There are three categories of Employment Passes in Singapore: the P1 Employment Pass, P2 Employment Pass and Q1 Employment Pass. Before considering to apply for a particular employment pass, it is important that you possess all the required criteria to be eligible for the employment pass you are applying for.
The basic requirements to be eligible for a Singapore Employment Pass is that the foreigner applicant must have a fixed monthly salary of at least S$2,500 and must possess the recognized qualifications which includes acceptable degrees, professional qualifications or specialist skills. The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is the authority that evaluates each EP application and qualification, based on a criteria that includes the following: global and country institution rankings by independent accreditation boards, hiring history by top companies in Singapore, validation by HR consultants in listed countries, employment outcome of the institution’s graduates, and the institution’s enrollment standards.
In addition to the foregoing basic requirements of monthly salary and recognized qualifications for a Singapore EP, each of the three categories of EPs have specific eligibility requirements and this article will discuss each of these categories briefly:
P1 Employment Pass
A P1 Employment Pass can be given to an applicant who performs a Professional, Managerial, Executive or Specialist job and has a fixed monthly salary of at least S$7,000.
P2 Employment Pass
A P2 Employment Pass can be given to an applicant who performs a Professional, Managerial, Executive or Specialist job and has a fixed monthly salary of at least S$3,500 and not more than S$7,000.
Q1 Employment Pass
A Q1 Employment Pass can be given to an applicant who performs a Professional, Managerial, Executive or Specialist job and has a fixed monthly salary of at least S$2,500 and not more than S$3,500. An applicant who does not possess the recognized qualifications as discussed in the first part of this article can still be eligible for a Q1 EP provided he possesses compensatory factors such as skills and years of experience, depending on the discretion of the MOM. A minimum of 5 years of relevant work experience is a plus factor.
A fixed monthly salary, as discussed above, refers to the total regular income of a foreign employee earned from his job, including his basic salary, and this income must be paid to the employee on a fixed monthly basis, regardless of his performance.
A fixed monthly salary and/or basic salary does not include the following: additional payment by way of overtime, bonus or commission; any form of reimbursements or in-kind payments; any sum paid to an employee or contract worker to defray special expenses incurred by him owing to the special, unusual or hazardous nature of the employment; any productivity incentive payments and any allowances which are variable in nature; any contributions paid by the employer or employee to any pension or provident fund; or any gratuity payable on discharge or retirement.
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Many companies operating fleet who introduce a vehicle tracking system for the first time would, of course, be concerned in the impact on their employees when installing mobile workforce tracking or a GPS vehicle tracking across their entire operation.
The rise of commercial vehicle tracking across the relevant industries dependent on running the most cost-effective and efficient fleet they possibly can has meant many changes of working practice, not least for the vehicle drivers.
Introducing change of an employees working conditions, obviously requires great care to be taken, not least from a legal point of view and how it affects their individual contracts of employment.
Essentially, there are two key differences to be determined when instigating mobile workforce solutions:
Business use only or – Business and Personal use.
Business Use …
Fitting a vehicle tracker into a vehicle to be used only for day-to-day, strictly work related business, e.g. delivery van, it is recommended that employees driving the vehicle should be informed not only that the system will be fitted, but also why it is being fitted, how it works and exactly the nature of the data to be collected and what its use will be and how it is intended to benefit everyone at the company.
It is important that employees fully understand and appreciate all the objective reasons for wishing to obtain the information that will be provided from the system and why it is needed to help with business efficiency and improvement. Concerns and objections raised by employees obviously need to be discussed to reach agreement on fitting the system but legal advice should be sought if agreement cannot be reached.
Business and Personal use…
Essentially, the same considerations as in business use only but with the addition of taking into account that the system will provide data on the vehicles movements outside working time. Concern may be raised by employees that this data could be used to obtain information about their private lives and if so, could be seen as an infringement of their human rights.
Once again, it is strongly advised and to be made absolutely clear that the data collected by the system will only be accessed for data relating to working hours only, unless the vehicle is stolen or in an accident. Employees need to know as to who will have access to the data and its use for business.
Company contracts of employment should be redrawn so there should be clause which allows for the fitting and/or use of the system in any vehicles provide for company/personal use.
The appeal stages and court structure in employment disputes in the UK is demonstrated by the high-profile Chagger v Abbey National plc & Hopkins (2006) legal case, where the Employment Tribunal found race discrimination and made the record breaking 2.8 million compensation award. Abbey National Santander Abbey (the UK high street bank soon to be re-branded as Santander share, and being part of the Banco Santander Group) ended Balbinder Chagger’s employment in 2006, giving redundancy as the reason. However, Mr Chagger believed the real reason behind his dismissal was race discrimination. Mr Chagger (of Indian origin) was employed as a Trading Risk Controller. He earned around 100,000 a year and reported into Nigel Hopkins, his manager.
If an employee has suffered unfairness and/or discrimination in employment then he could decide to appeal. The first point of appeal may be to the employer, in the form of a formal grievance. The employee lodges the formal grievance with the employer. The employer is responsible for hearing the grievance and deciding its outcome. The employer is, thus, given the opportunity to deal with the employment dispute and to close it satisfactorily. However, Mr Chagger’s issues were simply dismissed out of hand by the Banco Santander Group company.
If the parties cannot resolve their employment dispute between themselves, then either party may appeal to an Employment Tribunal for an independent resolution of the dispute. Employment Tribunals will hear disputes concerning unfair dismissal, redundancy payments and discrimination. Mr Chagger eventually appealed to the Employment Tribunal by starting legal proceedings against both Santander Abbey National and Mr Hopkins on the grounds of race discrimination and unfair dismissal. The Employment Tribunal heard the case and concluded that Mr Chagger had been both dismissed unfairly and discriminated against on the grounds of race in respect of his dismissal, by both Mr Hopkins and Santander Abbey National. The Employment Tribunal took the rare step of ordering Abbey Santander to reinstate Mr Chagger in order to remedy the wrong of race discrimination it had committed. Santander Abbey National, however, refused to comply with the Employment Tribunal’s reinstatement order. Following Santander Abbey National’s failure to comply, the Employment Tribunal subsequently ordered Abbey Santander to pay Mr Chagger the record breaking 2.8 million compensation for his loss on the basis that he had not been reinstated.
The employee/employer that is dissatisfied with the Employment Tribunal’s decisions may appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT). The EAT will consider appeals against decisions made by Employment Tribunals. The grounds of appeal must be points of law (i.e., the appeal must be about errors in the legal reasoning of the Employment Tribunal’s decision). The EAT will not reconsider issues of fact. Santander Abbey National and Mr Hopkins appealed to the EAT against the Employment Tribunal’s decision of race discrimination and against the award of 2.8 million compensation. The EAT heard Abbey Santander’s appeals. It decided to uphold the original Employment Tribunal’s finding that Mr Hopkins and Santander Abbey National had discriminated against Mr Chagger on the grounds of race in respect of his dismissal. However, it accepted Abbey Santander’s appeal on the record breaking 2.8 million compensation award and remitted the compensation matter to the original Employment Tribunal for reconsideration on the basis of the likelihood of Mr Chagger leaving Santander Abbey National’s employment in any case.
The party that is dissatisfied with the EAT’s decisions may appeal to the Court of Appeal, being the second highest court in the land. The Court of Appeal will consider appeals against decisions made by the EAT. Once again, the grounds of the appeal must be points of law (i.e., the appeal must be about errors in the legal reasoning of the EAT’s decision). The Court of Appeal will not reconsider issues of fact either. The Santander Abbey National case was appealed to the Court of Appeal; the Court of Appeal’s website showed the case was heard this month, on 7 and 8 July 2009. The Court of Appeal’s records concerning the hearing were not available at the time of writing this article. According to 11KBW set of chambers, the hearing was limited to the issue of compensation only (i.e., not to the matter of race discrimination also). That would suggest that the wrong of race discrimination committed by Santander Abbey National and Mr Hopkins seems to have been finalised by the EAT, which upheld the original Employment Tribunal’s finding that Mr Hopkins and Abbey Santander had discriminated against Mr Chagger on the grounds of race in his dismissal.
The party that is dissatisfied with the Court of Appeal’s decisions may appeal to the House of Lords, being the highest court in the land. Any appeal to the House of Lords requires the Court of Appeal’s approval and the Court of Appeal must also certify a question of general public importance that the House of Lords needs to decide upon. Again, appeals to the House of Lords must be about points of law and not about issues of fact. The House of Lords is the final stage of appeal for most legal cases in the UK. However, rare cases may be permitted for appeal to the European Court of Justice, which has jurisdiction on matters of European Community law.
Like with most legal jargon, “employment at will” has both a formal definition and a practical one. In this case, the theory is easy. The basic definition of “employment at will” says the employer or the employee may end the working relationship at any time and for any reason without fearing legal action. This means the employer can fire or lay off the employee whenever they want. According to the theory, the employers do not have to explain why they fired their worker.
This definition also claims the employee may choose to quit his or her job at any time. Under such circumstances, the worker does not have to give the employer the reason for leaving his or her current position.
On its face, this is a simple law that should work for both the employer and the employee. Unfortunately in practice, “employment at will” is not so clear. While most states follow the formal definition, many lower courts have passed laws to cancel the employer’s rights. All of these laws have created many exceptions to the formal definition, and employers must keep this in mind if they need to fire someone.
Definition of Employment at Will: What It Means For Employers
So what does this mean for you, the employer, if you need to fire an underperforming employee? It’s simple. Wise employers do not fire employees without a reason and claim protection under “employment at will”. This is true even if you live in an “at will” state.
Almost every “at-will” state has exceptions an employer must consider. To make the situation more complex, these exceptions vary widely from state to state. It is a good idea to contact your state’s labor office to find out the laws that apply to you.
If you fire an employee and that person becomes angry, you could find yourself in a wrongful termination lawsuit. And as an employer, you don’t want these legal proceeding to go to court. Most courts favor the employee. This leaves the employer at the losing end and that costs time, money and productivity.
So how do you avoid such lawsuits? It’s a good idea for all employers to have standard termination procedures in place.
First, make sure you have an employee handbook with rules and regulations of the workplace. All employees must be aware of its contents. Second, make sure no manager fires an employee without giving a reason. Third, have standards in place so the reasons for termination are legal and fair. Fourth, train all managers in progressive discipline. Using this proven method, an employee termination will never take a worker by surprise. This will reduce their overall anger at the company.
It is true that “employment at will” suggests an employer doesn’t own an employee an explanation for losing his or her job. However, this simple definition does not translate directly into practice. Never depend on the formal definition of this law to protect you from a wrongful termination lawsuit.
The biggest mystery in some minds is how to secure the funding necessary to buy a home, despite having a low credit rating. The sheer size of the loan needed to complete the purchase is staggering. And yet, securing mortgage loans with bad credit ratings is viable and common.
But applicants that believe securing mortgage approval under these circumstances is impossible miss the point. Lenders actually want to lend money, it is just the protective policies they apply that can get in the way. Once the criteria is met and the lender feels assured, approval is all but definite.
The question is how to convince the lenders to the degree that bad credit scores are overlooked and the mortgage loan is granted. Well, there are a few simple measures to take that will do the job, but here are three of the most effective.
Offer a Big Down Payment
It would be foolish to overlook the significance of down payments. Indeed, it can be a major advantage when applying for mortgage loans with bad credit. This is for two reasons: firstly, it affects the size of the mortgage required; and secondly, it reflects the character of the applicant.
A down payment represents a share of the purchase price that is bought out immediately. So, a 5% down payment on a $200,000 property translates to paying $10,000 off the price. This means that a mortgage of $190,000 is required. But a big down payment, of say 20%, means that the sum borrowed falls to $160,000.
Securing mortgage approval is easier as the loan amount falls, but the impression saving up a large down payment has also impresses the lenders. Saving $40,000 is no mean feat in these difficult times, requiring real financial discipline. This is the kind of discipline that lenders want to see in the people they approve mortgage loans to.
Address the Low Credit Score
Another move that impresses the lenders is taking measures to improve the credit score that the applicant has. When seeking mortgage loans with bad credit, the influence that the credit score has can be the difference between monthly repayments that are affordable and too expensive.
There are several ways to improve a credit score. A popular way is to take out a series of small payday loans, perhaps of $1,000, and then repay them in full when the next paycheck arrives. However, each time the loan is repaid in full, the credit score is adjusted accordingly. As the score gets higher, securing mortgage approval gets a little easier.
Alternatively, a larger loan could be taken out to consolidate all of the existing debt, replacing numerous loans with one central debt that is easier to manage. Then, when applying for the mortgage loan, the higher score means lower interest rates.
Prove Secure Employment Status
Finally, perhaps the most basic step to take is to prove that your employment status is secure. This can be difficult given the uncertainty of the economy, but those employed long term are in a stronger position to convince lenders that repayments will be made. So, getting a mortgage loan with bad credit is easier.
Providing all the necessary documentation is essential. A photocopy of a paycheck will confirm the monthly income while a copy of an employment contract can confirm the job is more than just a short-term position. Securing mortgage approval can rest on these few aspects of the application.
However, keep in mind the debt-to-income ratio too, with a maximum 40% of the excess income reserved for debt repayments. This means that even with all the boxes ticked, the share of available income is not enough. Therefore, the mortgage loan has to be rejected.