Singapore legislation
Clause 39
Clause 39
Hours of work
(1)
Except as hereinafter provided, an employee shall not be required under his contract of service to work —
more than six consecutive hours without a period of leisure;
more than eight hours in one day or more than forty-four hours in one week:Provided that —
an employee who is engaged in work which must be carried on continuously may be required to work for eight consecutive hours inclusive of a period or periods of not less than forty-five minutes in the aggregate during which he shall have the opportunity to have a meal; and
where, by agreement under the contract of service between the employee and the employer, the number of hours of work on one or more days of the week is less than eight, the limit of eight hours may be exceeded on the remaining days of the week, but so that no employee shall be required to work for more than nine hours in one day or forty-four hours in one week.
(2)
An employee may be required by his employer to exceed the limit of hours prescribed in subsection (1) of this section and to work on a rest day or on a holiday, in the case of —
accident, actual or threatened; or
work, the performance of which is essential to the life of the community; or
work essential for defence or security; or
urgent work to be done to machinery or plant; or
an interruption of work which it was impossible to foresee and which is not of a recurring character; or
work to be performed by employees in any industrial undertaking essential to the economy of Singapore or any of the essential services as defined under Part V of the Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Ordinance, 1955 (Ord. 26 of 1995):Provided that in the event of any dispute the Commissioner shall have power to decide whether or not the employer is justified in calling upon the employee to work in the circumstances specified in this section.
(3)
If an employee works for and at the request of his employer more than eight hours in one day or, in the case specified in paragraph (ii) of the proviso to subsection (1) of this section, more than nine hours in one day, or more than forty-four hours in one week, he shall be paid for such extra work at the rate of not less than one and a half times his hourly rate of pay irrespective of the basis on which his rate of pay is fixed.
(4)
An employee shall not be permitted to work overtime for more than forty-eight hours a month:Provided that the Minister may by notification in the Gazette declare that the provisions of this subsection shall not apply to employees in any particular industry or undertaking.
(5)
For the purpose of calculating the payment due for overtime to an employee, such employee’s hourly rate of pay shall be taken to be —
in the case of a person employed on a monthly rate of pay, twelve times his monthly rate of pay divided by fifty-two times forty-four hours; and
in the case of a person employed on piece rates, the total weekly pay received divided by the total number of hours worked in the week.
(6)
The Minister may make regulations for the purpose of calculating the payment due for overtime to an employee employed on piece rates.
(7)
Except in the circumstances described in paragraphs (a), (b), (c), (d) and (e) of subsection (2) of this section, no employee shall under any circumstances work for more than twelve hours in any one day.
(8)
The provisions of this section shall not apply to employees engaged in the fire services or in work which by its nature involves long hours of inactive or stand-by employment.