Singapore’s complex Employment Act covers all employees. While Singapore’s employment laws are easy to learn, you want to make sure that you are staying compliant so you don’t end up with a fine or lose talented candidates. You also need to follow the correct Singapore staffing and recruiting processes to find the right candidates for your open positions.
Recruiting in Singapore
There are several ways to handle staffing for your Singapore business, including:
- Working with an employment agency or recruitment firm: While this approach can save you time, you should research the agency’s rates, policies, and permits.
- Advertising in the newspaper: The Straits Times is a local publication with the highest circulation, and it’s a popular choice for classified advertisements. That said, consider the rates and your local audience before choosing this option.
- Posting job advertisements online: Most candidates will look for regional positions online, while local positions are more likely to be in the newspaper.
- Attending job or career fairs: More people are attending job fairs today, which will allow you to do on-the-spot interviews. These events are also a great avenue to hire for skill-based jobs.
- Recruiting on campuses: Many universities will let you come to campus for interviews or recruitment talks if you want to hire graduates or post-graduates.
Laws Against Discrimination in Singapore
The Ministry of Manpower has guidelines for fair staffing and recruiting practices. For example, you should always consider skills, experience, and ability to perform the job over age, race, gender, religion, family status, or disability. Make sure you let the job applicants understand the selection criteria, and update the requirements frequently to ensure that they’re relevant.
To avoid discrimination, don’t list any attributes such as age, gender, marital status, race, or religion in a job advertisement unless you can justify their necessity. Stick to questions relevant to the job requirements during interviews and tests, and ensure that you ask for personal data only for administrative purposes.
How to Hire Employees in Singapore
Whether you decide to outsource Singapore hiring or do it yourself, it’s often beneficial to partner with a global PEO that can help you find talented candidates in your industry.
Singapore Employment Laws
Singapore’s employment compliance — which covers working hours, rest days, annual leave, and holidays — is outlined in its Employment Act.
- The normal working hours of an employee are 8 hours a day, up to a maximum of 44 hours a week. An employer must confirm the hours of work in the employment contract.
- Hours of any employee cannot exceed an average of 44 hours over any three continuous weeks.
- Employees cannot work more than 72 hours of overtime per month unless there is a specific exception from the Ministry of Manpower.
- Workers are allowed one unpaid rest day a week, which is typically Sunday unless otherwise stated in an employment contract.
- Employees are entitled to paid leave under the Employment Act if they have worked for an employer for more than three months. Annual leave entitlement depends on years of service, starting with seven days paid leave for one year of employment. It is common market practice for employers to provide for 14 days of annual leave entitlement in Singapore.
Onboarding in Singapore
Before you officially hire Singapore employees, it is best practice to draft an employment contract that outlines the details of the agreement between you and your future employee. Spell out vacation days, expected working hours, and any supplemental benefits you’ll offer.
Include the exact position and duties the employee will perform. You can also write a code of conduct and the terms of termination for the employee’s reference, which gives them clear expectations of the workplace culture.
Benefits of Hiring Outsourcing in Singapore
If you choose not to work with a Singapore hiring outsourcing company, you will end up responsible for recruiting potential candidates, drafting the employment contracts, and ensuring your compliance with Singapore’s Employment Act.
A global PEO such as Globalization Partners can take the stress off both the recruiting and managing processes. We help you find talented candidates that exude passion. After you decide to hire, we’ll help hire the employees that work for you so that you don’t have to go through the expensive and time-consuming process of establishing a subsidiary in Singapore.
Work With Globalization Partners To Expand Globally
If you want to know more about how to hire Singapore employees, then contact us today. We’ll help you add to your team by taking the risk off your shoulders and setting it on ours — always making sure you are meeting and exceeding every employment law.