QUESTION

Hi all HR practitioners,

Can company choose not to pay holiday pay as employee is already provided per diem while on overseas trip during Singapore public holiday?

Christina

REPLIES & COMMENTS

REPLY 1

Firstly, it is good to check if employee is covered under Employment Act first. If he/she is covered, my advice as follow:

Per diem generally refers to allowances given to staff for expenses incurred during overseas business trip. Such could be for lodging and food.

Public Holiday pay is not an allowance; a payment given to staff who worked on a Public Holiday for Public Holiday is a paid non-working day. Unless the per diem payment given explicitly include the Public Holiday pay item (no less than 1 day basic), such should be separated from the per diem payment.

Chris

REPLY 2

I believe per diem and holiday pay are 2 different issues. You still need to pay the employee 1 day’s pay or off-in-lieu for working during PH.

Janice