommodation, amenities and services, within the existing 50 per cent total cap on authorised deductions.
- From 2015, employee retrenchment benefits must be paid to employees if they have worked two years for the company, not three.
- The highest required overtime rate for workers earning up to $2,500 will be based on a monthly salary of $2,250, not the full $2,500.
- Access to unfair-dismissal protection will be available to PMEs after they have worked more than 12 months with a company.
- Companies asking PMEs to work on public holidays can now give them time in lieu rather than the previous public holiday overtime rate.
- Employers falling afoul of regulations on salaries face stiffer penalties, with initial offenders facing up to $15,000 in fines, and six months in prison.
- Company directors or partners have greater liability for offences under the Act. The onus is on them to prove they were not negligent in their oversight of the company if the business breaks the law.
- MoM inspectors can enter any workplace to check on employment law compliance.
- Itemised payslips are expected to be mandatory by 2016.
- The minimum monthly wage for an Employment Pass is now $3300.
- The new Fair Consideration Framework requires companies to advertise job openings on a local job portal before considering foreign talents.
The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) will implement its new ruling that all Singapore SMEs give employees full payslips only in 2016. This gives businesses time to prepare for compliance. Although most SMEs currently issue simple pay stubs reflecting salary and CPF deductions, 90 per cent do not provide fully itemised payslips meeting MOM’s standards.
Full payslips should give a comprehensive breakdown of an employee’s salary - meaning, basic salary, overtime pay, allowances, bonuses and deductions made towards CPF and approved donations. Issuing payslips to ad hoc or part-time employees not paid in a traditional way can be complicated. Also, some SMEs see no necessity to give full payslips to employees who are close relatives or friends.
To comply with the new ruling, SMEs may incur the additional expense of payroll software. Your Human resources staff also requires additional time and resources to create MOM-compliant payslips.
The good news is, there are smart payslip processing apps to make your payslip process more cost- and time-efficient. Singtel’s MecWise Payroll App is one. Requiring no upfront capital investment, the fully automated MecWise Payroll App allows you to create fully itemised payslips within a fraction of the time needed by traditional payroll software or manual payroll processes.MecWise Payroll AppIt comes with a guided setup wizard requiring no programming or technical knowledge. Once set up, MecWise Payroll fully automates your payroll system, consolidating all the payroll information into one database and offering the following features:
- Calculations of different pay components, such as bonus, advance pay, monthly variable component (MVC), etc.
- Submissions to CPF Board, IRAS and Bank GIRO through built-in templates (no manual computation required).
- Easy retrieval of historical data with customisable pay options.
- Regular, automatic updates of the latest statutory regulations and taxation laws.
To issue fully itemised payslips, just print them after completing the payroll process. An additional option, the MecWise Employee Self Service (ESS), allows employees to view their individual password-protected payslips through the system. An online help guide and technical support system eases payroll processing further.