STAFF WORKS FROM 9AM-6PM & O.T UNTIL 10PM, THEN BOSS SAY MEETING AT MIDNIGHT

Overload work in Singapore company

Can I sue my company as my supervisor asked me to join virtual meeting in the midnight for work purpose. It happened for a few days.

The work from 9am to 6pm is a joke. With the workload here you almost need to work until 10pm to 1am to be able to complete all the work.

Update: I appreciate everyone’s input and experienced insights. It appears that pursuing legal action might be complex, and I prefer simpler approach. Therefore, I’ll check the violations I can report to MOM and seek a new company.

Netizens’ comments

1. Or, just stand your ground and tell him that meetings will need to be held during working hours? The more you accede to his whims, the easier he finds you to push around.
2. You probably won’t succeed in suing your company. Your employment letter likely has a catch-all clause after specifying your official work hours, that your work hours will be subject to exigencies.
   But of course, you can quit.
   You need to appreciate, however, that some jobs are very seasonal, eg. consulting, auditing, etc. I was from external auditing in one of the Big 4 decades ago. No night no day during peak period. Very normal for staff to be double or triple booked on different clients. The work just has to be done; no room for any negotiation. Easy to suffer burnout. But during the off-peak period, the managers either asked us to take leave (to the extent of even approving advance leave) or there were some days the whole office shutdown. So, give and take lor. Some people can tahan this sort of lifestyle and stay on to become senior managers and partners (of course at that level they don’t have to stay so late…. can just arrow the junior staff). For me, four years was enough.
3. What’s stopping you from resigning?
4. Don’t sue now, wait until you get into like an accident . Then you can claim it is due to late night meeting. You will have higher chance of winning
5. Welcome to the workforce, must be your first exposure to being a corporate slave. You’re better off just quitting and slaving elsewhere.