How has MOM itemised payslip impacted Singapore’s companies positively?  

An itemised payslip clearly list out all your monthly income and deduction items. Starting from April 2016, all employers must issue itemised payslips to employees, covered by the Employment Act.

The new policy will require more workload and effort from the human resource (HR).   Many SMEs were concerned about the costs that they need to incur. Therefore, Singapore’s government delayed the implementation of the policy for two years so that companies will have more than sufficient time to adapt.

How should itemised payslips be issued and stored?

The itemised payslip and pay to the employee should be given at the same time. Otherwise, it should be delivered within three working days of payment. In the scenario of termination or dismissal, they must be given with outstanding salary.

All employers must keep a record of all payslips issued in soft or hard copy, including handwritten. For current employees, employers will have to keep the payslips record for their latest two years. For ex-employees, the last two years of employment is to be kept for one year after the employee leaves the job.

What needs to include in the itemised payslip?

1.    Full name of employer

2.    Full name of the employee

3.    Date(s) of payment

4.    Basic salary

5.    Start and end date of the salary period

6.    Allowances paid for salary period

7.    Any other additional payment for each salary period

8.    Deductions made for each salary period

9.    Overtime hours worked

10. Overtime payment

11. Start and end date of the overtime period

12. Net salary paid in total

Advantages of having itemised payslip?

The itemised payslip will benefit both the organisations and the employees. It allows businesses to stay out of employment disputes. Also, employees will have better assurance over their pay and perks. For instance, they exactly how many days of leaves they have, how much is their OT, etc.

When all the information is clearly stated on the itemised payslip, the chance of having disputes on compensation reduces. The employees will not be able to make any complaints blindly while the employers can be held accountable if there are any variations.

Disadvantages of itemised payslip

The main issue faced by most companies initially is to get both the Management and the staff to be on the same page and design the template for the itemised payslip. Once this is done, everything will very much fall into place.

With the government generously giving out cash grants, local companies should take this excellent opportunity to procure a Human Resource Management System (HRMS) to automate all their HR functions in the company.

good HRMS software will integrate all the other HR modules such as Payroll, Attendance, Leave, Claims, Learning and Performance into an integrated platform. A good example of an HRMS is AGHRM


In conclusion, the policy of providing every employee with itemised payslip is a win-win situation for organisation and employees.


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