Your Employer Has Not Paid You: How to Recover Unpaid Salary in Singapore
Payday came and went. Then the next one did too. You are told the client has not paid, cash flow is tight, it will be sorted next week — and your own bills are not waiting. Unpaid salary is one of the most common employment disputes in Singapore, and the way out is defined: a written demand, a claim at the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management, then the Employment Claims Tribunals if mediation fails. That route runs on short deadlines.
This is general information, not legal advice. The deadlines and monetary limits below turn on your employment status and how the claim is characterised — confirm the current figures with MOM or TADM before relying on them.
When Is Your Salary Legally Due?
The Employment Act 1968 does not leave payment timing to the employer. Part III fixes it:
- Salary period. Salary is payable at least once a month, and the period cannot exceed one month.
- Ordinary salary — within 7 days of the last day of the salary period. For a month-end period, that means payment by the 7th of the following month.
- Overtime — within 14 days of the last day of the salary period.
- Payslips. An itemised payslip must be issued with payment, or within three working days.
Termination has its own rules. Where the employer ends the contract, salary due is payable on the day it terminates; where you resign and serve notice, on your last day; where you leave without serving notice, within seven days. MOM sets these out on its salary pages. Late payment is an offence, not merely a breach of contract.
Does the Employment Act Cover You?
Since 1 April 2019 the Act has covered all employees under a contract of service, including managers, executives and other professionals, regardless of salary — the change that removed the old ceiling leaving most PMEs unprotected. Public officers, domestic workers and seafarers sit outside it, as does a genuine independent contractor, who claims an ordinary contractual debt instead. The label on the agreement does not decide that; the substance of the relationship does.
One distinction still matters. Part IV — rest days, hours of work, overtime pay, shift limits — covers only workmen earning a basic monthly salary of up to S$4,500 and non-workmen earning up to S$2,600. Above those thresholds you keep the salary-payment and dismissal protections but have no statutory right to overtime pay — that must come from your contract. Check the current thresholds on the MOM Employment Act page, as they have been revised before.
What Counts as Unpaid Salary — and What Goes Elsewhere
“Salary” means remuneration payable for work done, including allowances. Three things people assume sit outside it do not:
- Salary in lieu of notice. Either side can end the contract without notice by paying a sum equal to the salary for the unserved notice period. If you were terminated on the spot and never paid it, claim it.
- Unpaid commission, where it is contractually agreed and the conditions for earning it are met. A genuinely discretionary bonus is harder — that turns on the scheme’s wording and how it has been operated.
- Accrued entitlements — annual leave encashment, allowances, and any contractual benefit owed up to your last day.
Unpaid CPF is the exception, and the one people get wrong. Employer CPF contributions are not salary, and TADM and the tribunal do not handle them. The CPF Board enforces them under the Central Provident Fund Act; they fall due by the 14th of the following month and attract interest and penalties when late. Report arrears to the Board directly — a salary claim will not recover them.
Start With a Written Demand and a Complete Record
Put the demand in writing first. A short, dated email stating the amount owed, the period it covers and a payment deadline often gets the money paid, and it proves the employer had notice. For larger or contested sums, a solicitor’s letter of demand carries more weight. Gather these before filing:
- Your employment contract — salary, payment date, notice period, commission terms.
- Your key employment terms, which employers must issue in writing within 14 days of the start of employment under the Employment (Employment Records, Key Employment Terms and Pay Slips) Regulations 2016. If you never received them, say so — the absence is itself a breach.
- Payslips for the disputed months and the months before them.
- Bank statements showing what arrived, and when.
- Messages in which payment was promised, delayed or refused.
- A dated timeline of amounts owed, adding to a single figure.
Filing a Salary Claim With TADM
The Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management is the compulsory first stop. Mediation there is a precondition — you cannot go straight to the tribunal.
- Lodge the claim online or at the TADM services centre, setting out the amounts and periods.
- TADM contacts the employer. Some claims resolve here.
- Mediation with a neutral mediator. The figure you can evidence is the figure you recover, so bring the documents.
- Settlement. An agreement reached at mediation can be registered with the tribunal, making it enforceable as a court order.
- No settlement. TADM issues a claim referral certificate, which is what lets you file at the tribunal.
The Deadlines You Cannot Miss
- Still employed: file with TADM within one year of the date the salary became due.
- Employment has ended: within six months of your last day. Leaving shortens the window sharply, so the claim belongs before or immediately after the exit.
- Wrongful dismissal: a separate, tighter window — one month from your last day.
- Tribunal filing: within four weeks of the claim referral certificate.
Confirm these with TADM or MOM. If a window is closing, lodge first and refine the detail afterwards.
Escalating to the Employment Claims Tribunals
The Employment Claims Tribunals sit within the State Courts; filing and procedural information is published through the Singapore judiciary. The tribunal is built to work without a lawyer — the process is informal, fees are modest, and legal representation is generally not permitted at the hearing.
There is a ceiling on what it can award: S$20,000 per claim, rising to S$30,000 where your union files the claim on your behalf. Verify both before filing, as they have been revised before. A claim above the cap forces a choice — reduce it to fit, or sue in the civil courts for the full amount, where the process is more formal and carries costs risk. The tribunal makes a binding order, usually that the employer pay the sum owing, sometimes by instalments. Where a wrongful dismissal claim is heard with it, it can also order compensation or reinstatement.
If the Employer Still Does Not Pay
A tribunal order is not self-executing. If it is ignored, it is enforced through the State Courts like any judgment — against the company’s goods, by attaching money third parties owe it, and by questioning its officers about its assets. Each step costs, so weigh it against what the employer realistically has. Non-payment of salary is also a statutory offence, and MOM can act separately from your civil recovery, particularly where the company employs foreign workers. Our employment practice often runs both tracks together, because regulatory pressure moves employers that a claim alone does not.
When the Employer Is Insolvent or Being Wound Up
Liquidation changes the analysis. Under the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018, unpaid wages rank as preferential debts in a winding up — ahead of ordinary unsecured creditors, but only up to a prescribed cap per employee, with the excess ranking as an ordinary unsecured claim. Confirm the current prescribed amount, which is fixed by regulation.
Once a winding-up or judicial management order is in force, proceedings generally cannot be started or continued without the court’s leave, so the TADM route may be blocked and the claim is made by lodging a proof of debt with the liquidator. Unpaid CPF is separate again — officers who consented to or neglected the default face personal exposure under the CPF Act. Move early if the company is winding down.
If You Are Threatened or Dismissed for Claiming
Some employers answer a salary claim by threatening the employee’s job, reference or work pass. Dismissing someone to deprive them of a benefit they are about to become entitled to, or to punish them for exercising a statutory right such as filing a claim, is treated as wrongful dismissal under the Tripartite Guidelines on Wrongful Dismissal. That is a separate claim with its own one-month window — retaliation creates a second claim rather than extinguishing the first.
If you hold a work pass, tell TADM and MOM immediately. Cancelling a pass does not cancel a claim, and MOM can issue a special pass letting you remain in Singapore while it is resolved. Keep every message in which a threat is made.
Frequently asked questions
How long does my employer have to pay my salary in Singapore?
Salary must be paid within seven days after the end of the salary period, and overtime within 14 days. If your employer terminates the contract, salary due is payable on the day it ends; if you resign and serve notice, on your last day. Late payment is an offence under the Employment Act.
What is the deadline to file an unpaid salary claim?
If you are still employed, you have one year from the date the salary fell due to file with TADM. If you have left the job, the window shortens to six months from your last day. A wrongful dismissal claim is tighter — one month. Confirm the limits with TADM.
Can TADM recover my unpaid CPF contributions?
No. CPF contributions are not salary and fall outside the TADM and Employment Claims Tribunals process. The CPF Board enforces them under the Central Provident Fund Act, with interest and penalties for late payment. Report arrears to the Board directly, alongside your salary claim rather than instead of it.
How much can the Employment Claims Tribunals order my employer to pay?
Up to S$20,000 per claim, or up to S$30,000 where your union files the claim on your behalf. Claims above the applicable limit must be reduced to fit, or brought as a civil claim in the courts instead. Verify the current caps before filing, as they have been revised previously.
Do I need a lawyer for a salary claim?
Lawyers are generally not permitted to represent you at the tribunal hearing itself. The stages before it are where advice changes the result — characterising the claim correctly, meeting the right deadline, valuing what is owed, and preparing your documents for the mediation.
What if my employer has closed down or is being wound up?
Unpaid wages rank as preferential debts under the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018, ahead of ordinary unsecured creditors but capped at a prescribed amount per employee. Once a winding-up or judicial management order is made, you lodge a proof of debt with the liquidator instead of continuing a tribunal claim.
Speak with our employment team
We act for employees and employers in salary disputes, wrongful dismissal, commission claims and CPF arrears. We work out what is recoverable and under which deadline, send the demand, prepare you for TADM mediation, and handle enforcement and the parallel report to MOM when an employer stops responding. Read more about our employment practice.
Call (65) 6557 0215 or email contactus@dllclegal.com. We typically respond within minutes during business hours.
This article is general information about unpaid salary claims in Singapore and is not legal advice. Filing deadlines, Part IV thresholds and the Employment Claims Tribunals limits change from time to time — confirm the current position with the Ministry of Manpower, TADM or a lawyer before acting. For advice on your matter, consult an Advocate & Solicitor.
Statutory references: Employment Act 1968, Part III (salary periods, time of payment, payment on termination) and Part IV; Employment (Employment Records, Key Employment Terms and Pay Slips) Regulations 2016; Tripartite Guidelines on Wrongful Dismissal; Employment Claims Act 2016; Central Provident Fund Act 1953; Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018.