Employers' Compliance with Mandatory Provision of Itemised Payslips

17 Mr Zainal Sapari asked the Minister for Manpower (a) what is the number of workers who have lodged a complaint against their employers for failing to provide itemised payslips since the time such payslips were made mandatory on 1 April 2016; (b) how many companies have failed to issue itemised payslips to their workers; and (c) what measures are being taken to educate and help employers, especially those in small-to-medium enterprises, in complying with the legislation to issue itemised payslips to their employees.

The Minister of State for Manpower (Mr Zaqy Mohamad) (for the Minister for Manpower): Mr Speaker, over the past two years, MOM has received about 500 complaints against employers for not issuing itemised payslips. Through proactive inspections on employers, another 1,200 employers were formally informed to rectify their practices.

Employers were given sufficient time to prepare with ample access to solutions and resources to comply. When the requirement was introduced, MOM worked with tripartite partners and industry associations, such as the NTUC U Care Centre, U SME, Federation of Merchants’ Associations Singapore, and the Association of Small & Medium Enterprises, to increase awareness and offer solutions. Guidebooks on complying with the requirements and templates for the payslips have been distributed to about 180,000 employers so far. In fact, these templates can be downloaded from the MOM website in four verncular languages. Small and Medium Enterprises can also tap on the HR Shared Services providers, such as those appointed under Enterprise Singapore’s HR Shared Services scheme, to help them to be in full compliance with the law.

Mr Zainal Sapari (Pasir Ris-Punggol): Mr Speaker, I have three supplementary questions for the Minister of State. First, what were some of the main reasons cited by the employers for not issuing the payslips? Second, would MOM expect these errant employers to issue backdated payslips to their workers to ensure they were properly remunerated? Third, does MOM know what proportion of employers have adopted the issuance of itemised payslips today?

Mr Zaqy Mohamad: Mr Speaker, Sir, I thank the Member for his three supplementary questions. On the first question, one of the most common reasons given to us in terms of those who are found to have contravened the regulation is that they have a lack of resources or expertise on the ground to implement itemised payslips. MOM has continued to educate by putting in more effort into education to help employers, especially our Small and Medium Enterprises, to comply with the requirement. We have also worked with the likes of Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF), Singapore Business Federation, Association of Small & Medium Enterprises (ASME), Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) and others, to include seminars and workshops to educate them on the requirement and provide, as I have mentioned earlier, blank basic templates that they can use and download quite easily. In addition, Enterprise Singapore (ESG) has also appointed a pool of service providers that can help provide outsourcing of data processing and HR-related administration, and the aim is to help SMEs comply with the law as well. That is the first question.

Second, with regard to whether MOM requires back-printing of payslips, at this point, we do not have that requirement. But MOM does get into details in the event of a dispute, in terms of asking the employer to provide various information, such as past payments, as well as other information, such as timesheets, long medical leave and other benefits that the employee may require. So, we do not make them print out and backdate the payslips. But in the event that they are required, the employee can ask the employer or come to MOM or the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM) for mediation, if need be.

On the last item, the proportion of employers who issue itemised payslips, based on MOM's survey since its inception in 2016, the vast majority or 95% of private establishments provide itemised payslips to their employees in 2017. The survey was done for private establishments with at least 25 employees. So, it is quite substantial. We have seen 95% come on board. But we also recognise that there is some non-compliance, that last 5%. This is where MOM will continue to reinforce the requirement in our communication to employers through various channels, including proactive inspections as part of our WorkRight Initiative. But going forward, we will also strengthen our enforcement against establishments that fail to issue itemised payslips. So, these establishments will be required to attend corrective clinics which will be conducted by TAFEP and the tripartite partners. Establishments which persistently fail to rectify their practices will be issued with relevant penalties.