A Singaporean In Australia

What a nice post. Finally I understand this 13th month thing :)

THUMBS UPZZ!!!!

@ Patrick & Anonymous: Thanks. This has been on my mind for a long time but I didn't share with anyone because I am not very good in making speeches. Can't get people to understand. Finally got it out in writing.

If you like it, share it. I'm wondering if my theory can be accepted by the masses.

Getting paid weekly here in Perth ensures I get paid 52 weeks (if i work) properly. I am also entitled to 4 weeks of leave (accordingly to my employers) I felt it is fair this way. I don't owe them anything, they don't owe me anything.

Any bonus in addition is up to them. At least I don't get to hear the nonsensical '13th month bonus' anymore.

No suppression. No injustice.

Not forgetting there are some others who are not even entitled to this 13 month bonus. Robbery indeed.

wow! u have a point!!

we have been cheated!! >_<

-Julia

I heard about it...singapore will never change...forever want to cheat our $$$....ask them give pay every wk....

Continue....they will NEVER!!!! So i never happy when say got 13th mth...its still our pay.

ah pooh

This is so true. We got paid an extra week for every 3 months of work in the UK. These Asia countries we are living in, sucks!

@ ellis: harnoh. we kena cheat all the time in Singapore. M'sia too?

i dont agree with you. you are paid a salary for a month's work, not 28 days. Besides there are different intepretations of "month", if u google online, a month = 30.0456 days. So how do u justify your point?

@Anonymous:

It's a fact I'm being paid 4 times in every 28 days where I am now. If I combine these 4 paycheck it is equivalent to a month's pay, yet

Using your interpretation of 30.0456 days = 1 month, I need 2.0456 days less to get the same amount of money.

It's that simple.

so true. shared!

Eviltrain

@Eviltrain: Thank you. You brought tons of traffic to the blog in an hour. I don't know what you did. lol. thanks and hope you enjoy reading.

This is a stupid article.

- You definition of month has no basis.
- February does not represent a full month itself.

There are 365 days / 12 months = 30.42 days on the average.

- If you strongly believe that employees are cheated as per your "awesome" formula.

Have you paid your service provider's (Telco, PUB, Credit Card) "MONTHLY" dues with an extra month each year? If not, then stand your ground (if you have one, which i doubt) and you should start paying for that extra month. "COMPRENDE!"

You know what I believe, it's a one-sided self serving article.

They are paying you based on your working days not calendar days.

I didn't know I'm paid on weekends.

I'm not delighted at the '13th month bonus' which I EXPECT to receive in December and is my ENTITLEMENT.

I'm glad that I have more cash to celebrate the festive month of December.

1 month 4 weeks. You get paid 12 times a year = 12 x 4 = 48 weeks. There are 52 weeks in a year. 52 - 48 = 4 weeks unpaid

So are there 48 weeks a year or 52? Troll logic.

Sun is for rest, which is your entitlement for working from Monday-Saturday, which has been converted to the 5 day work week (Monday-Friday) to improve work life balance.
The half-day work on Sat has been split over Monday to Friday, which resulted us leaving the office later than usual, except for Friday.

I think this article is wrong yet its right.

The weekly pay system is based on the colonial periods (which is still practiced in UK) which was to pay weekly.

Having gained independance, and choosing to pay monthly as opposed to weekly for admin simplicity, the 13th month is instituted to cover those days which are so called "eaten" up due to the many extra days in a month.

The author is right to comment that the employers who don't pay 13th month is eating our entitlement.

Yet the trolls who say this article is stupid and argue for the sake of being obnoxious is just that. Obnoxious.

anyway, having been a boss before, I know that sometimes its difficult to pay the 13th month, coz the customer doesn't pay us enough to give the 13th month, you charge services by the month and no by the week.

Doing biz in Singapore is so freaking expensive, and its really the govt's fault. They should be helping to lower rent, lower cost of doing business and lowering inflation, instead, they are adding on to it.

Don't blame the author, blame the lightning blue circle instead.

What this article missed out is that the Employment Act stipulates that a worker has to work at least 44 hours in a week (or minimum 8 hours a day).

So, the MOM has recognised that a work week starts from Monday to Sunday.

Multiply 52 weeks by 7 days, we get 364 days. If we divide 364 by 13 months, we get 28 equal days per month.

Therefore based on the Employment Act, the above article is right to say that 13th month "bonus" is rightfully your pay and should not be termed "bonus". About the 1 extra day in a year, well.. you sort it out with your employer.

Reference:
http://www.mom.gov.sg/employment-practices/employment-rights-conditions/hours-of-work-and-overtime/Pages/default.aspx

we are very backdated in many ways, but because of propaganda , we dont see it until we work elsewhere to see it for ourselves , even in the states i was paid fortnightly
this is a very good post, keep it up!

i'll link this to my superiors.

not forgetting, most western countries practice weekly/fortnightly rent collection too
so i guess singapore tenants get 29 days free rent ever year

we are slaves to the nation....
being paid is better then not being paid at all like in some other countries.

What we need to do is to SUCK it up and call it a day....

Tell me? what can you do? LL right? so... heck...
we are born to be slaves... that's a fact.

Um I'm not sure it's the case that UK and US firms pay weekly. What seems to happen is that you get an annual salary lets say £365. This is divided up according to DAY but paid according to MONTH. So January your pay will be £31, and February it will be £28. At least this is how it was for me.

Same thing seems to happen in the Civil Service in Singapore. So I'm not sure your theory, though very interesting, is necessarily correct.

Shared. Brilliant.

@This is a stupid article.

- You definition of month has no basis.
- February does not represent a full month itself.

There are 365 days / 12 months = 30.42 days on the average.

- If you strongly believe that employees are cheated as per your "awesome" formula.

Have you paid your service provider's (Telco, PUB, Credit Card) "MONTHLY" dues with an extra month each year? If not, then stand your ground (if you have one, which i doubt) and you should start paying for that extra month. "COMPRENDE!"

You know what I believe, it's a one-sided self serving article.


(Think about it!!! Even if I have to pay a month extra, I still get some cash back. I dont mind paying a month extra to get my salary)

This is a piece of crap... designed to twist the facts and make people unhappy. Salary in Singapore is calculated in based on an annual rate divided by 12.

For some places, salary can be paid weekly based on the number of hours worked multiplied by an hourly rate.

The total amount will be same annually.

Well, your 'theory' might sound correct but we are all aware that we are not paid hourly/daily but monthly. Furthermore, everyone knows that the number of days per month is different for each month (ranges from 28-31 days) and it is only in Feb where we get a shorter month (28 days). So why is 28 days the norm? In addition, if 1 year has 52 weeks, then 1 month should not be just 4 weeks, in fact there should be around 4.3 weeks per month. (if one month has only 4 weeks, then we would only have 48 weeks a year) Its depends on how we choose to see it.

So i don't see why we should feel that we are underpaid in SG. Why not look at the brighter side of life and enjoy the 13th month bonus that most of us get every year?

After getting your 13th month pay, there is still a 1-day pay shortfall, given the total extra days in a a year is 29 days!

I believe it depends on the nature of the company where you are employed. Some companies pay per hour, some per day and most of the "stable" jobs here in the Philippines pay their employees in a fixed rate, so that means that you are not paid for overtimes and even if you are absent for a day, you are still paid for that day, technically, as long as you are a 'regular employee'. Fastfood chains pay you hourly, BPOs such as contact centers pay you per day and etc.

If you look at each calendar month you will see there are more than 4 weeks per month (except for February). It averages to 4.334 weeks per month, 13 weeks in a quarter, 52 weeks in a year, not 48. If they are paying you 4 weeks say every month on the 15th, then thry have to make up the extra 4 weeks of pay at the end of the year as the 15th happens once a month (12 times) times that by 4 weeks each 15 th and you get 48. For a better lack of words they may have called it 13 month bonus but they are only paying you what you are owed

Why are you people fighting amongst one another? Come on.. we ARE SUPPOSED to be paid 52 weeks. Regardless of whatever 30.42 days, a week has 7 days and a month has 4 weeks. Period. Fact is a month is 28 days and we are being shortchanged!

MOM set 13 month as a common practice, but did not make it a law. I say its the fault of whatever union that is not making this clear enough.

Some organisations even practice paying monthly wage basing on the number of weeks that month. That is IF you open your mouth to ask for it.

Employers do not refer to 13th month as Bonus. In Singapore it is clearly stated as AWS and this started when we changed our weekly wage payment to monthly salary. taking 4 weeks to a month results in 4 missing weeks (4x12 =48, but there are 52 weeks in a year).

Singapore Government, Union and Employers know it is AWS and I think it is employees themselves who do not understand and conveniently call it bonus. it is NOT bonus and never intended to be.

I think we all still forget the basis of this topic. At the end of the day, we are not cheated of our money. What the author is trying to bring across is that the 13th month bonus is not actually a bonus but an entitlement to us for the shortfalls of the individual months. So cheer up guys! They still are paying us that 13th month right..

Whether ur right or not, the point is this post is hilarious! And i'm only reading this post now, cos i was directed here by a link someone (Adriano Wong from Campus Superstar 1st season- but i don't think you'd know) shared via someone else on Facebook!

May I suggest to those who trust the accuracy of this article, do something about it! (like migrate, or if you feel your life isn't miserable enough already, try convincing the MOM to change their law). Whereas for those who think this is crap, you should not be given a right to complain, and just SUCKIDUP at work silently for the rest of eternity. As much as I wish I could prove this true (and wallow in self-pity that I wasted two years of my most productive time protecting a republic and self=declared democratic country who loves foreigners more than its citizens, ok too drama), gotta admit that the above calculations are all based on one big assumption: "are you overpaid for February or underpaid in January?" the next line "You choose what you want to believe in." jitau push people to make them believe they are underpaid as they won't wanna be thought of as gullible or stupid to others. if this assumption cannot be proven, all calculations after that are pointless liao. singaporeanson, dun act humble ah. you may not be good in making speeches, definitely you excel in writing. =) PROUD OF YOU.

Having said that, my understanding of the "lightning and circle" is that if no one make noise, they must be correct. If someone make noise, he must be silenced. There's nothing about welfare and rights. NTUC is not to protect workers. Its to decrease the chances of strikes and riots.

"Don't you dare say I got no trade unions. I HAVE! but for show only"

To the moneysuckers in white, there's only "stupid enough to duno anything", "smart enough to notice but stupid enough to make noise" and "smart enough to notice AND shut up".

Because they may need to add you onto my to-sue list if you are in the middle category. Singaporeanson. you die liao. orhhorhor...

Awesome. Kudos to you dude, for being able to think in a way millions of Singaporeans fail to.

Thanks for the enlightenment!

Interesting post. However, I think that it may not actually be the case that they underpay for all months except Feb. In fact, it could very well be the other way around and they are over-paying us on every month that doesn't have 31 days (hypothetically speaking).

Oh man. what a stupid article.

What are u guys complaining and debatting about??? Can all this debate change anything?? NO right....so just be thankful dat we're being
Paid although it is lesser than it should be....if you guys wanna just talk like you know everything,den talk to the authority that is responsible for this 13th month thingy straight in his face...dun talk things here and try to manipulate our mind resulting in boycotting or something.... -iian-

What about your leave? Your medical leave? Lol. This article has no basis.

I concur with eunicechialim. I do not know who, how and/or why some call 13th Month a bonus. It is not a bonus, its an entitlement. But some company don't even pay this 13th month to their employees.

A good read, with all the debates. Surely am sharing this article

I think you shud correct your calculations by considering the weekends, the days we don't work, when we r on mc, or wen we r on leave.
Those extra 3 days on january- u immediately assume its on the weekdays?

Even if we r underpaid, compared to Australians, Americans n British, we have good medical benefits, allowances, subsidy.

When I take medical leave, I never pay my doctor. It's taken care of. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for my American fren.

it seems to me we have a couple of trollers and people who claim to know everything, oh you are wrong yes i am right blah blah; PAP this and opposition that.
yea yea we all get the bullshit rhetoric you're spewing.

even your counter arguments lack content..

a work month is not considered 30.046 days, it's how many days you work or can work.

thus i fully agree with the following that this person has posted:

What this article missed out is that the Employment Act stipulates that a worker has to work at least 44 hours in a week (or minimum 8 hours a day).

So, the MOM has recognised that a work week starts from Monday to Sunday.

Multiply 52 weeks by 7 days, we get 364 days. If we divide 364 by 13 months, we get 28 equal days per month.

Therefore based on the Employment Act, the above article is right to say that 13th month "bonus" is rightfully your pay and should not be termed "bonus". About the 1 extra day in a year, well.. you sort it out with your employer.

The bottom line is,you guys and me are a slave to the government...they can do anything to us nevertheless our salary or dis 13th month issue shit...if they stop giving us 13th month,what can u guys do about it?? NOTHING... But COMPLAIN and putting up stuffs and blogs like this....i'm disgusted with whoever put up dis blog and all u who agrees with dis shit....if u don't want your 13th month, give me lah bro!!!!!! Hahahahahaha..... -iian-

Can someone please change our calendar to 13 months per year and 28 days a month. This will solve a lot of problems.

This article serves to show that there are people who can't accept the truth. Those who say that this article is stupid without giving their counter arguments should just shut up as you are not adding any value to the discussion.

The truth of the matter is, if it were to be made into law tomorrow that all singapore employers should be paying their employees in weeks rather than monthly, how many of those who argues otherwise would tell their employers to keep the money??

Arguments about bills being charged monthly is weak since most of the bill components we are liable for are usage based and the subscription component is just a minor component. I am also sure that companies out there would be more than happy to jump at the chance to send weekly or fortnightly bills to you if they can as it means better and more liquid cashflow.

Don't forget now we have 5 days week. No working on Sat and Sun for family times.

Another crap post posted by a disgrunted citizen. Any secondary sch children can do better than the logic and crap assumptions of this article. As for the rest, i guess the followers will be blind sheeps for life.

Intellectual infancy at its maximum!

... You get paid on Saturday and Sunday too?? What amazing boss is this? I want to work at your company too.

For those that are a employer will think this is crap, and it is logical for those who are an employee..

what is the difference now when FT are gettin paid 2 times more then what the local are gettin....

Do you think the goverment wants to provoke the businesses in singapore? sad to say nobody will dare to bring this up cause we all need the job

Rental in Australia goes by the week as well.
So weekly income will be justified.

People in Singapore can't expect to pay rental by the week if they are not paid weekly.

I don't mind receiving 13mth bonus for my property rental as well!

@asingaporeanson

I totally understand where you are coming from as I have worked in both Singapore and Australia and I missed my weekly pay.

Well lets just say in Singapore, we are talking about being competitive (low real wage - wage/price). on the other hand, in Australia, we are talking about lifestyle, quality of living, strong unions, min wage law ($15.5/hr), strong competition between the liberal and the labour. Even a fastfood chain manager (completed year 12 and is above 21 years old) in Australia can get an after taxed annual income of A$50k, with 21 days of paid leave, super, insurance, health care benefits, all expense paid company car, cell phone offset, 1.5x during weekend and 3x public holiday compensation and etc..

Well, lets just say that life is unfair.

haha. asingaporeanson indeed! master of all trolls!

and those who believe... you've been trolled LOL

I get paid an annual wage, divided by 12 for simplicity sake. I have no idea why Singaporeans get paid this 13th month nonsense. Not just Singapore though - Philippines and others do too.

How about scrapping the 13th month and just giving me the extra money divided by 12 every month?

Thus employers in singapore pays the employees the Saturday-Sunday?

If not, dont include those days on your formula.

Im just so happy because the company i belong also giving 14th month bonus and of course, its a one month full salary

Some singaporeans might argue that living expense are more expensive in australia.

However, the facts are:

1. it is true that there isnt any hawker centers arn and the cheapest meal u can find is fast food. foot long sub at subway is A$7, large pizza at dominos is A$6.
However, if you eat at home it is around the same as singapore. 2ltr milk is A$2, veg in woolies and coles is way cheaper than those in NTUC. so as the beef, chicken, pork etc. if you prefer asian, than go to the asian suburbs and you can find 3x700g dumplings or 3x500g wantan at A$10. 500g sliced beef, pork for steamboat at A$4.

2. Rental is the same if not cheaper than singapore.
500 a week can get u a 2 bedroom full facilities (gym, pool, card access) apartment on kent street/sussex street in sydney.
can we get a 2 bedroom condo in orchard for 2000 a month??

3. COE for cat B in singapore can buy 2 brand new Toyota Camery in Australia (inclusive of exchange rate differences) and you still get around A$10k left for petrol.

4. the min wage in Australia is A$15.5/hr. the ave household income in sydney is A$1300/week. A fresh grad gets A$40-50k/yr. are we getting anywhere near that here?

5. cheaper electronics and mobile phones (even cheaper than our computer fairs). 24inch LG hd led monitor is only A$160. motorola zoom is 150 cheaper than sg. i bought my brother laser printer for A$49. for A$29 a month, you get $160 worth of credit to call and text anywhere in the world (good enough for me to make 1hr of international call from sydney to sg at the end of every month to finish my credit) and 200mb of mobile internet. the only drawback is that internet is more expensive, need to spend A$49 to get unlimited.

6. cheap wine, beer and liqour...

Come on the so call Anonymous if you are so unhappy with what they say than keep it to yourself. Like what you say suck it up. What for starting a blase over here. By the way i don't side anyone both have their point and i thank than for their point.

WOOOO!!

free health care + 1100 bucks a month of allowance during college or in the event of unemployment..

I think there isn't any sense in comparing with a welfare state or with any other more developed world.

We won't be able to match them in terms of welfare, income and lifestyle.

So why bother? Just suck it up, if not, migrate to a better place.

There are a lot of less fortunate nations compared to us.

The only point to fight about the 13th month is not that should it be termed as bonus or "entitlement" but if an employee leaves the company, he/she loses the 13th month unless the company is going to prorate that 13th month into the last pay check. Also same for the new company, he/she will only be entitled to a % of the year one had joined the new company for the 13th month eligibility.

When you finally make it, your pay is negotiated as an annual package. Whether you are paid weekly or monthly doesn't matter coz your package is per annum.

"Anonymous said...
What about your leave? Your medical leave? Lol. This article has no basis.
1 December 2011 19:10"

its a must to have these benefits as stipulated by Labour Law.

I am amazed that some actually thinks 13th month is privilege, and the argument has no basis. You are willingly getting robbed.

What the writer is trying to fight here is that Singapore should follow the advanced 1st world countries and pay the workers on a weekly basis (they do this for rental as well). Not use the '13th' month as a bonus, cos it should be given to the workers.

Labour union run by a minister is oxymoronic. who will he fight for?

For Info:
In Singapore, many people will get their paycheck monthly. but that is not equal to being paid according to 12 months. The way to calculate the pay is (monthly pay X 12 months) divide by 52. and than divide by 44 hours. The pay is actually hourly. every week all should have at least 1 off day(unless the person choose not to). and if it exceeds 44 hours, there should be OT pays(1.5 X hourly pay). i believe for some higher levels or high pay people their pay scheme is different. They don't have any OTs. The 13 months is really a bonus and is a must to all people who is full time or under contract services.(unless you created grave mistakes that will allows the company to void it. but if one feel that one deserve it, you can still call MOM to raise the issue and they will look into the matter. if they deem that you should get it, the company will have to give it. Before signing contract and start to work, maybe you can calculate your hourly pay. if you guys feel that its too low, you can always don't take it up, and search for a better one. For people who gets very low pay or those poor construction workers, they are given their pay weekly. Any queries, you can always dial MOM hotline to ask.

oh you forgot to add that parking in CBD is AUD$24 an hour. and income tax rate is an average of 30%. THAT IS YOUR MONEY Going to those people on the streets who are getting AUD$650 for NOT WORKING. in sg, how many people actually pay tax and how many people actually pay more than 1000 bucks of tax? oh..how about trains getting cancelled 10 minutes after the train was supposed to be here? and the next train is in 4 hours time? With no replacement buses as well. Oh this is Melbourne I am referring to too. Oh and how bout having to pay AUD$100 bucks for someone to come in to tagg your electrical appliances? Oh and how bout paying a desalination plant construction worker AUD$200,000 a year, and with additional benefits like if he comes to work drunk, he gets to go to sleep in the bunk for 2 hours on FULL PAY. And if there is rain, and work is cancelled, he gets paid 2x penalty rate, all with tax payers' money. So well. the guy up there talking about how great australia is...maybe you havent articulated the full picture huh. I'm living in Melbourne and I can wait to leave after I'm done with what I have to do here. So if you are so impressed by the australian lifestyle den go ahead and live here, but please show a more complete picture than what you have attempted.

oh the AUD$650 i was referring to is AUD$650 fortnightly

First and for most, is a culture thing.
before you start work, there is a contract that how would you be paid. Monthly / weekly / hourly / etc.
and in terms of pro-rated leave / back pay, most company would calculate based on the working days of that month.

Example:
Monthly salary: $2400
Working days for Sep: 24 days (5 days work week)
Balance leave: 5 days
Convert to cash: $2400/24 days * 5 days = $500

so it lies on what both employer & employee agreed before work commence.
And therefore 13 months is still a bonus.

btw this is a really dumb article conjured by someone who is twisting facts to gain traffic maybe? your pay is computed on an annual basis. whether you are paid weekly or montly, it's still the same. If you are paid 24k a year, your mthly pay is just 2k a mth and if your paid weekly, your pay is $461.54 per week. it works out to be the same at the end of the day. this is the same way it is calculated in australia. your pay package is quoted on an annual basis and it is up to you to tell your employer if you want to be paid weekly or monthly. so this article doesnt make sense and is designed just to create more discontent as are many other blogs of this sort i have read.\

take a step back, and look at the bigger picture.

@author, you think you have logic on your side, but the fact is you dont. or you can run for MP and then pls change the labour law, tyvm!

and to the anti-PAPs, please think before you blah blah black sheep. you guys are the reason why i vote for PAP.

For info:
I might miss out a bit there cause i forgotten whether holidays is taken out from the 52 weeks.

Well, all in all in my opinion, this do make sense and of course, countries work in different ways. The Singapore way is simply this, in addition to having almost none of that worker's union you see in Developed countries.

I have always believed that Singapore is a Developed country and have always compared it to other DCs. What truly disappoints me is that though our GDP is impressive and among the top for DCs, our spending power is actually on par of those from LDCs, even Malaysians do have greater spending power as compared to us, Singaporeans. I do believed that we have been short changed by our government in so many ways possible.

In any case, irregardless of what has been debated or whats not. What is truly important is that, in order to get a fixed salary per month or in other words, a job. You must have signed a contract.

All that is on the contract, describe your payment package, advancement, medical benefits, leave packet, CPF contributions, travel allowances etc...

So in other words, if you signed it, it means that you do not have any qualms about it. It is, after all, your choice of payment and job.

Not forgetting that companies do have different treatment with regards to employees welfare, ain't it?

Stay in Australia where u belong.. I prefer staying in Singapore :)

For info:
Before making so many complains and comments on the Singapore law and unfairness, maybe you should understand and know more about it and your paycheck. i mean you can always call the hotline for help. i believe that you didn't, as the way you calculate the pay is definitely not according to the MOM rules and reg

Indonesia is more advanced than Malaysia, at least in Singapore and Indonesia, you get the 13th month "bonus". We only get 12 months...

exactly... I have the same thought as the other one who commented above...

first and foremost, we dont need much computations here...

when you sign a contract, let's say, 60k annual. that is simply divided by 12 then you get your monthly salary.

if your contracts says, + 13 month pay... it DOESNT really matter if it's a BONUS or really your pay or WHATEVER... you just dont start making complicated computations and say, "HEY! we're cheated"... the only thing there is, you AGREED at the contract... get it? CONTRACT?? Need I say more??? Your company can always get back to you and say, "that it's what you agreed..."

a 13th month pay, will always be a 13th month pay.

if they say, 60K annual + 13th month pay, that means - 65k in total for one year. If you agreed that on your contract, end of issue.

Why would I be bothered computing my work in days? weeks? If we have agreed on a fixed salary in A "Contract.."

AUSTRALIA, SINGAPORE, US or whatever... have different laws, ways and work culture... if you want to change it... go and make yourself a Prime Minister and tell the companies to change the WORD "13th month" pay to "Witholding Salary" - if that will make you feel better...

and ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE? seriously??? they are ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE for god's sake... not a good comparison there...

It is called "Annual Wages Supplement"!

AWS is to compensate the difference between 48 & 52 weeks wages. Employer is using this as an leverage against workers that exploits entitlements like "Medical Leave" (Some worker feel that it is wasted if they do not consume the 14-days of M.C.). Surely they are also employer that exploits AWS by calling this a "Bonus" and avoid paying the real bonus.

M.O.M. should provide a clear guideline on how AWS should be paid instead of letting employer have total discretion!

Just my 2 cents worth!

By the way... This article had been ard for many years already... Not 100% from my buddy (the author here)... I've read it many times few years back... Ignorant fools out there please shut up!

Foo

Great! Why not you start a company and I work for you?

Complaint king!

I remember the 13th month bonus was originally a lunar new year tradition here, when employers will pay out an extra month's pay in prep for the lunar new year's festivities' monetary needs by the workers. it was the norm for most private businesses at that time. it then became codified into the wage system as AWS.

This is an irresponsible post.
Please tell me that you are just joking.

I second the anonymous before me.

it is nice to read this article with a pinch of salt...but to be on the serious note...many things in this world cannot be clearly defined or quantified even in dollars and cents.

nonsense.

I agree with the math when its calculated in weeks and not in days. Unless you work weekends, most people work 20 days in 4 weeks. So at 4 weeks a month, you get 48 weeks....and there are 4 more weeks which end up unpaid.

Now this is technically true - but that's also a reason why a lot of companies give up to 21 days of paid leave per year (or 14 days + however many more in sick leave). So there's that technicality to consider. So for this article to be truly accurate, we must all work 365 days a year :D If anyone wants to convert to pro-rated salaries, they can go ahead. I personally don't want to be bean counted for actual work hours vs hours I spend on facebook while at work.

Like I said I largely agree with this article, a large part of our workforce are underpaid to begin with -vs- the relative high cost of living here. Giving out the 13th month AWS helps, but trying to justify it by reverting back to a pro rated weekly wage structure really doesn't.

Oh, and CLEAR YOUR LEAVE! Going all year without taking days off is just what your employer wants :D

you have an awesome blog! Love the way you think! Will be waiting for more posts!! :D

hi everyone, relax for awhile.

1) I feel that whatever we typed here, someone from the government is looking. singapore isn't really that "free" with proves that pple can get caught and sued for posting nasty remarks online.

2) Mathes always gives people problem, especially when there's nvr ending decimals behind.

3) If we want to be 1st world country, why should we keep comparing ourselves with 3rd world countries about stuffs? Shouldn't we be comparing ourselves to someone better, like always? (sorry to our philipino fren here, not trying to be rude to you.)

4) Anyone ever thought of why the sudden need to increase the police force and the timeline is exactly withing 5 yrs?

5) my final point, my frens, we can only spit on those who voted against a change now. we can only try our luck 5 yrs later. so maybe whatever we're not happy of now, we can tell them to the desired party and let them use as their political aims.

actually, if you think about it, it really makes very little difference. the only real difference is that they claim to pay you less than what they really do, so it is seen as a 'bonus' rather than something they owe. I mean, if at the end of the day you earn the same amount of money in singapore and in perth (without the bonus) and yet do the same amount of work, the 13th month bonus essentially is still a bonus. i really don't see what should be wrong with it.

In fact I would think it's a good thing. it provides some form of incentive to work hard through the year.

disclaimer: i'm not some employer. i'm actually jsut some student.

buddy, if tt's the point, then they're essentially arguing about "why am I working so hard for something that I'm supposed to get?"

maybe you don't feel it yet. but once you've started working for like 2 or 3 yrs, MAYBE <== not a garauntee, you might see what's the point they're trying to achieve.

For those ignorant people, I'll do this for you.
If your annual salary is 36k, I shall pay you 36k/52week = $692.31 per week.

For those who wants a monthly salary, I shall pay you 36k/12 = $3k per month. I'll give you an extra 1 month AWS as you are a smart worker who knows how to do your maths. HAHAHAHAHA

What an entitled brat, go and learn some real economics, you just don't know how easy you have it in Singapore.

One one hand, yea, cool, that's how it works.

On the other hand...it's still whining.

Ok, fine....'Justifiable' Whining.

Wow, that's like, we should all reward all who aren't capable own taking care of themselves.

The meek shall inherit the earth eh?

Some see a cup as being half full, some half empty. Keep being negative and feeling sorry for yourself. The rest of us have a life to live.

why not spend your time doing something constructive, beneficial or even profitable instead of spending time and effort on calculating and arguing your case? That, it seams to me, is the most prudent choice.

You get to choose your job. Treat the 13th month as an extra incentive. If one think that his or her 12 months of pay is too little, then don't work for the company! Migrate to UK to become a footballer, dude!

seriously...grow up. and netizens..do not agree for the sake of agreeing. oh pls...even MNCs are doing this. who will go through all the trouble just to make sure everyone is paid every 28 days?? it just shows how little you know about banking procedures and protocols. judging by the content of this post...i can safely conclude that the author is only an employee....never being in a leadership position...never big enough to live through the experiences of setting up a company and maintaining the day to day operations. This post is also baseless and pointless. All the best to your future endeavours.

The company wouldn't quote your pay in a per hour basis. Say your salary per month is $2000/mth. you get $24000 a year.

You then go to your boss and show him this article that says 13 month is an entitlement. Or demand that you get paid weekly or hourly or by the minute whatever.

To the company, 13 month is a bonus and will always be a bonus. So fine, he pays you by the week. But he wouldnt be paying you $2000/4 = $500 a week. He will pay you $24000/52 = $461.54 weekly.

Just take it as they have decided on an annual pay for you, and the monthly wage is just an average of this pay.

Typical immigrant who hate their country, left their country & then look back in anger. You made yr life choice so go get a life lah!

Oh my god this is ridiculous. and the peeps agreeing with this...omg god bless you. Pls...can the author post a photo of himself? i need to look at him and laugh at his face.

Gosh, this is pretty dumb. Has the author ever had any extensive work experience in Singapore? A typical complaint about something insigificant and easily resolved.

You sign employment contracts based on annual salary in Singapore. They then commit to paying you on a monthly basis this yearly compensation of yours.

AWS was implemented by the British during the colonial era to applease manual labourers then who felt they were being underpaid, when in actual fact they were merely paying out by the hour.

Most manual labour and blue-collared work pay in smaller intervals or time periods. Retail work pays hourly, for example.

The nature of the work (whether it is temporary or meant to be a long-term career) dictates the compensation period. Going to your example of footballers, maybe a better comparison would be to ask President Obama, or one of our MPs, or a CEO of any of the Wall Street banks, if they are paid on a weekly basis.

This is consistent throughout most developed countries. Professional level work is paid at a fixed rate (for example, in the US, you have exempt and non-exempt employees. Exempt employees are paid an annual compensation and are not paid for overtime work, nor are they tied to a fixed lunch hour, start time etc etc.)

Expounding more on soccer. In your limited field of vision, you only see Premier League players. You may be very surprised to find out that they are a small subset of a vast system of footballers within the UK alone (in terms of quantity), that reaches down through Blue Square right down to county level, made up of players both full-time and part-time. The likes of David Silva and Luis Suarez are actually part of a very lucky minority, the 1% if you will.


They are paid weekly because they used to be paid per match historically, and even so today. The Premier League is the exception where you have teams involved in midweek European competition (generally, although Championship clubs may have a crack at the Europa once in a while). In almost all other tiers of football, you get only 1 match per week. This also ties in with football being considered manual labour before the superstardom era of modern days, and even today as well, as many young hopeful struggle within the system hoping to be noticed by the scouts. Part-timers are still very common and are very much part of what the FA is hoping to promote.

Author adopts a very myopic vision and obviously has spent little thought in his comments. You will be well-advised to gain more life experience before making recommendations to NTUC, who have much more important matters to attend to than your trivial non-issue.

You certainly have not worked in a Western MNC before.

Stop whining about what the government is doing or not doing. Be an executive of a MNC before you start analyzing bonus. Try not to hurt your brain on the way to top executive

Erm.. aren't there 22 working days in a month?

I would like to welcome everyone to Hungary where few have a 13th month salary.

Actually there are a lot more serious problems here so arguing about 13th month payment would be kinda ridiculous. For example not being payed at all for 2-3months, worker registrated for minimum wage not the actual wage etc.

This theoretical problem is kinda funny, you get the money anyway.
Btw. if they pay by the month then you shouldn't calculate with weeks. There are 12 months so you get 12 payments in a year.

This has got to go viral on sg news.

it is the same trick with upgrading.

Every 1 is entitled to feeling that they are short changed.

For me, I work, I get paid.

Be it an annual salary of 50k or 20k, if I feel short changed for what i'm worth, i leave.

Why do some people work get paid the same amount for twice the work?

Networth.

Hi Author, you had provided with a very interesting argument regarding this 13 month Bonus/ Pay.

I assume that you are looking for a benchmark that would be fairer to the masses. However I do see points of which is flawed. If you can provide an answer to cover the flaw , i believe it would be a better argument.

1) You are assuming 365 days of work.
Meaning no Sat half day /Sunday off/ no public holidays/ no paid leaves / no MC /no nothing. I believe these are also entitlements to the employees which you failed to account for. We do not work 365 days a year.

2) why pay by weekly? why not daily instead? Then people will be more happy isn't it , since when they work they get their pay, and when they don't work , they are still entitled to the salary (which is the case for monthly salary )

3) From the point of an employer , How do we calculate CPF in this sense? Do we do it daily?
Also , Issue cheques daily? We will see alot alot alot of people queuing at the banks/atms everyday to see if the amount gotten through.

(Please note: if you say that it will be an admin hassle, you are basically saying that getting paid yearly is the best method since it only requires a one time effort)

4) Imagine you boss tells you , you have a pay rise of 80 dollars a week. How will you feel? or will you feel more satisfied when he tells you $500 pay rise?

5) You are assuming 13 months pay is 1 month worth of pay. Isn't 13 Month bonus a performance bonus? Do well , I give you more, do not as well , i give you lesser. If 13month bonus is just purely 1 month worth of pay, why are people not complaining when they are receiving 1.5 months - 3 month worth of pay on their bonus?

6) Why is Singapore not adopting this method of weekly payment? Is there a reason why monthly is better than weekly? Knowing the way the government works, wouldn't the people from the government want to adopt something that is beneficial to them too? I believe that they do hold a monthly salary too.

Well, ponder over this , maybe give a better argument with more thought the next time :)

Cheers

Try not be so pessimistic . Be more optimistic! 13 month bonus is extra cash to us. :) Be happy with it. Glass is never full , but its not empty. Be happy with it. :)

Jerry Ace

Well just live with it.
Company paid u 13th month $$$ be happy
If not switch to another company.

ridiculous article. shallow mindset. time to remove those blinders.

The focus u guys shld b looking at is e days u work. Excluding weekends, there are public holidays and ur annual leave. Both of which u r nt working. so actually in e 44 hours work week there are actually some weeks where u failed to meet the requirement of 44hrs bcos of public holidays and leave. But ur ssalary wasn't deducted. If u add it up there are abt 28 days nt working, 11 days ph and abt avg 17 days leave. so as u calculate u r correctly paid for e 12 months which u actually work and e 13th month is bonus to pay for e month where u did not work. The flaw in e author logic is tt u assume ph and leave is naturally suppose to b paid. But it is actually a benefit tt e company give and hence it is a bonus and nt a right.

Of cos one can argue tt in western countries they r paid extra on top of the ph and leave bonus. But then take a look at europe where wages are paid weekly and compare to spore. Who is havin the debt crisis? In america and australia their unemployment rates are well above singapore. So there is a trade off tt we must consider

Interesting post and a good argument for negotiating your salary as an annual amount (with or without productivity bonus). You can then slice up the annual amount in any manner you wish (daily, weekly, monthly, etc.).

Its obvious that this article will invite arguments.
Please don't make such comparisons between countries etc, cos its like comparing apples & oranges.
Monetary rewards, though tangible, can be subjective to different people.
Count your blessings. Oh people always say the grass is always greener on the other side, but they take for granted that they are even alive with this current grass on this side.
If Singapore is really a horrible place to live in, I would like to see this blog owner live in other 3rd world country 1st, then make the comparisons.

To: post 2 December 2011 01:03

Quote

6) Why is Singapore not adopting this method of weekly payment? Is there a reason why monthly is better than weekly? Knowing the way the government works, wouldn't the people from the government want to adopt something that is beneficial to them too? I believe that they do hold a monthly salary too.

<<<<<<<<<< =//= >>>>>>>>>>

Hey smart dude... can you tell me what is the people in our government earning? And what is or how many months is their annual bonus?

If I am earning 4 billion a year or having some 6-12 months bonus... do you think I will care about lossing a 13 month bonus?

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/singapore-president-s-annual-salary-tops-s-4-2-million-.html

http://www.yeocheowtong.com/Salaries.html

Quote
========= <-> ===================

Hey smart dude... can you tell me what is the people in our government earning? And what is or how many months is their annual bonus?

If I am earning 4 billion a year or having some 6-12 months bonus... do you think I will care about lossing a 13 month bonus?

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/singapore-president-s-annual-salary-tops-s-4-2-million-.html

http://www.yeocheowtong.com/Salaries.html

============<->====================

You wouldn't care? Wow .. nice.

Shortchange me 1 dollar and i'll make a fuss over it..

You are talking about alot of money there..
If assume 4 million salary , its about $84k cold hard cash. ( its not 4 billion dude... if it is , tell me , I'll run for presidency, its enough for me a motivation. )

Cheers. Won't be lingering here anymore, as i will be going to sleep after doing my very very long working hour , very little pay work, no 13th months bonus some-more . :) have a good night.

Instead of paying once a month, they could pay once every two weeks, say on a Friday. That gives you 13 even paycheques per year. The 13th month bonus, as you say, is not really a bonus, but earnings the employer holds back from you for a year, without paying interest. If you quit half way through the year, you don't get your full pay.

I don't know how employers benefit from the 13th month, either. If 5 people in a small company are thinking of quitting, instead of being interspersed through the year, they all hold off until January, causing an HR problem when staff quits in a bulk. You think it'd be easier to handle replacing them if people didn't all leave at once.

My ex boss never paid us AWS nor bonuses of any sort. He then gave us high hopes for a "13th month bonus" before abruptly closed the Singapore office & went to HQ overseas for a promotion leaving us stranded (empty handed)..

Best part our local office only had 2 employees & we were still shortchanged.

Whoever has AWS & bonus should just be thankful that u have a job now & are not shortchanged.

this article is using troll logic. if you've ever come into contact with anyone working in HR or salary dept, you will know that every employee has a predetermined pay/day or pay/hr. this is used to calculated no-pay leave.

simple concept

total pay per year divided by total number or working days.

in other words, (salary×12)/(365×5/7).

there are 21.7 work days a week in a 5-day work week.

Yeah Critic! Those who cared knew this already. So stop whining. If u want to be paid weekly or daily then risk being fired anytime. So dun be a typical Singaporean and complain. Got a job agreed to the terms of employment else dun work. U hv a choice. Read terms of employment. Dun like it...? Stay in Australia.

Everything we receive in LIFE is a privilege, not a right. That also goes for the 13th month 'bonus', which incidentally, is not supposed to be a bonus; neither is it called a bonus. It's called the 13th month ANNUAL WAGE SUPPLEMENT.

To the author of the thread..

A year of 365 days..
If you sleep eight hours a day it equals 122 days.
This leaves 243 days.
If you rest eight hours a day it equals another 122 days.
This leaves 121 days.
There are 52 Sundays, thus leaving 69 days.
If you have a half-day on Saturday, this equals 26 days, and leaves 43 days.
If you have 1 1/2 hour for lunch every work day, this equals 28 days,
leaving 15 days.
Two weeks vacation equals 14 days.
This leaves only one day.
And on Labor Day nobody works.

Crack@
who rest 8 hours a day? only babies right?

if you would do a search on the net for the definition of a mth,

- In commerce, a period of 30 successive days.
- Unit of time based on the revolution of the Moon around the Earth and defined as the period between two successive new moons or, on average, 29.53 days. Also called synodic month.

so, 30x12=360, hence the so called 13th month bonus is, in fact, paid to you for working 5 days. now, isnt that much nicer to know?

c'mon, it is a matter of perspective. who ever said a month is indefinitely 4 weeks?

知足常乐, be contented with what you are getting :)

Yukai UP! up !

And for countries without a 13 month AWS?

Dun we negotiate an annual salary package? So it doesnt matter how it's cakculated as long as we get the whole years worth of salary.

I feel that the article is kind of skewed. In my opinion, the arguments on the definition of months are totally irrelevant.

During the commencement of any job, there must be a Letter of Appointment with the job offered, terms and conditions. If the company states that the so-called "13 month bonus" here is not confirm or performance based, and you still agreed to sign above the dotted line, it's your own decision that you've accepted the terms.

Stop whining like a baby when you receive nothing at the end of the year.

look at how many idiots there are here. the assumptions here is that only February we are paid fairly. if i change the assumption to only January we are paid fairly, then we are getting 2 months more!

Totally ridiculous.

1. Many other countries have jobs that are paid monthly, not just Singapore.

2. The unfairness is only true if you have been converted from $X a week to 4 * $X per month. If you have not been thus converted, you get what you signed up for, so stop complaining.

3. You always look at salary + bonuses + benefits on an annual basis. If you look only at a weekly or monthly basis, you are a fool.

4. Going by your logic, we pay a lot of bills correctly only on February. On other months, we owe the service providers. E.g., phone bills, internet subscriptions, cable TV, are all billed monthly (sometimes with usage surcharge on top). Should we pay these companies an extra 13month bill every year?

5. Companies usually pay on monthly basis simply to reduce workload for the payroll department. Only for informal employment will it make more sense to pay weekly, or even daily.

Oh cmon guys. This is petty. However much we bring home, however much shortfalls there are, we must be thankful, at least, that we have a job and the paychecks kicks in every month.

http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/content.aspx?doc=/content/12333.htm

You really want to live in australia?

This kind of thinking demonstrates a remarkable cluelessness about how and why employees are paid.

1) An employer doesn't pay you for your hours or time. An employer pays you because of the anticipated economic benefit that will be derived as a result of your collaboration.

2) What an employer is willing to pay is based 100% on the above consideration against what the local market will bear for your skill set. Note that your salary is only one part of the consideration of what it costs to employ you. Any business owner is going to budget that on an annual basis - pay + benefits + taxes.

So whether you get paid hourly, weekly, twice monthly (as in the states), or monthly - that just determines the denominator that is applied to that portion of the cost of employing you that is your annual salary. So your annual number's gonna work out the same.

In Thailand we pay a 13 period year typically. Staff get a double paycheck in december. However, I have some staff that only have 12 pay periods (typically non-thais). All this really amounts to is those who are on the 13 period scale receiving slightly less each month so they get the additional period in the end. No one gets a single baht less or extra due to the frequency of their pay check. If that's your focus as an employee, undoubtedly you would soon find yourself as an ex-employee.

the writer is just sharing with us for better understanding, that 13th month should not be call "bonus" its part of our pay.. what the writer wrote does make sense.. you will be able to understand the concept when you are being paid per day.. I had work as a freelance n as employee of a company in Singapore..

when Im working as freelance, Im being paid $220/day so
eg. In Jan, I'm paid $4840/22days and in Feb I'm paid $4400/20day whereas when I'm a full-time employee to a company I'm being paid (same rate) $2200/mth (& +/- $400 which the employer top up for CPF), I still get about $1800- $2200 less..

see the logic? dun be too happy when you get the 13th month pay, its what you deserved unless you love to give free labour to your bosses and make those bosses richer! for those who doesn't get the 13th month pay, I feel for you..

I see a lot of people saying "Better than countries who have no AWS at all"... but seriously, if you keep comparing Singapore to lesser developed countries, then Singapore is going to remain where it is, stuck in between 3rd world and fully developed.

I also see people calling each other idiots, fools, stupid... you know... typical Singaporean behaviour. Would it kill you to use tact and courtesy?

Wait, what? You mean folks do not know employees are supposed to be paid 52 weeks (= 13 4-week months) a year instead of 12 months?

I learnt that in 1999, before i began professional work.

why is Singapore stuck between any 3rd world or developed country? If you look up wiki on developed countries Singapore is ranked in all of its developed countries list. So how are we any lesser than a developed country?

Pls dont put down your own country. Leave if u want.

i don't get it.

why do you think working a month means 28 days, period?

Jesus Maria!

The mistake simply is equalling a month to 4 weeks, and then complaining that this is not correct. Most regular work contracts are based on a MONTHLY salary. If one gets paid once every four weeks, the salary will be prorated (roughly 12/13 of the monthly salary)and dished out thirteen times a year adding up to the same grand total as receiving 12 months of salary.

I think it is VERY SIMPLE!

Here in Singapore, we "generally" say SALARY PER MONTH!
Not salary per number of days!!!

The case is clear when you take leave. Let's say if you take unpaid leave of 1 day, the calculation will be as below:

Your net salary for month = (salary per month)/(no of working days in that month) * (no of actual working days)

Salary Per Month is just Salary Per Month, no matter how many days in that month.

If there is a month with only 1 day, you will also get the same salary for that month.

:)

For the 13th month salary, it's simply a reward for the employees who service the company for a year!

ahhh a typical Singaporean article and comments. all about twisted facts and $$$.

come on ppl. try to look on the bright side of the 13th month pay instead of looking at it cynically.

there's more to life than just money. if you are yet to understand this statement then may god bless your soul.

I didnt read the whole list of comments. but from what i saw, i didnt see this. for those who agree that we r just paid our fair share, i.e. that the bonus is not a bonus. maybe u can think of it another way. if the employes paid weekly instead, can they just bring down the wages pro rata? :)nobody can say what u r getting now mthly is actually the right amount, or the wrong one. what if they actually overpaid u for the month, and still gave u the 13th month? then again, are you getting OT pay for the OT u worked for? and how productive are you actually during the course of work? Food for though.

taking your point into considerations and from a point of working in a office.

a month is calculated as 28 days as mention by you. after deducting off the weekends, which i dun work on weekends, i am only working 20 days since 8 weekends(sat and sun) in a mth.

now 20 days x 12 mths = 240 days
including your 29 extra days, i will be considered working a total of 269 days.

a year has 365 days.
so, 365 - 269 = 96 days of not working.

and there are still leaves which is not accounted for? say 18 days.

96 + 18 = 114 days of not working.

269 - 18 = 251 days of working.

so 251/7 = 35.85 weeks.

so theoretically, i am only workin 36 weeks.

woah.. didn't know my company was being so good to me. Work less than you and paying me more.

in anyway, try not to mislead others. your calculation only works for certain ppl and not everyone.

Companies don't budget pay by the month, they plan for annual budgets. Ur annual pay is fixed. Whether u want it weekly or monthly, the company will just divide it accordingly. 4xweekly pay will be less than ur monthly pay.

cooking something out of nothing.. nice try,,

http://azlyjacaz.wordpress.com/2011/12/02/the-13th-month-bonus-defining-your-wages/

The actual calculations for this 13th month bonus

woah..sure glad my calculation is almost the same as someone. =D

http://azlyjacaz.wordpress.com/2011/12/02/the-13th-month-bonus-defining-your-wages/

please don't call yourself a singaporean and post such a clueless, ignorant piece of nonsense.

first, please name a company who pay salaried employees different salary each month depending on the days of the months.

Secondly, whether you get paid by day, week, month or year, it is divided accordingly - you mean you didn't know? goosh, perhaps you should have a chat with your Human Resource personnel or the officer who hired you

It is amusing that people think that having a paying job is a privelege in Singapore.

It just goes to show how brainwashed the population has been that they think that a job, a basic necessity of life, has become a privelege.

Imagine if you suddenly ask the PAP ministers to work for free because serving the country is a privelge...

I realise this long ago. I even blog on this 13th bonus. Actually it is no Bonus at all!
http://gintai.wordpress.com/2011/11/14/bonus-what-bonus/

Singapore is a very small country, unlike Australia with tons of natural resources. We have to fight for survive. Let me put it this way, if any body not happy with their pay, LEAVE! Go other place! 13 months Bonus is fake ?Some capable Singaporean every year received more than three months Bonus ! Don't ask for the bonus, ask yourself how good you are !
Is the shame you cannot survive in motherland and have squat at others place !

This article is nonsensical. The author do not know what the hell he is talking about the salary in Singapore.
Maybe that's because he is a foreign talent in other countries.

In the contract, you already have your expected annual salary there and it is divided accordingly to the 12 months. Whether you want it 4 weeks or 1 month, in the end, you still get the same.
If it says 5 days a week, it is 5 days a week.You are not paid on Sunday and Saturday.
If you work on saturday you can get overtime pay which is on top of your regular salary.

Don't be a retard spreading rumours. It doesn't help to solidify your plight of fleeing Singapore which is your motherland to be a foreign talent in other countries.
Some more come back and bitch around something you don't know.

Don't you refer to your Human Resource Department first for the salary or bother to question it during the interview? Are you jealous that Sg got 13th month bonus while ur 'country' don't have but no face come back.

Also, there is day light saving in Europe and US, are you going to bitch about the few hours cut off?

lets just say that if you are happy with the working culture as well as rules and regulation here in Singapore, you are most welcome to stay and work here. however if you are not, and you are able to look for any other opportunities overseas, please go ahead, there is no shame on that, as many Singaporean has done that. we are all just trying to make a living, whatever we think is better might not be the same to others. comparing one to another is good and bad, bad if you are just taking the negative side of the comparison, good if you take the difference and trying to make changes. we can't apply what we hear abroad to where we are living. because there are reasons why that specific rules were implied in that certain country. i have worked in 4 different countries, all have their strength and weakness. lets just say that if you are not happy working in Singapore, it is our own free will to look for it overseas and make our future brighter. for this matter there is no point of comparing it.

Never thought of things this way (not that I'm working but I've heard about this and thought,"woah! extra money!")! Totally a valid point!

Let's all just look at the bright side and think of the many benefits we Singaporeans enjoy compared to other countries. We know very well this thing won't change, so it's not worth debating.

Good entertainment here though. :)

But dun forget there's about 11 day worth of public holiday, 7-12 day worth of annual + potential sick leave. All these adds up to 20+ "off" days, so it is not as bad as what the author proclaims.

The breakdowns are different depending on your contract. Check MOM's site, none of this info is hidden.

For most full-time salaried positions, the breakdowns look like this:

(12 months * monthly salary) / (52 weeks * 44 work hours)

So if for example I earn $6,000 a month, my annual basic pay is $72,000.

Since I work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, my real hourly rate works out to $36/hour, but to HR, it works out to $31.47 since they're using MOM's equation. That's the rate they use if take unpaid leave for example, which means I end up losing my wages for 7 hours of work instead of 8.

In 2012, there are 5 months with 20 working days, 4 months with 21 working days, and 3 months with 22 working days, for a total of 250 working days.

(5 * 20) + (4 * 21) + (3 * 22) = 250.

Which means on different months, I work 160, 168, or 176 hours, and my basic pay should fluctuate between $5,760, $6,048, and $6,336 respectively.

Guess what? If I add the money I'm receiving per month on an hourly basis, I end up with...$72,000 in a year. No more or less than the exactly amount I'm stipulated to earn per year.

(5 * $5,760) + (4 * $6,048) + (3 * $6,336) = $72,000

Although if I were being paid based on the actual number of hours I work and my 'official' hourly rate, I end up with $62,940.

(5 * $5035.20) + (4 * $5286.96) + (3 * $5,538.72) = $62,940

That's $9,060 I receive with no questions asked! An extra 13 and half months salary, before receiving my 13th month. Weird, huh???

(By the way, I'm just poking fun at the original poster's dubious math. Please don't take this too seriously.)

Can I give you a constructive suggestion? Well, if you must feel cheated about the system, why don't you cheat the system back? ;)

It's a half-full or half-empty thing.

If you *must* think that you're paid for 28 days, then just make sure you negotiate for a pay (or ask for a pay raise) that will make you feel justified that you're paid for 31 days a month instead.

In that way, then Feb's 3 days + 5 months of 30 days, you will actually be paid 8 days EXTRA income a year! Add that to 13-month bonus, you get 39 days EXTRA income, bravo!

Happiness is a choice, it's often how we look/think at things. :)

Comforting to read most of the comments here tho!

When you sign your employment contract, I'm sure you know that you are paid a certain salary on a *monthly basis*. There are 12 months in a year, so you can fully expect to receive your salary 12 times a year.

Most people will, prior to signing, ask a company if they give AWS. If not, there are three options: 1) negotiate the pay pacakge to compensate for the lack of AWS; 2) sign anyway knowing that there is no AWS; 3) don't sign.

As some have commented, would you think it as only deserving that you pay your landlord a 13th month rental each year? Or the town council a 13th month of conservancy charges?

You write, "The next time you receive your "13th month bonus", ask yourself why are you feeling so happy getting back what you deserve in the first place?"

That is a negative attitude to life. Let's be thankful for the little blessings we receive, be it our wages, our AWS or even the chance to live to see a new day.

Hello,

To be honest I didn't read ALL the replies and might be repeating what someone has said so...

Its just a matter of perspective and human nature bro.

Think deeper... For example, Company A ENTITLES you to your 13th month bonus. Company B gives its 13 mth bonus based on performance, but has the 13th mth bonus baked inside your monthly pays already. I would rather work for Company B in that case (: All boils down to where and who you work for.

Bullshit.. There might be fifth week in a month.. one month doesn't neccesary to be 4 weeks..

Well, over regulating how people are paid, led to this kind of anormaly. When the laws dictate compulsory 13th month bonus, what businesses do is simple - just divide annual pay by 13 months instead of usual 12 months. So, it is foolish to think that you are actually getting paid an extra month in Singapore. It is rather your own money being paid later. What matters is the real variable bonus you get on your company or your own performance on top of this 13th month compulsory bonus.

When you acepted to work for the company ,you have acepted their pay is by calender month ,not weekly, cannot compare to weekly pay.

I agree with you ,get weekly pay like others country there is ,total up 13th month.

But if monthly pay then diferent story .
monthly means according to calender 1st to end of the month.

Or if you feel like cheated , why don't you tell your boss you want to have weekly pay??

poor my fren, kanna attack by ppl left n right when this is just a personal blog not a public one.

Some Coy in sg do not give AWS, but they justified that their pay is higher than market offer, so i guess in a way this is fair.

For majority of the companies or i should say the chinese culture, we always have the mentality having more is good. therefore, payroll decide that let's reduce 5$ each day(i m just random stating an instance) and make it into a AWS. In this way, we have the "image" that we are offering more to the employees.

After tax, my hourly rate in australia is the same as i have in SG, BUT i only get the same pay in annual terms after getting my 13th month. I am not gg to go into MATHS lessons here.

In AU i only need to work 38hrs a week that is 7.6hrs in a day, if i skip lunch technically speaking, i only need to work from 8am to 3.30pm.

I guess many Singaporean preferred the idea naming 13th mth AWS as bonus to make their day brighter. That's the 3rd side to a flipped coin.

STB, ignore la, i am waiting to see ur new born !!

Under MOM Law, even if you leave on 31 Dec, you r not entitled 13 month pay... And that's wat my current company told me!! DAMN SHITTY!

I totally love this post man! :) But sadly, it isn't the way it should be better...Understand that employees in Europe are entitle to more than 14 Annual leave and they have many public holidays in a calendar year. :/

Still not all company practice 13th month bonus. By the way, you have to take account of annual leave an employee is entitle if you take in account of every working day that an employee should be paid, else it wouldn't be fair for employers. o.O

Blogger from Gluttonthoughts.blogspot.com

actually if you count mon to fri as work days, by right you are technically working an average of 20 - 22 days per month.

no company pays you for working weekends in Asia. the problem comes in when you calculate weekend work and overtime hours.

that's where most Asian labour laws have been exploiting workers.

by right if you work over 8 hours per weekday or do weekends, any extra hour you put in should be a time and a half of your hourly rates.

that was how it was in my experience working in the US and we got paid every fortnight.

this is something Asian countries need to look into and change but they're not going to do that because if labour costs go up, that is hardly an incentive for big Western MNCs to invest.

vicious cycle people.

This is wrong. The actually reason is that they added an hour and introduced the 13th month. Office hours used to be 9 to 5. They made it 8 to 5 and implemented the 13th month. so therefore it is your money which some companies dont even payout.

yea, especially those in fnb. some dont even get ANY BONUS AT ALL =[[[

Whole point of this article is you don't get your money that you have earned WHEN the company don't wanna give you dat 13th month "bonus".. I agree with you. There are ppl i know who are not entitled to 13th month "bonus" even after werking their @ss off.. Its their money n not suppose to be called a bonus.

If you are paid per month salary and most of the months have 31 days then you are overpaid for months that has less than 31 days.

Feb 3 days, Apr 1 day, Jun 1 day, Sep 1 day and Nov 1 day. You have been overpaid 7 days a year !!!

Therefore, if you receive a 13th month on top of being overpaid 1 week a year, you should be elated!!!

The context of the original post was simple: 13th month AWS was never meant to be withheld. It's a slavery trigger for a 31th December crossover that is never practiced anywhere in the world.

Don't matter much though. I left the motherland 7 years ago, and returned as an FT (paid by the HOUR) after reaching SGD$1m (and in the process shortening its timeline from 11 years under SG pay rules to just 4 years) personal income, and helped to hire zero singaporeans and 6 Indian FT's and 1 PRC (they were good and cheap) -- using MOM's formulae. It was a good arrangement: there were no employment laws in Singapore that were enforceable so the option to fire them before 31st December was always just a press of a button.

Too bad the local SG'eans either read too much on the net, or are too fussy with salary. They could've played the FT card but that's another story -- very little have the guts or ability to do so anyway, and even if they do they'll be like me hiring locals or playing a different and richer field (see LIFT).

Yeap. We were not happy. We left, and now we play the games the SG Gov allow. Happy voting.

ok how about comparing the level of taxes we pay in SG vs Australia? If you say, oh..they have all the social welfare covered with the high taxes, then can you compare the number of times you go on vacation vs the average Aussies? How come Singaporeans can afford to go on yearly vacation(if not multiple vacations in a year) when the highly paid Aussies cannot do so?

Well, this is a great point. We may deserve that cash, but what can we really do about it? :(

Go on a strike? Not especially after that recent arrest of the foreigners. Everyone's been cowering under some of the most ridiculous "laws".

Complain to NTUC? Na, they rather maintain the economy of Singapore and protect employers.

Tell your boss we deserve that bonus? Yeah I dare you to.

Unless we can come up with something to combat this, no point being unhappy about it. Just take it or leave it.

This might be interesting if it weren't completely wrong. Since when does a month have 4 weeks? Since when do people (other than factory or bar workers) get paid weekly in the UK, Australia or anywhere else? Since when were you employed to work anything other than 12 months a year, regardless of how many days or weeks in that month? A stupid conclusion based on invented "facts"...

PS Do you really think Premier League players are paid weekly??? Really LOL.

This is a crazy post. Unless you are paying weekly salaries then its justifiable. Otherwise, there are only 12 months a year and you are either paying monthly or annual salary of X dollars.

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Well reading your post i remember the hard pinch i got when i was working in Singapore. My S pass got expired in Mid February, 2011 and my employer had the golden chance not to pay me my performance bonus + 13month bonus. Rules are rules in Singapore no human feelings are attached, i got an unforgettable lesson working in Singapore for which i am thankful also and annoyed by the so called rules. And i had to return back home with just last month's pay :(
UNLUCKY ME, I WORKED MY ASS OFF JUST TO FILL MY EMPLOYER'S POCKET IN RETURN AT LAST I GOT NOTHING. I WAS HOPING MY EMPLOYER WOULD BE GENEROUS AND PAY ME PRO-RATED, WHICH DIDN'T HAPPEN. POOR ME :(

Regards,
One of the Victim of RULE

i month 4 weeks and per week as 7 days which rightfully is 28 days. so... i am being cheated!!! thanks for the post

total rubbish...

your wages (by right) is calculated base on an annual package. For example if you are receiving $3000 a month your annual salary is $36,000. if you choose to get paid on a weekly basis you will get $692.31 ($36,000/52) a week, still $36,000 a year. it just so happens that singapore is paying employees on monthly basis by default, no?

You mentioned you get paid weekly in Australia. but you get to choose getting paid on monthly basis. will work out exactly the same as above. you are pointing out the differences between periods but not taking account of the value.

if you think one mth is made up by 4 weeks then this formula is true. but if you think one mth is made up by 30 days then this formula is not true. simple as that....

No wonder some manufacturing company changed their operator's salary from hourly pay to monthly pay liao. Now I know why....

You get paid according to your employment conteact terms. Signing it means you agree to the terms. Period. Not happy? Negotiate. Can't agree? Go elsewhere.

A Singaporean in Australia. Wow, clap clap. Say it proudly! Suck Angmor Cock in Aussie, stir shit in SG. Steady!

If you have any brains at all, you will see there are many ways to look at it, you obvioulsy found the most negative way to diss Singapore.

If your contract is based on X dollars a year compensated on a fixed day every month, then there is no justification for AWS. Therefore AWS is a bonus.

Anyway many SG companies are giving AWS as standard, so SG people are not shortchanged and sometimes given a bonus. Your Aussie fortnightly payout is to STOP confusion about pay and more importantly stop employees asking for advances, because Aussies can't save!!!!

I have been in Aussie for 8 years, and every GODDAMN time I bring out AWS, Aussie loving Singaporeans like YOU always shit on AWS and why Aussie is fairer and AWS is a lie and PAP sucks and all that bull!!! Look whatever rocks your angmor cock sucking boat. But keep your opinions on to your self la please.

Fucking disgusted with your blog title. Get a Spine.

Regards,
A Singaporean who WAS in Australia.

Singaporean are very lucky. Everyone think of the 13 month bonus once year end approaches. But in some other country, there is no such case, like in Hong Kong. They are termed bonus, if a company does not do well, the bonus can be zero. So we have to appreciate that.

Quoting from the author:
"If you still don't get it. There are 31 days in January and there are 28 (normally) days in February. The question now - are you overpaid for February or underpaid in January? You choose what you want to believe in."

From this particular sentence, we can clearly see that the author agrees that there are TWO ways to look at monthly wages, either you are overpaid for less working days in Feb or underpaid for more working days in Jan.

And the next sentence is the most important part of the article: we have a choice to believe we are either over or under paid.

The entire article from that point onwards is based on the author's BELIEF that he is underpaid, and from his simple BELIEF, he argues that employers ACTUALLY OWE him his bonus. The entire article is based on the fact that he believes he is underpaid and thus employers owe him the pay check for the "13th" month.

If the mere belief that you are underpaid makes employers liable to actually pay you, doctors in polyclinics can simple BELIEVE that that they should be paid on a per hour basis like other GPs and therefore claim 20k/ month salaries.

The author makes the chooses to believe that he is underpaid and goes on a rant (based on a mere unjustified assumption) on how employers are supposed to pay his "13th" month bonus.

What about the other side? What if we are overpaid? Do you see employers BELIEVING that they are overpaying you by 1 month and then go on a rant claiming that they should pay you only 11 months wages in a year?

As for other comments claiming that weekly wages are better, it all boils down to your belief again. If the employer paying you 4000 in monthly wages is influenced by you such that he pays you weekly, he can easily say that he was overpaying you before and thus pay you only 923 per week. The pay is the same but the bonus is less probable now.

If you do think you are underpaid for Jan, then sure, weekly wages seem so much better (such that your bonus is a sure thing instead of a privilege bestowed by the employers). And then you feel sad/indignant about your current situation and you go on complaining rage on the internet on how SG sucks and how you can't wait to leave.
P.S The situation doesn't change because your argument can just as well be used by employers to dock your pay just like I stated above. So....your complains just well..does nothing and you still get paid your 12 months with a probable "13th" month bonus.

BUT,

If you think you are over paid for Feb, you would feel that you "Tan Tio" (or got lucky) that your employer is paying you more and even giving you a bonus at the end of the year for the same amount of work. What a happy turn of events!

In the end this mathematical coincidence is simply all a matter of PERSONAL BELIEF, and ends up being a rhetorical question like is the glass half empty? or half full? or always full (half air, half water)?
These questions do not serve any purpose whatsoever and the author is simply creating rifts between the community, making people displeased at their own current status.

By all means believe what you want and feel that the employers owe you something, but don't quote some coincidence, treat is as gospel and preach to everyone that they should believe what you do.

Quoting from the author:
"If you still don't get it. There are 31 days in January and there are 28 (normally) days in February. The question now - are you overpaid for February or underpaid in January? You choose what you want to believe in."

From this particular sentence, we can clearly see that the author agrees that there are TWO ways to look at monthly wages, either you are overpaid for less working days in Feb or underpaid for more working days in Jan.

And the next sentence is the most important part of the article: we have a choice to believe we are either over or under paid.

The entire article from that point onwards is based on the author's BELIEF that he is underpaid, and from his simple BELIEF, he argues that employers ACTUALLY OWE him his bonus. The entire article is based on the fact that he believes he is underpaid and thus employers owe him the pay check for the "13th" month.

If the mere belief that you are underpaid makes employers liable to actually pay you, doctors in polyclinics can simple BELIEVE that that they should be paid on a per hour basis like other GPs and therefore claim 20k/ month salaries.

The author makes the chooses to believe that he is underpaid and goes on a rant (based on a mere unjustified assumption) on how employers are supposed to pay his "13th" month bonus.

What about the other side? What if we are overpaid? Do you see employers BELIEVING that they are overpaying you by 1 month and then go on a rant claiming that they should pay you only 11 months wages in a year?

As for other comments claiming that weekly wages are better, it all boils down to your belief again. If the employer paying you 4000 in monthly wages is influenced by you such that he pays you weekly, he can easily say that he was overpaying you before and thus pay you only 923 per week. The pay is the same but the bonus is less probable now.

If you do think you are underpaid for Jan, then sure, weekly wages seem so much better (such that your bonus is a sure thing instead of a privilege bestowed by the employers). And then you feel sad/indignant about your current situation and you go on complaining rage on the internet on how SG sucks and how you can't wait to leave.
P.S The situation doesn't change because your argument can just as well be used by employers to dock your pay just like I stated above. So....your complains just well..does nothing and you still get paid your 12 months with a probable "13th" month bonus.

BUT,

If you think you are over paid for Feb, you would feel that you "Tan Tio" (or got lucky) that your employer is paying you more and even giving you a bonus at the end of the year for the same amount of work. What a happy turn of events!

In the end this mathematical coincidence is simply all a matter of PERSONAL BELIEF, and ends up being a rhetorical question like is the glass half empty? or half full? or always full (half air, half water)?
These questions do not serve any purpose whatsoever and the author is simply creating rifts between the community, making people displeased at their own current status.

By all means believe what you want and feel that the employers owe you something, but don't quote some coincidence, treat is as gospel and preach to everyone that they should believe what you do.

I know I am a bit late.

This paid weekly thing is usually blue-collared work..
And when Singapore moved away from weekly payment, the 13th month bonus was kicked in. Then along the many years, it has "changed".

Ever since I started to work, I always assume all "bonus", whether 13th month or not, are not there. and negotiate based on 12 months. That means, I negotiate a YEARLY pay, that gets divided by 12.

But I have worked for a company that wrote in their employment contract, that 13th month is "guaranteed". If that is the case, then this 13th month will be considered in my annual package.

My key point - consider annual pay, not monthly, etc..

Weekly pay has weekly rate, monthly pay has monthly rate. Company will only base on the profit they are earning to decide on the pay of employees. Company may just decide to give u less bonus if they think they pay u too much or more bonus if they think they pay u a little less. So eventually I believe it's the same. It's just the matter of how we look at it.

You shouldnt run a business.

Before everybody agree to this, there is one assumption is very wrong.... WHY YOU THINK FEB IS THE ONLY CORREC MONTH?

To be fair, you should take the average of all the months in one year. Don't you think you are only trying to look for justification?? haha.....

Wow this post keeps getting revisited toward this popular season......

Anyone thought about the leap year? Shouldn't we be paid OT for that extra day??!! Time to go on strike......Singaporeanson u hold the megaphone while I carry the picket sign.

the 13th month payment in Singapore is not the bonus, it's known as the Annual Wage Supplement (AWS).

http://www.mom.gov.sg/employment-practices/employment-rights-conditions/salary/Pages/variable-wage.aspx