Employment claims in Singapore increased in 2025 as businesses underwent restructuring, retrenchments and closures, although the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM) said the trend does not indicate a broad decline in employment standards.
According to the latest Employment Standards Report, the incidence of employment claims and appeals rose to 3.44 per 1,000 employees in 2025, up from 3.12 in 2024. A total of 13,083 employment claims and appeals were lodged during the year, with local employees accounting for 5,689 claims (43%) and foreign employees 7,394 (57%).
MOM and TADM attributed the increase to higher job turnover driven by business reorganisation, retrenchments and business cessations rather than widespread non-compliance with employment regulations.
Salary-related disputes remained the largest category, with 10,801 claims filed in 2025, while 2,168 claims involved alleged wrongful dismissal. The remainder comprised dismissal appeals under employment legislation and voluntary mediation cases outside the Employment Act.
Despite the increase in disputes, more than 80% of employment claims were resolved through mediation at TADM, while over 90% of claimants recovered their salaries and payments in full through TADM and the Employment Claims Tribunals (ECT).
The incidence of salary claims rose to 2.84 per 1,000 employees from 2.63 in 2024, exceeding pre-pandemic levels for the first time. Foreign employees continued to account for a higher proportion of salary claims, with an incidence rate of 5.16 per 1,000 employees, compared with 1.61 for local employees.
Authorities said most salary disputes involving foreign workers stemmed from end-of-employment situations, including disagreements over final salary payments and employers facing financial difficulties.
Among local employees, the administrative and support services sector accounted for the highest share of salary claims at 12%, followed by professional, scientific and technical activities (10%), food and beverage services (9%), and wholesale trade (9%). Information and communications, which topped the list in 2024, was no longer among the leading sectors.
For foreign employees, construction accounted for nearly half (46%) of salary claims, followed by food and beverage services and professional, scientific and technical activities. Within the latter, most disputes originated from architectural and engineering services, technical testing and analysis, involving construction and maintenance workers.
Around 88% of salary claims were resolved through mediation at TADM, while 92% of employees recovered their salaries in full through TADM and ECT. Another 5% recovered part of their outstanding wages through security bond insurers, main contractors or government financial assistance, while the remaining 3%, mainly higher-income earners, did not recover any payments.
MOM said it continued to restrict employers' access to foreign manpower if they failed to pay employees' salaries in full. Less than 1% of salary claims involved employers who wilfully withheld wages despite having the means to pay.
The total amount recovered for employees rose to S$22 million in 2025, compared with S$19 million in 2024, reflecting the higher number of claims.
Wrongful dismissal claims also increased, with the incidence rising to 0.57 per 1,000 employees from 0.46 a year earlier. The rate remained higher among local employees (0.64 per 1,000) than foreign employees (0.44).
About 67% of wrongful dismissal claims were resolved through mediation. In nearly two-thirds of these cases, employers were found to have met their legal obligations or the claims were withdrawn following mediation. The remaining cases resulted in settlement agreements.
Most wrongful dismissal cases (87%) were concluded within two months, while total payments related to dismissal claims increased to S$2.7 million from S$2.1 million in 2024 due to the higher number of cases.
MOM said it will continue adopting a proactive, data-driven enforcement approach by targeting sectors and firms at higher risk of employment disputes, while strengthening employer and employee education on workplace rights and end-of-employment obligations.
Together with TADM, the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) and tripartite partners, the ministry said it aims to uphold employment standards through education, dispute resolution and enforcement.