Rest days are crucial for maintaining a healthy and productive workforce. As an employer, it’s your responsibility to properly implement this mandate to demonstrate your commitment to employee well-being while ensuring that your team remains motivated and focused.
Adaptive Pay can help you manage rest days, leave applications, approvals, and related tasks. This automated leave management system and leave app can deliver convenience and efficiency, especially when integrated with attendance management systems and payroll modules.
What does the Ministry of Manpower (MoM) say about rest days?
MoM requires employers to provide their employees with at least one full 24-hour rest day per week. This rest day should ideally follow a regular work schedule. These rest days are not paid.
For shift workers, MOM offers some flexibility. Employers are mandated to provide their employees with a 30-hour rest period that starts before 6 pm on Sunday, which can be considered their weekly rest day. This 30-hour rest period can even extend into Monday.
The difference between rest days and off days
While people often use "rest days" and "off days" interchangeably, these terms have slight differences based on employment regulations and context:
Off day: This refers to any day your employee does not have to work. It could be a public holiday, personal leave day, sick day, or a regular day off.
Rest day: This is a legally mandated day off intended for an employee's complete rest from work, with specific restrictions on working and minimum durations. Rest days can be tracked with a leave management system like Adaptive Pay.
Determining rest days
In Singapore, employers possess the discretion to select the rest day for their employees, traditionally observed on Sundays but flexible to any chosen day. Adaptive Pay offers a leave app with an attendance module, facilitating employees in effortlessly tracking their designated rest day schedules via their phone or browser.
To ensure smooth scheduling and employee awareness, clear communication of rest days is crucial, especially for companies that have non-Sunday rest days. Using a leave management system like Adaptive Pay can help in this regard. It allows employers to create a monthly roster that outlines each employee's designated rest days for the entire month. This roster can be distributed to employees at the beginning of each month.
Things employers must know about rest days
You can ask your employees to work on their rest day, but only under specific circumstances. In any case, remember that rest is important for their productivity and well-being.
Rest day work requires additional compensation. You cannot offer time off in lieu of pay. Rest day pay follows the guidelines set out in Part IV of the Employment Act. However, executives and managers are not covered by this law. Their eligibility for rest day pay is determined by their individual employment contracts.
If Sunday is a regular work day and the employee’s rest day falls on a weekday, they receive their standard basic pay rate according to their contract (not rest day pay).
Employees qualify for rest day pay if they receive a monthly basic salary of $4,500 or less (workman) or a monthly basic salary of $2,600 or less (non-workman).
Streamline rest day management with Adaptive Pay.
Managing rest day schedules and calculating the corresponding pay can be complex. Miscalculations can lead to payroll headaches and employee dissatisfaction.
Adaptive Pay can help. Our comprehensive HR solution goes beyond a simple leave app. It integrates seamlessly with your existing attendance management system to ensure accurate payroll tracking and rest day calculations.
Adaptive Pay streamlines the entire process, from scheduling rest days to calculating and delivering accurate payslips. It also extends beyond rest day management by offering a full suite of HRMS features to optimise your HR operations.
Contact us today for a free demo and see how Adaptive Pay can revolutionise your leave and attendance management. We also have a special offer available on our cloud-based solution.
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