Question on Notice period.

[ChanMatt]

Hi all
Is there any singapore law which governs minimum or maximum notice period.
For example..
I am working in a company called "ABC", and in the job offer letter, they mentioned notice period as 3 months.
If want to join another company "XYZ", is it mandatory to serve 3 months in Company-"ABC" ??
Or is there any singapore law, so that I don't need to serve complete 3 months and just serve one month notice period etc.?

Please help me.

[HR Guy]

It is based on your employment contract not a Singapore law. In many cases, you can negotiate with your current employer to have it reduced but not always. You can also have agreement to offset some of the time with leave.

[ChanMatt]

HR Guy, Thanks for the reply.
But 3 months notice period is too difficult to serve. As you know other/new employer, may not be ready to wait 3 months to take one onboard.
on Buy-out option :
- to buy out the notice period also it costs 3x<maonthly sal>.
  almost one year savings will go in buy out.
- new employer will not ready to anything towards this buyout(I am 100% sure).

By having all these, it is almost impossible to take new offer.

What do you say.

[$Pripps]

Just tell you current employer that you are going to a competitor, then they will happily kick you out asap. since they wouldn't want you spying on them. It happened to me once that I had 3 months paid leave before starting at the new company, but OK that wasn't here in Singapore. 

[fritjes]

3 months notice period is too difficult to serve

It's not uncommon for 3mth notice periods to be in place for upper management, the assumption is that 1mth notice is insufficient for handover and hiring of a replacement, especially if the departee needs also to clear leave.

Not uncommon also, is if a company enforces the 3mth notice even if they ask you to stop work. I've had friends who had to discharge all their responsibilities and access to company network/property within a week, but had to serve out the notice - this is not uncommon for those working with proprietary information.

As for employers - they are aware of the duration of notice for the type of positions they are seeking to fill. If your peers generally only require to serve 1mth notice, then yes - you are disadvantaged. If not, then potential employers know to expect to wait, or to buy-out potential new hires if time is of the essence.

At least that's my experience so far.

[ChanMatt]

I wish, It should happen to me.

[employment act]

Unless your contract says something to the contrary (likely won't but takes precedence if it does) employment act let's you but out your notice.

Could serve one month and buy out last two. HR will likely tell you that you can't do this, they lie.

[ChanMatt]

Further to my previous query on notice period..
I actually did not sign on the offer letter so far.
I was working in different country with company - "ABC", an offer to work in Singapore, so I am deputation for same ABC company of Singapore.
So, I haven't sign on paper. They created deputation letter and sent me scaned copy.
I am working here for past 10 months.
So by doing all this, still I am entitled to serve 3 months notice period. ??

[Holdon]

If you haven't signed the new contract then the old contract holds....however if there has been an exchange of emails/letters/conversations and somewhere along the line you have agreed to three months notice then you may be in trouble. You would then need to discuss the situation with a lawyer if your company insists on the 3 months to see what your options are.

On a side note I will never understand HR here. My previous company asked me to sign an amended contract ONE YEAR after I had left !!!  Needless to say I didn't bother.

[Good Grief]

HR Guy, Thanks for the reply.
But 3 months notice period is too difficult to serve. As you know other/new employer, may not be ready to wait 3 months to take one onboard.
on Buy-out option :
- to buy out the notice period also it costs 3x<maonthly sal>.
  almost one year savings will go in buy out.
- new employer will not ready to anything towards this buyout(I am 100% sure).

By having all these, it is almost impossible to take new offer.

What do you say.

Read your contract... if it says 3 months, then it's 3 months. Degree of inconvenience or loss of savings doesn't come into it.

Start acting like an adult and lose the poor me syndrome.

[mytake]

if you're not happy with the terms, just don't sign it!

[KKS]

I have another question
While on Notice period, can i undertake consulting work with any other organization (if it is not a client/competitor) of my existing firm ?

thanks

[Kafka]

I have another question
While on Notice period, can i undertake consulting work with any other organization (if it is not a client/competitor) of my existing firm ?

thanks

Notice period or not, legally it does not matter, you are still an employee.
In my current job, I have a clause in my contract called "Exclusivity of Employment" that says "You should not be employed in any capacity by any person or organization other than XXX".
Read your contract.

If you do your consulting stuff outside office hours and do not use any resources (knowledge or IT) from your current employer and it's not in the same field, I would not see any issue.