facebookIs it illegal to fire a worker without any reason in SG? - Seedly

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Anonymous

06 Mar 2022

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Career

Is it illegal to fire a worker without any reason in SG?

Must you provide evidence to terminate a worker?

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If you terminate the worker without citing any specific reason, then you don't have to provide evidence. Singapore is an "at-will" employment jurisdiction, so both employee and employer can terminate the employment contract without needing to show cause. Just make sure that notice periods/salary-in-lieu of notice are honoured.

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If, however, you dismiss someone by citing poor performance, then you must provide evidence of the poor performance.

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Here's a quick overview of the 5 kinds of unfair dismissals:

  • Dismissal due to discrimination based on age, disability, gender, ethnicity, family commitments, and more
  • Dismissal to deprive employee of benefits or entitlements. Example: Terminating a pregnant employee to deprive them from claiming maternity leave
  • Dismissal for poor performance or misconduct without evidence. Example: Terminating someone by citing poor performance, but having no evidence to back this up because in fact their performance has been above average
  • Forced resignation: Example: Making life so difficult for an employee that they feel forced to quit
  • Dismissal to punish employee for exercising employment rights. Example: Terminating someone for enforcing their right to file a labour standards complaint, or for demanding legally-entitled sick leave, etc.

If you fire an employee for any of the above reasons in Singapore, they have legal grounds to sue you. Government bodies may also take disciplinary action against the offending company. Here's a complete guide to this topic:

https://www.providecover.com/unfair-illegal-dis...

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Executive teams would do well to protect themselves against employment-related lawsuits by carrying a comprehensive Directors & Officers Liability Insurance policy.

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