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MOM also revealed that in the same period, there were approximately 400 wrongful dismissal claims—about 80 per year—filed by work permit and S pass holders.
Singapore's Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has shared a breakdown of salary claims by foreign employees from 2021 to 2023, categorised by work pass types.
In a written response to a Parliamentary query on 9 September 2024, the ministry detailed the following:
Incidence of salary claims by foreign employees with breakdown by work pass type (per 1,000 employees of the respective work pass type)
The ministry further broke the numbers down to focus on work permit holders, as follows:
Top three industries with salary claims by work permit holders (per 1,000 Work Permit holders)
According to the 2023 Employment Standards Report published in August, the top three claim items by foreign employees in 2023 were:
- basic salary,
- salary for overtime work, and
- salary for work done on rest days and public holidays.
Overall, in 2023, a total of 9,397 employment claims and appeals were lodged with MOM and the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM). Local employees filed 4,318 (46%) of these, while foreign employees filed 5,079 (54%). Most claims and appeals were for salaries (8,125) and dismissals (1,194).
[READ MORE: More salary claims were filed in Singapore in 2023, but fewer compared to pre-COVID, MOM & TADM say]
In a similar update, MOM has also addressed a separate Parliamentary query on the wrongful dismissal claims for work permit and S pass holders.
According to the response, published on 10 September, there were about 400 wrongful dismissal claims (or about 80 a year) filed by work permit and S pass holders between 2019 to 2023.
Here is a breakdown of the dismissal claims that were filed during those years:
- About 50% were eventually withdrawn by the worker,
- 40% were successfully resolved by mediation, and
- 10% were adjudicated at the Employment Claims Tribunal.
Of the adjudicated cases, about 30% were ruled in favour of the worker.
MOM also added that workers seeking recourse may receive monetary compensation, have their dismissal converted to a resignation, or obtain a service testimonial from the employer.
"We do not track the number of workers who found another job after filing a wrongful dismissal claim," MOM shared.
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