Singapore's Manpower Ministry has tabled a bill which would amend the country's Employment Act to make it compulsory for employers to issue payslips and clearly spell out employment terms, the Straits Times reported.
Employers may be fined up to $1,000 for each initial breach and $2,000 for subsequent breaches. Incomplete or inaccurate payslips will count as having failed to comply, the Straits Times said.
The aim of the change to the law is to reduce labour disputes, the ministry told the Straits Times. The new rules are likely to be implemented in the first half of 2016, it said.
Bryan Tan of Pinsent Masons MPillay, the Singapore joint law venture partner of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com said: "We expect small and medium sized enterprises, as well as small subsidiaries or branches of multinationals, to take some adjustment to get this right."
Singapore's Ministry of Manpower released guidelines in December 2014 to help employers prepare for the introduction of compulsory written key terms of employment.
The ministry announced in 2013 that that written key employment terms would become mandatory in 2016, along with itemised payslips.
It said that that providing employment terms in writing "is a good employment practice which benefits both employers and employees".
"This assures employees of their regular income and main employment benefits, and helps to prevent or resolve employment disputes that may arise," the ministry said.
