Employer threaten foreigner friend who is resigning
My friend is a Malaysian who is currently on an EP in Singapore. She signed a contract with a 2 year bond with her current company 1 year ago.
However, due to the lack of opportunities in the firm (SME), she went and managed to get a job at an MNC. This is in the audit field.
Currently, her employer rejected her resignation and has threatened to sue her if she resigned. Previously, before signing the contract, she has enquired about the penalty for breaking the bond and the company has stated it as 2 months of pay.
However, the company now say it is not valid as it is not part of the contract and has said that they would settle it in court instead.
She has also checked with MOM with regards to whether their email reply to her enquiry about the penalty is valid but MOM told her it is a legal matter and they cannot advise.
MOM told her to approach Ministry of Law but Ministry of Law say they cannot help her as she is a foreigner.
Based on contract, she is required to give only 1 month notice but the employer want her to give minimum 3 months. The boss also threaten her that he can make her not be able to work in Singapore again.
At this point, we don’t know what her employer wants also because he keeps increasing the terms of what he want with every conversation.
Have told her to have everything in writing via email but boss told her it is not valid and also refuse to communicate via email.
My friend does not want to take the risk of going to court due to lack of financial resources. Are there any advice or options left for her now? She don’t want to take my money to consult a lawyer so idk how else I can help.