JAKARTA - An Indian migrant worker has won an appeal after a Singapore High Court ordered his former employer to pay in full a claim for overtime of more than S$5,700.
Quoted from The Straits Times, Thursday, April 9, the April 7 ruling granted Gena Hulash Ram's appeal against Lim Joo Huat Enterprise. Judge Philip Jeyaretnam judged the company to have acted unlawfully by including overtime payments into a fixed monthly allowance.
Gena worked as a packer at the fresh produce wholesaler from December 2022 to August 2023. In the letter of principle approval from the Singapore Ministry of Manpower, his basic salary was recorded at S$1,000 per month, plus housing allowance of S$200 and "other" allowance of S$300. His total fixed salary was S$1,500, with an overtime rate of S$7.87 per hour.
The problem arose with the "other" allowance of S$300. The company argued that the fixed figure already included overtime pay, without looking at how many overtime hours were actually worked. Gena then filed a claim with the Employment Claims Tribunal in December 2023 for S$5,711.11.
The tribunal accepted that Gena did work overtime. However, the company was still allowed to offset that obligation with the S$300 allowance. As a result, Gena's claim value dropped to S$3,254.84.
Gena then appealed. Still according to The Straits Times report, the High Court took a different stance. The judge emphasized that employers cannot set a fixed limit or amount for overtime pay. Workers must be paid based on the number of overtime hours actually worked.
The judge also highlighted the provision in the Singapore Ministry of Manpower's rules which states that monthly allowances must not include any form of overtime payment. This means that the "other" allowance cannot be used to cover the workers' overtime rights.
The reason for the administrative ease that the company submitted was also rejected. According to the judge, including overtime payments, both in whole or in part, into fixed benefits will ultimately lower the overtime rate that has been declared.
The ruling fully reinstated Gena's claim to S$5,711.11 and imposed a legal cost of S$9,000 on the company.
Gena is represented pro bono by Melvin Chan Kah Keen and Amelia Tan Han Ru of TSMP Law Corporation. To The Straits Times, Chan said the value of this case may seem small to Singaporeans, but it is very meaningful for migrant workers.
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