SINGAPORE LAW AND PRACTICE Contributed by: Jeffrey Lim, Daniel Lim, Frederick Tay, Genevi Lim, Lakshmanan Anbarazan, Sarah Lai, Stephanie Goh and Tobias Andreas Satria, Joyce A. Tan & Partners LLC
• General requirements for entities to have economic substance to qualify for tax incentives or exemp - tions: (a) Fund Tax Incentive Schemes (Section 13D, 13O, 13OA and 13U of the ITA); and (b) Income Tax Advance Ruling on Adequacy of Economic Substance (Section 10L of ITA). • country-by-country reporting; and • disclosure on beneficial ownership of companies through its Register of Controllers. 10. Employment and Labour 10.1 Employment and Labour Framework Generally, employment matters are regulated by a combination of contractual rights, legislative protec - tions as well as guidelines issued by the tripartite comprising the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), the National Trade Union Congress (NTUC) and the Sin - gapore National Employers Federation (SNEF), each representing the government, the employees and the employers respectively. The tripartite guidelines do not have the force of law unless they are specifically referred to in the relevant legislation and, even if they are not mentioned, they are highly persuasive as the courts do refer to such guidelines when handing down judgments. The employment legislative framework is largely divid - ed into four categories, namely general employment legislation (Employment Act 1968), legislation regulat - ing unions and collective agreements (Industrial Rela - tions Act 1960 (IRA)), legislation regulating employ - ment of foreign manpower (Employment of Foreign Manpower Act 1990 (EFMA)) and legislation regulating employment claims (Employment Claims Act 2016). There are also other ancillary employment-related regulations that regulate certain statutorily protected rights, such as maternity and childcare leave, as well as a compensation framework for workplace injury. In recent years, the Singapore government has also passed legislation to ensure workplace fairness (Work - place Fairness Act 2025 (WFA)). However, it has yet to come into effect as of the date of this article.
All unions come under the umbrella of the NTUC in Singapore. As mentioned above, NTUC, MOM and SNEF operate in a tripartite manner, each representing different interest groups as stated above. Tripartism refers to the collaboration among unions, employers and the government. It is a key competitive advantage for Singapore. Tripartism has promoted harmonious labour-management relations. As a result, industrial action in Singapore is very rare. It is highly regulated under the Trade Unions Act 1940 and the Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act 1955. Any industrial action carried out in a manner inconsistent with the above legislation constitutes a breach of the law and can, in certain instances, be considered a criminal offence. In order for employees to be represented by the trade unions, the employing companies must accord rec - ognition in accordance with the IRA. In recent years, the NTUC has been reaching out to more employ - ers to encourage them to recognise their respective trade unions in order for the trade unions to be able to represent the employees within the companies. Trade unions may enter into collective agreements on behalf of unionised employees only after such recognition has been granted by the employer. The scope of the terms of the collective agreement can include clauses relating to redundancy payouts, salary increments, additional non-statutory leave enti - tlements and management of termination as well as disciplinary procedures. Foreign investors considering providing FDI into Sin - gapore and investing in industries will need to con - sider the EFMA and the upcoming WFA, especially if the companies are looking to bring foreign employ - ees into Singapore. Singapore generally recognises that citizens of Singapore and permanent residents of Singapore continue to form the core of the work - force in Singapore and, as a result, should be fairly considered for employment opportunities in Singa - pore, with foreigners as a complement. Accordingly, the laws relating to employment of foreign manpower have a variety of legislative requirements that will be required to be adhered to. Non-compliance may result in administrative fines and, more significantly, difficul - ties in obtaining work passes for the employment of additional foreign employees in Singapore.
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