Significance: this is the first case where the Singapore High Court elaborated on the meaning of “executive” in the Employment Act for determining whether an employee was entitled to Part IV provisions of the Employment Act, including being paid for overtime work and for working on rest days and public holidays.
The Court held that the claimant, who was a construction site supervisor in charge of a team of other construction workers was not an executive.
As a Singapore employment lawyer, I welcome this clarification.
Key points:
- Just because an employee is designated or has the job title of a “supervisor” does not mean he is an executive for the purposes of the Employment Act.
- Generally, the essence of the inquiry is whether the employee is of a class of employees able to safeguard their own interests independently of legislation: [60].
- Factors which the Court would consider include ([64]-[71]):
- type of supervisory or management powers given to the employee – whether the employee had actual decision making and control powers
- qualifications of the employee
- salary amount.
- complexity of the work
- whether the work required specialised training.