Key Employment Terms & Items to be included in a Pay Slip

Hi, today I would like to cover a little bit about Key Employment Terms (KETs) and items that should be included in a pay slip. I believe it is important to provide clarity on this area as it is a required under the Employment Act.

Basically, all employers are required to issue itemised pay slips and KETs to the employees under the Employment Act. These KETs allows the employees to have a clear understanding of how their salary is calculated along with their employment terms and benefits such as medical and dental. Employers are also required to maintain employment records for at least 2 years for existing employees and for ex-employees, records of the last 2 years have to be kept for 1 year after the employee leaves employment. (You may refer to this link for other details: Employment records (mom.gov.sg))

Employers must issue KETs in writing to all employees who are covered under the Employment Act. This includes employees who will be employed for 14 days or more based on the length of the contract. They are required to issue these KETs within 14 days from start of employment; the format can be soft or hard copy, hand written or printed. General or common KETs that apply universally can be included in employee handbooks or company intranet resources.

Key Employment Terms

1. Full Name of employee and employer

2. Job title, duties and responsibilities

3. Start date of employment

4. Duration of employment

5. Working arrangements - number of hours, number of working days, rest days

6. Salary period

7. Basic salary - this includes basic rate of pay if they are paid on hourly basis

8. Fixed allowances and deductions if any

9. Overtime payment period and rate of overtime pay

10. Other salary related components such as bonuses and incentives

11. All types of leave covered under Employment Act

12. Benefits such as medical, insurance and dental

13. Probation period if any

14. Notice period

Itemised Pay slips

Employers must issued itemised pay slips to all employees covered under the Employment Act. Pay slips are to be given to the employee upon payment, if unable to do so, they must do it within 3 working days of the payment date. In case of termination or dismissal, employer must give pay slip together with any outstanding salary.

Items to be included in the Pay Slip

1. Full Name of employee and employer
   

2. Basic salary - for hourly, daily or piece-rated employees, the basic rate of pay and number of hours/pieces to be included

3. Fixed allowances and deductions if any

4. Start and end date of salary period and overtime period

5. Overtime payment and hours worked

6. Other salary related components such as bonuses and incentives

7. Net salary in total

Employee Records

As mentioned earlier, the Employment Act requires employers to keep records for a period of time. The employer must keep records of the following details below:

1. Address

2. NRIC number, or work pass number and expiry date

3. Date of birth

4. Gender

5. Date of starting employment and date of leaving employment

6. Working hours record including meal and tea breaks if applicable

7. Dates of public holidays and leave taken during employment period

The following breaches can incur administrative penalties to be imposed on the employer under the Employment Act:

1. Failure to issue itemised pay slips

2. Issurance of inaccurate or incomplete pay slips

3. Failure to issue KETs in writing

4. Issurance of inaccurate or incomplete KETs

5. Failure to maintain detailed employment records

6. Provision of inaccurate information to the Commissioner of Labour or inspecting officers without intent to defraud and mislead

Alright that is it for today. I hope this summary is helpful and useful to you. Feel free to comment or discuss!