Employment Act - Illegal terms of contract of service

In two days, my eldest will be free from an onerous contract she signed with an SME as a retail staff earning all of S$5 per hour. Retail hours are irregular and long. For all my insistence that the contract she signed was unforceable, she chose to see it through. I cannot fault her. At least it shows committment and tenacity. It would teach her to be more mindful the next time she signs anything.

For those who want to know more, the employment act can be found in www.mom.gov.sg (employer/hr matters). The two relevant clauses pertaining to those under 21 are:

Illegal terms of contract of service.
8. Every term of a contract of service whether made before or after 15th August 1968 which provides a condition of service which is less favourable to an employee than any of the conditions of service prescribed by this Act shall be illegal, null and void to the extent that it is so less favourable.


Contractual age.
12. —(1) Notwithstanding anything in any other written law, a person below the age of 21 years shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, be competent to enter into a contract of service.

(2) No contract of service as an employee shall be enforceable against a person below the age of 21 years and no damages or indemnity shall be recoverable from that person in respect of the contract of service unless it is for his benefit.

I suppose some people will always try to scare the un-informed or the meek. And some do get away with it. At least in the short term. In the long run, the damage to the company as an unequal and unfair employer will be difficult to repair.

Jones or the marathon man?