PUB Repaid 6 Months’ Worth of OT Pay to Employees Due to ‘Technical Difficulties’ with HR System

Imagine this: You’ve worked 10 hours worth of overtime last month, and you’re slated to work overtime this month as well.

Sounds like a good thing in this COVID-19 period, because who doesn’t want more money, right?

Except, you’ve not been paid for your overtime work for the past six months.

Well, that was what happened to a group of PUB workers.

Here’s what happened.

Owed Overtime Pay Since August 2021

A group of workers working for PUB did not receive their rightful pay for overtime hours.

PUB typically credit overtime pay to their workers two months after the month it was served.

So if they had worked overtime in January 2022, the OT pay will be credited in March 2022.

Earlier in April 2022, a group of workers wrote anonymously to TODAYonline.

Identifying themselves as workers from the PUB’s catchment and waterway department, they said that they had not been paid for overtime hours worked since August 2021.

They added that PUB’s human resource department was involved in the delay and had assured them that they would be paid.

However, the workers were unhappy, given how they still had to do overtime even though their payments were delayed.

In addition, the late payment also meant that they would lose out on interest.

“The delay in our (money owed) means we have lost the interest from our CPF contributions for the past few months.”

8 Months’ Worth of Overtime Payment Made

In response to queries, a spokesperson for PUB said that they’ve paid back the outstanding overtime payment to the workers in April’s payroll.

Interest will also be paid back to the workers by the end of April.

In addition to the overtime owed from August 2021 to January 2022, the company has also made payments for overtime worked in February and March 2022.

Incident Happened Due To “Technical Difficulties”

As for why the issue happened, the spokesperson said it was due to technical difficulties in PUB’s HR management system.

“The issue arose due to technical difficulties, which led to a delay in the implementation of a new shift work module in our human resources system.

“As such, the officers were unable to submit their overtime claims in the system for processing.”

It was added that the officers in PUB were informed about the delays about the system implementation.

Nonetheless, the spokesperson acknowledged that the issue could’ve been managed better.

“We acknowledge that the issue could be managed better and the inconveniences this might have caused our officers. We will draw lessons from this episode to ensure that this will not happen again.”

Public Service Division

The Public Service Division (PSD) was formed to be the stewards of the public service in Singapore, ensuring the health, well-being and performance of public officers.

In response to the incident, PSD said that PUB has settled the arrears for this incident and will make up for the shortfall in interest experienced by the workers.

PUB has also communicated these measures to affected workers.

“PUB will be working on tightening its processes to ensure that similar issues do not recur.”

PSD usually has channels in place for public service workers to offer their feedback on various issues and will take steps to review each grievance raised to them.

Moral of the Story:

Pay is serious business, especially if you’re not paid the rightful amount you’re owed.

While not everyone works in public service and has access to PSD’s channels, you can approach the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM) for help in salary disputes.

Should TADM be unable to assist with your case, they can write you a claim referral certificate to the Employment Claims Tribunal.

CPF contributions are also major points of focus in Singapore’s landscape. Employers who renege or refuse to pay CPF owed might be jailed and/or fined.

A late payment interest will also be imposed on employers who are unable to pay their employees’ CPF on time.

You can read more about that here.

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Feature Image: Dr David Sing / Shutterstock.com (Image for illustration purpose only)