Singapore legislation
Clause 65
Clause 65
Liability of principals, contractors and sub-contractors for salary of workman
(1)
Where a principal in the course of or for the purposes of or in pursuance of or in furtherance of the interests of his trade or business, contracts with a contractor for the supply of labour or for the execution by or under the contractor of the whole or any part of any work undertaken by the principal, and any salary is due to any workman by the contractor or any sub-contractor under the contractor for labour supplied or for work done in the course of the execution of such work, the principal and the contractor and any such sub-contractor (not being the employer) shall be jointly and severally liable with the employer to pay such workman as if the workman had been immediately employed by him, and where salary is claimed from the principal, this Act, with the exception of section 34 thereof relating to priority of salary, shall apply as if reference to the principal were substituted for reference to the employer, except that salary claimed shall be calculated with reference to the salary of the workman under the employer by whom he is immediately employed:Provided that —
no principal, contractor or sub-contractor, not being the employer, shall be jointly and severally liable to any workman under this subsection for more than the salary earned in one month for work done by or under the employer;
in the case of a contract for constructional work the principal shall not be liable for the payment of salary under this subsection unless he is also a constructional contractor;
the workman shall institute proceedings for the recovery of his salary within sixty days or such longer period as the Commissioner may in his discretion allow from the date on which such salary became due for payment in accordance with the provisions for the payment of salary contained in Part III of this Act.
(2)
A claim for salary under the provisions of this section shall be made in the manner prescribed by Part XVI of this Act.
(3)
Nothing in this section shall prevent any principal or contractor or sub-contractor, not being the employer, who as the result of a claim made under this section has paid any salary to a workman from instituting civil proceedings for the recovery of the amount of salary so paid from the employer of such workman.
(4)
Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent a workman from recovering salary under this Act from his employer instead of the principal or contractor or sub-contractor.