Modern slavery in Singapore!!
I would like to share a personal working experience with a relatively young startup by the name of Healthe Solutions (www.healthe.com). It’s name could have changed to something else now, possibly Healthe Tech. I suspect the name change is to create a new company and in the process write off the debts of the previous one.
This is not unlike how pirate shops in Sim Lim operated many years ago. For those uninitiated, pirate shops in Sim Lim sold pirated games or software and if they are raided, the company owners would close down that shop (business) and almost conveniently open another one on the same level or on another level of Sim Lim Square. The laws may have been refined to disallow directors of the defunct shop to operate a similar business, but I am not sure. Sorry to digress too much.
Back to my original topic. In Singapore, the employment law doesn’t protect workers who earn more than $2500 a month. Furthermore, unions are virtually non-existent, henceforth, fellow workers, YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN ! I had a very bad firsthand experience of suffering from such non protection. The company owed the staff a minimum of 3 months of salary (some of the employees are owed more!). Ministry of Manpower (MoM) does offer to provide mediation services and not much else. Those unfamiliar with the term mediation, let me explain. During mediation, MoM would request that the employer and employee come together and negotiate a amicable solution out of the issue at hand. For mine, it’s the outstanding salary not paid. Bear in mind, whatever that comes of out the mediation is non legal binding. Essentially, the employer can simply walk away from the table and MoM would not penalise them.
MoM advise me to get back my outstanding salaries through a civil suit. This would incur legal fees on my own expense. After discussing with my own lawyer, I decided against filing a civil suit at this time. The reasoning being that Healthe Solutions can wind down the business entity and I would still end up without my outstanding salaries and in the meantime, incur legal fees!
On hindsight, I should have quit when salaries are paid late. Fellows out there who experience such a issue, I hope this article would give you some oversight and not end up in the same predicaments as me.
