The Employment Claims Tribunal is part of the State Courts

Continued from Part 1.

By February 2025, the salary claim launched by Harivansh (name changed) had long been settled. He had received the money agreed at the mediation at the end of November 2024. Yet, he had another case going on, equally assisted by TWC2, and against the same employer.

What this second case was about is the subject of this Part 2.

After he filed a salary claim (i.e. the first claim) at TADM in on 9 September 2024, TADM notified the employer that a claim had been filed against them. TADM (Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management) is the unit in the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) that handles salary disputes. Generally, the hope would be for the worker to talk things over with the employer and see if the employer could rectify the salary shortfalls before the formal claim process would begin.

Harivansh met with the “lady boss” and other managers on 12 September 2024. The employer’s response was exactly what Harivansh was expecting to hear: that if he insisted on the full claim amount – which was already a reduced $20,000 from the total short-payment of over $28,000 – they would terminate him. However, as a small sweetener, they offered him $5,000 on condition that he withdraw the claim. Harivansh rejected this measly offer.

The managers met with him again on 23 September. In Harivansh’s words, “They gave me two options: (1) accept the offer of $5,000 and withdraw the claim, or (2) accept a promotion from a driver to mechanical engineer without a salary raise and withdraw the claim.” He refused both.

The following day, the HR Manager handed him a termination letter with one day’s notice. The termination letter did not state the reason for termination.

The law on wrongful dismissal

Section 14 (2) of the Employment Act states:

… where a relevant employee considers that he or she has been dismissed without just cause or excuse by his or her employer, the employee may lodge a claim, under section 13 of [the Employment Claims Act], for either of the following remedies: (a) reinstatement in the employee’s former employment; (b) compensation.

The scope of this provision is refined in the Tripartite Guidelines on Wrongful Dismissal, where Section 9 says:

To succeed in claiming that a dismissal with notice is wrongful (where no reason is given for the dismissal), an employee must substantiate a wrongful reason for the dismissal. Wrongful reasons include discrimination, deprivation of benefit, or to punish an employee for exercising his employment right. If an employer gives a reason for dismissal with notice, but the reason given is proven to be false, the dismissal would also be wrongful.

(bold text by TWC2, for emphasis)

Entitlement to salary and filing a claim to recover unpaid salaries are employment rights, enshrined in legislation. On this basis, we helped Harivansh file a new claim – for wrongful dismissal. The employer would not admit that they were wrong, and so the matter went up relatively quickly to the Tribunal for determination.

Putting the case together

To succeed in his Wrongful Dismissal claim, Harivansh had to prove that he really was owed salary and therefore had a right to file a salary claim. He also had to show that the termination of his employment was intended as punishment for his exercising his right to a salary claim.

The facts of the salary claim spoke for themselves, including the fact that the outcome (from mediation) was positive for him. His point was that there was a valid claim and he had a right to exercise it, and one which the employer acknowledged was true.

It was trickier to show that the company intended the dismissal as punishment. A worker would not have direct evidence of an employer’s intention if left unsaid; the termination letter did not give any reason.

However, Harivansh was able to show that in two preceding meetings the lady boss and managers had said in no uncertain terms that if he refused to withdraw the salary claim, they would terminate him. Additionally, in the subsequent meeting with the managers, they said they would “promote” him to mechanical engineer if he withdrew the salary claim, thus indicating that the company was prepared to retain his services otherwise. The company had shown no indication that Harivansh’s job performance was unsatisfactory.

Harivansh further wrote in this witness statement:

As a result of this dismissal, I have suffered significant losses, including:

(a) Loss of income: I have been without income since 25 September 2024, and this financial strain has now persisted for more than three months.

(b) Emotional and professional harm: The dismissal was a punitive reaction to my lawful action, causing significant emotional distress and humiliation. Filing a salary claim required immense courage and determination, and being dismissed for exercising this right was particularly demoralising. This is especially disheartening given my unwavering dedication to the [company], including working on my days off and completing extensive overtime.

Based on the above, Harivansh claimed compensation for loss of income for three months, at $3,500 per month, and compensation for harm caused, amounting to two months’ salary. In total, he claimed $17,500 (five months’ salary).

Tribunal decision

After an anxious Monday night in which sleep was difficult, Harivansh logged in to the video call with the Employment Claims Tribunal on Tuesday, 25 February 2025 at 9am to hear the magistrate’s decision. The session was short, but was one he would never forget. The Tribunal found in his favour and awarded him the full amount of $17,500 that he had claimed. A few days later, the employer paid up.

“Without madam and TWC2, it would have been impossible for me to claim my rightful salary and wrongful dismissal compensation,” says Harivansh after calming down and absorbing his victory. “She helped me draft a strong witness statement for both cases.”

“I cannot thank her enough!”

He also has a message to all other migrant workers: “Keep track of your working hours and payments. You never know when problems will arise. Most important, you are never alone as long as TWC2 is here!”

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