Unregistered |
29-01-2015 10:53 PM |
Quote:
Originally Posted by Unregistered
(Post 62023)
Actually the logic behind 13th month bonus is due to the 52 weeks system. By an old tradition, an employee is supposed to be paid once every 4 weeks. But thats too complicated so nowadays companies just pay on a monthly basis, say on the 15ht of each month. So in one year, there are 52 weeks. 52 divided by 4 is 13. Hence, you should be paid 13 times. But because of this monthly payment system, we only get 12 months of pay. Thus the 13th month must come in to offset the missing month.
So in effect, if you've started in december, you might not be entitled to the 13 month bonus at all if you only worked 4 weeks or less in that month of december. If you've worked more than 4 weeks, then you are entitled to more pay.
HOWEVER, the most you should be entitled to is capped at exactly 2.5 days of work and not more. Because the 13th month should be spread out amongst the 12 months in the year. 30 divided by 12 is exactly 2.5 days. Meaning we work 2.5 days more for each month. 2.5 days of pay....
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This is actually a misconception that has been oft propagated quite a bit online. Simply said, Singapore follows a monthly based salary system, as compared to some other countries which pays on a weekly or fortnightly basis.
This practice of 13th month bonus, or Annual Wage Supplement (AWS), is more prominent in the Asian countries. Your pay in Singapore is actually based on 52 weeks, but paid out on a monthly basis instead for ease of accounting. When you calculate your daily rate of pay here, the formula is actually Monthly salary x 12 months / 52 weeks x no of working days per week. From here, you can see that the 52 weeks is already taken into account. So in fact, you are just being paid slightly more in some months (Feb) and less in others (those with 31 days).
Also, paying your salary every week or every 2 weeks can get quite messy and troublesome administratively.
Another point is that, it's called 13th month only because generally most companies pay out only 1 month. But this is in fact not required by companies under the Employment Act. There are companies which don't pay a single month of AWS, and there are also companies which pay 3 months of AWS.
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