3 more bus drivers sue SBS Transit over alleged unpaid wages, work hours
SINGAPORE — Three bus drivers are suing their employer SBS Transit over alleged breaches of the Employment Act, claiming they were overworked and underpaid.
The civil suits, which were filed with the State Courts on 24 December, come three months after five bus drivers filed similar suits against SBS Transit. All the eight drivers are represented by lawyer M. Ravi.
According to their statements of claim, SBS Transit allegedly breached the Employment Act by mandating a 12-day work week and four hours of “built-in overtime” into their employment contracts.
The drivers said they effectively had two rest days for 12 days of work, or a rest day after seven days of consecutive work. They also claim to have been underpaid from the time they started work as SBS Transit did not pay them for overtime work in accordance with the Employment Act.
The plaintiffs are asking for damages to be assessed for wages, costs and a statutory interest of 5.33 per cent per year.
Under the employment law, workmen earning less than $4,500 cannot be made to work more than 44 hours a week. Those who work on their rest day at the request of their employer must also be paid between one days’ salary and two days’ salary with overtime pay, depending on the hours worked.
All eight drivers – three Singaporeans and five Malaysians – have since resigned from the National Transport Workers’ Union, an affiliated union under the National Trades Union Congress.
More Singapore stories:
Undergrad charged with molesting woman at SMU study room
Japanese teacher who took upskirt video aboard MRT train jailed 24 days
Autopsy shows celebrity Muay Thai challenger Pradip Subramaniam had pre-existing heart conditions
Electricity tariff to rise 3.5% in first quarter of 2020, highest rate in 5 years
Lucky Plaza car crash: 2 victims in critical condition, 2 stable
