Four new Singapore Employment Claims Tribunals decisions set out how wrongful dismissal claims will be assessed, covering probationary poor-performance firings, eligibility thresholds, no-reason terminations and constructive dismissal tied to medical accommodation.
In one case, the tribunal awarded a probationary employee compensation capped at SGD 30,000 after finding the employer failed to prove poor performance with clear standards, documented reviews and justified ratings.
A separate ruling dismissed a manager’s claim for lack of jurisdiction because he had under six months’ service and was terminated with salary in lieu of notice, so he was not a statutory “relevant employee.”
The other two decisions found that contractual termination without a stated reason can still be wrongful if no just cause is established, and that an employee forced to resign after inadequate medical accommodation could recover SGD 20,000.
The rulings give early guidance ahead of Singapore’s Workplace Fairness Act, due by end-2027, while one no-reason termination case is already headed for appeal on a question of law.