Payroll For Part-Timers In Singapore: 5 Things You Need To Know

With the evolving work arrangements in our workplace today, companies can expect more flexibility when it comes to the working structure. As such, there is a growing market of freelancers and part-timers.

As hiring part-timers is becoming a common affair, here is what you need to know when you have part-timers working for you within your organisation.

1. Who is a part-time worker?

Based on the definition provided by Ministry of Manpower Singapore, a part-time employee is one who is under a contract of service with an organisation to work less than 35 hours a week.

For any part-time employee, the contract of service must specify the following:

• Hourly basic rate of pay
• Hourly gross rate of pay (hourly basic rate plus allowances)
• Number of working hours per day or per week
• Number of working days per week or per month

2. Salary Payments – Monthly, Hourly & Daily

Part-timers are typically regarded as monthly-salaried employees, though it is up to the company’s discretion whether salary disbursement on a monthly, weekly or even daily basis. For a monthly-rated part-time employee, calculations of their hourly and daily rates of pay are as follows:

Hourly basic rate of pay: (12 x monthly basic rate of pay) / (52 x no. of hours worked in a week)

Daily basic rate of pay: (12 x monthly basic rate of pay) / (52 x no. of days a part-timer employee is required to work in a week)

3. Overtime Work

Overtime work is defined as work that exceeds a part-time employee’s normal daily working hours. Part-time workers are entitled to payment for overtime work. The overtime payment rate is dependent on whether the hours exceed the normal working hours of a similar full-time employee.

Here are the overtime rates to use depending on the hours of overtime work:

• If hours worked exceed part-time daily working hours but less than a full-time employee’s normal hours, the payment is calculated at the basic hourly rate of pay
• If hours worked exceed a full-time employee’s normal hours, the payment is calculated at basic hourly rate x 1.5 for the hours that exceed a full-time employee’s normal hour

4. Rest Days & Public Holidays

A part-time employee is entitled to 1 rest day per week if they are required to work for at least 5 days in a week.

However, should they work on a rest day, the payment depends on whether the work was done at the employer’s request or self-requested.

For a detailed breakdown on the payment rates for work done on rest day, please refer to the MOM guidelines here.

A part-time employee is also entitled to paid public holidays. The public holiday pay should be pro-rated based on the number of hours that a part-timer works.

However, a part-timer is allowed to encash the public holidays and add it to their hourly gross rate of pay. However, such an arrangement should be agreed upon between the part-time employee and employer. Furthermore, it should be clearly stated in the contract of service.

The formula for pro-rated public holiday pay and encashing public holiday can be found on the Ministry of Manpower Singapore website here.

If the part-timer is required to work on a public holiday, he or she should be paid the following:

• Basic rate of pay for 1 day’s work
• Amount entitled to for a public holiday
• One day’s travel allowance (if included in the contract)

5. Leave Entitlement

A part-time employee is entitled to paid annual leave and sick leave. Moreover, eligible parents can also qualify for maternity, paternity and childcare leave. If you are using a leave management system, understanding the statutory requirements allow you to make the correct configuration settings to ensure compliance.

Do note that these leave entitlements are applicable only after the part-time employee has completed a minimally three months of service.

A detailed breakdown of the leave requirements and payment calculation can be found on the MOM website here.

Salary payments and leave benefits for a part-timer differ vastly as opposed to that of a full-time employee. It is important to familiarize yourself with the necessary entitlements and calculations to avoid making any payroll mistakes.

Based in Singapore, i-Admin offers world-class, easy-to-use payroll solutions using technology and systems infrastructure that exceed industry standards. Our proprietary technology platform provides a singular web-based service that delivers electron