6 Mr Alex Yam asked the Acting Minister for Manpower since 2005 (a) how many companies have applied for exemption from section 38(5) of the Employment Act with regard to the extent of overtime work; (b) how many companies have contravened the Act due to overtime work that exceeded the limits; and (c) whether allowing for such exemptions will put workers from low-wage sectors at a disadvantage.

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The Acting Minister for Manpower (Mr Tan Chuan-Jin): Under the Employment Act, employees are not allowed to work for more than 12 hours a day including overtime, with a limit of 72 hours of overtime in a month. If employers require their employees to work more than 12 hours a day or more than 72 hours of overtime in a month, they must apply for an exemption from the Commissioner for Labour. Even with the exemption from the 12-hour limit, working hours cannot exceed 14 hours a day. Between 2008 and 2011, an average of 310 employers applied for exemption each year, of which some 270 were approved. Employers are required to re-apply when the exemption expires, if they wish to continue to be exempted.

In granting the exemption, the Ministry takes into account the company's operational requirements and the workers' welfare, particularly their safety and health, to make sure that they are not being compromised. Hence, companies have to satisfy the Commissioner that they, firstly, have obtained the consent of employees in extending their overtime hours; secondly, they have a good track record for maintaining both health and safety as well as employment standards, and, lastly, they have secured the agreement of the unions in the company, if it is a unionised company.

Failure to comply with the working hour provisions is an offence under the law. Between 2008 and 2011, 260 employers were found to have contravened the limit of overtime work. Fifty six of these employers were issued composition fines by MOM, while 21 were prosecuted in court for more serious breaches of the limit of overtime work. For the remaining cases involving mainly minor technical breaches, warnings or advisories were issued.

MOM recognises that in many instances, overtime pay forms an integral part of the low-wage worker's wages. This is particularly the case for some industries, such as the security sector. Long working hours may be neither desirable nor sustainable in the long run. To address this, we are in the process of working with the various stakeholders, including the unions and industry associations, to see how we can uplift wages and reduce overtime hours where they are excessive.

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Mr Alex Yam (Chua Chu Kang): I thank the Acting Minister for his comprehensive reply. With regard to the statistics given, 270 companies were approved under section 38(V), 260 employers were taken to task. How many of these 260 employers were under the exemption list? Second question is, with regard to the overtime pay being an integral part of the salary for many of our low-wage workers, what are the concrete steps that MOM would be taking up over the next course of review of the Employment Act with regard to this to ensure that low-wage workers are paid a fair wage without having to work long and excessive hours?

Mr Tan Chuan-Jin: I thank the Member for the supplementary question. I do not have the specific numbers, in terms of those who were taken to tasks, how many of them were part of the exemption list. But be that as it may, we take the exemptions quite seriously, so we will review that quite extensively on a yearly basis for those who have applied for an exemption. They need to fulfill those requirements explained earlier.

However, if any companies are found to be in violation of any of these requirements and the standards expected of the companies, they will be taken to task. Those parameters need to be met. In terms of looking at specifically the overtime requirements and so on, as part of the review of the Employment Act, as the Member is aware, we are in the process of working with the unions and employers on this front. This will be an issue that we will have to discuss with the various partners involved. What is quite clear is that we do need to set in place the appropriate parameters which we do have right now. Specifically with some industries for which we know there is a slightly more chronic issue of overtime hours, such as the security industry, we will work with different partners to see how to adjust this from a structural perspective.

Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan: I would like to ask the Minister whether his Ministry is considering looking at enhancing the penalties and making them more deterrent for would-be employers who want to contravene the Act, for example, imposing excessive overtime hours especially for low-wage contract workers.

Mr Tan Chuan-Jin: In response to the Member's supplementary question, we do not have a specific plan as of now, in terms of increasing the penalties for those who violate the terms. What we do want to make sure is to continue to police these terms and conditions in a serious fashion and to make sure that our workers are not being exploited in the process.

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Mr Speaker: Ms Janice Koh, last question.

Ms Janice Koh (Nominated Member): I would like to ask the Acting Minister if MOM has any plans in the review of the Employment Act to enact legislation that may also protect contract workers with regard to overtime pay and working beyond 12 hours, particularly workers in the creative and media sector.

Mr Tan Chuan-Jin: I would like to thank the Member for her question. I would like to assure her that we are looking at the whole issue of contract workers in the various industries, as we have discussed before with the Nominated Member. There are certain segments that need closer attention. As we all know, contract work spans across a wide spectrum of sectors, and there are very different natures in terms of the contract workers and the different terms and conditions. So, this is something that we will be taking up, and we are actually in the process of looking at it. We are splitting the Employment Act review into two parts. This issue will come in the second part and we will consult and work closely with the different stakeholders on it.

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