Employment Act 1968 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 3 · Payment of Salary
28. Deductions for absence
Feedback & supportDeductions may be made under section 27(1)(a) only on account of the absence of an employee from the place where, by the terms of his or her employment, he or she is required to work, the absence being for the whole or any part of the period during which he or she is so required to work.
employee
“employee” means a person who has entered into or works under a contract of service with an employer and includes a workman, and any officer or employee of the Government included in a category, class or description of such officers or employees declared by the President to be employees for the purposes of this Act or any provision thereof, but does not include any of the following:(a)any seafarer;(b)any domestic worker;(c) (d)any person belonging to any other class of persons whom the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, declare not to be employees for the purposes of this Act;
The amount of any deduction referred to in subsection (1) must not bear a larger proportion to the salary payable at the gross rate of pay to the employee in respect of the salary period for which the deduction is made than the proportion the period for which the employee was absent bears to the total period within such salary period during which the employee was required to work by the terms of his or her employment; and in the case of a monthly‑rated employee the amount of deduction in respect of any one day is the gross rate of pay for one day’s work.
salary
“salary” means all remuneration including allowances payable to an employee in respect of work done under his or her contract of service, but does not include —(a)the value of any house accommodation, supply of electricity, water, medical attendance, or other amenity, or of any service excluded by general or special order of the Minister published in the Gazette;(b)any contribution paid by the employer on his or her own account to any pension fund or provident fund;(c)any travelling allowance or the value of any travelling concession;(d)any sum paid to the employee to reimburse him or her for special expenses incurred by him or her in the course of his or her employment;(e)any gratuity payable on discharge or retirement; and(f)any retrenchment benefit payable on retrenchment;
If any employee absents himself or herself from work otherwise than as provided by this Act or by his or her contract of service, the employer may, subject to any order which may be made by a court or by the Commissioner on complaint of either party, deduct from any salary due to the employee the cost of food supplied to him or her during his or her absence.
contract of service
“contract of service” means any agreement, whether written or oral, express or implied, whereby one person agrees to employ another as an employee and that other agrees to serve his or her employer as an employee and includes an apprenticeship contract or agreement;