How the Employment Claims Tribunals Work in Singapore

Employment disputes often arrive with two problems at once: money is at stake, and the employment relationship may already be damaged or over.

An employee may say salary, overtime, commission or notice pay remains unpaid. An employer may say the amount is not contractually due. A worker may say a dismissal was wrongful. The employer may say the dismissal was for misconduct, poor performance or redundancy.

Singapore’s Employment Claims Tribunals, or ECT, give many of these disputes a specialised route. The system deliberately places mediation before adjudication: eligible statutory and contractual employment disputes must first go through the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management, or TADM. Only unresolved claims accompanied by a Claim Referral Certificate move into the ECT.

The result is a two-stage architecture: try to settle the employment problem first; adjudicate only what remains genuinely disputed.

Quick answer: what can the ECT hear?

The ECT can hear eligible salary-related claims and wrongful-dismissal claims under the Employment Claims Act and related legislation. Common salary-related claims include unpaid salary, overtime, commissions, contractual bonuses, salary in lieu of notice, certain leave-related payments and other contractual or statutory employment payments within jurisdiction.

Current TADM guidance states that a non-union claimant may generally claim up to $20,000 per salary-related or wrongful-dismissal claim, while a union member whose union files the claim may claim up to $30,000 per claim. Where both a salary-related claim and wrongful-dismissal claim are brought, the combined limits can reach $40,000 for non-union claimants or $60,000 for union-filed claims, subject to the legal rules for each claim.

1. TADM mediation is compulsory before the ECT

The Singapore Judiciary states that parties may file in the ECT only where the dispute remains unresolved after TADM mediation and an approved TADM mediator has issued a Claim Referral Certificate.

This sequencing is important. The ECT is not the first institutional response to most eligible employment claims. Mediation comes first because many disputes concern calculations, contract interpretation or broken communication that can be resolved without a tribunal judgment.

The certificate is therefore more than a form. It proves that the claim has passed through the required upstream dispute-resolution gate.

2. TADM often begins with e-Negotiation before a mediator intervenes

Current TADM guidance explains that many claims first enter an e-Negotiation period, usually lasting about a week, during which employer and employee can attempt a private settlement through the platform.

If the dispute remains unresolved, a mediator may arrange online or in-person mediation. Some cases bypass e-Negotiation and move directly to mediation.

The system therefore tries the least adversarial viable step first before escalating to a formal tribunal.

3. Salary-related claims are wider than basic monthly salary

Employment pay can be fragmented across several contractual and statutory components. Current ECT and TADM guidance identifies claims involving salary, overtime, salary in lieu of notice, contractual commissions, bonuses or annual wage supplements, reimbursements and other eligible employment payments.

A worker who says “my employer owes me money” therefore needs to identify what legal entitlement creates the debt. Is it basic salary, overtime under statute, a contractual commission formula, accrued notice pay or something else?

The tribunal decides legal entitlements, not general dissatisfaction about compensation.

4. Wrongful dismissal is not the same as every unwanted dismissal

An employee may be unhappy about being dismissed and still not have a legally wrongful dismissal claim.

TADM describes wrongful dismissal as dismissal without just cause or excuse, including circumstances such as discrimination, deprivation of an employment benefit or punishment for exercising an employment right. Dismissal for misconduct, poor performance or redundancy can be valid depending on the facts and legal requirements.

The legal question is therefore why and how the dismissal occurred, not simply whether the employee wanted the job to continue.

5. Wrongful-dismissal claims can seek reinstatement or compensation

Current Judiciary guidance states that an employee who proves wrongful dismissal may seek reinstatement to the former employment together with wages that would have been earned, or compensation in an amount of wages determined by the tribunal.

Those remedies solve different problems. Reinstatement attempts to restore the employment relationship. Compensation recognises that returning to the job may be unrealistic or inappropriate.

The tribunal chooses the lawful outcome on the facts rather than assuming every successful wrongful-dismissal claimant should return to the workplace.

6. Claim limits create a proportional forum

The ECT is intended as a speedy and lower-cost tribunal rather than a replacement for every employment lawsuit. Monetary limits help preserve that role.

For many employees, a $10,000 or $20,000 salary dispute is financially significant while still being too small to justify the cost of conventional litigation. The ECT reduces that access problem by using simplified process and restricting lawyer representation.

Larger or excluded employment disputes may require a different legal route.

7. Filing deadlines matter at the TADM stage, not only at court

Employment claims have statutory time limits. TADM therefore advises employees to file promptly rather than wait until the employment relationship has ended and records have disappeared.

Different claim types can have different filing periods depending on whether the employee is still employed, when employment ended and whether the claim concerns wrongful dismissal or salary.

The safest approach is to check the current Employment Claims Act and TADM guidance for the exact claim rather than assume the ordinary civil limitation period applies.

8. The evidence trail often already exists in payroll and messages

Employment disputes are frequently document-rich. Contracts, payslips, bank transfers, CPF records, attendance records, commission statements, termination letters, performance records, emails and messages can all become important.

TADM’s current filing guidance specifically asks claimants to prepare documentary or anecdotal evidence relevant to salary and dismissal disputes.

The strongest case often begins months before the dispute, when ordinary employment records were being created for a completely different purpose.

9. CJTS is the court-side platform after TADM referral

Once TADM issues a referral certificate, an ECT claim is filed through the Community Justice and Tribunals System, or CJTS.

The claimant files the claim, serves the respondent and manages later court steps through CJTS. The respondent can file a formal response and supporting documents.

The digital platform reduces administrative friction but does not reduce the need for proper service, accurate documents and attendance.

10. Lawyers are not allowed to represent parties in ECT proceedings

The Judiciary states that lawyers are not allowed to represent parties in ECT matters.

This keeps the forum proportionate to lower-value employment disputes. Both employee and employer generally present their own case, although companies may act through authorised representatives and parties can obtain legal advice outside the proceeding.

The representation rule is one of the mechanisms that prevents legal costs from overtaking the value of the claim.

11. ECT proceedings are conducted in private

Current Judiciary guidance states that ECT proceedings are conducted in private in the State Courts. Members of the public and media are not ordinarily present, although the tribunal retains discretion to allow observers.

This differs from the open-court model associated with many ordinary civil trials. Employment disputes can involve confidential payroll information, performance assessments and workplace allegations, and the tribunal structure gives the proceedings a more private setting.

Privacy does not make the outcome optional. ECT orders remain legally binding.

12. The case management conference is another settlement gate

Even after TADM mediation fails, the ECT does not rush automatically to a hearing. Both parties first attend a case management conference, or CMC.

A registrar manages the case and again gives the parties an opportunity to settle. If agreement is reached, the terms can be recorded as a consent order.

This second settlement opportunity recognises that positions can change once parties see the filed evidence and understand the tribunal risks more clearly.

13. If settlement fails, a tribunal magistrate hears the case

An ECT hearing takes place before a tribunal magistrate. The magistrate directs the flow and manner of proceedings and allows each party to present the case and supporting documents.

The hearing is simpler than an ordinary civil trial but remains adjudication. The claimant must establish the legal entitlement. The respondent can challenge the claim and present a defence.

The tribunal magistrate then makes the order justified by the evidence and law.

14. Attendance is compulsory because absence cannot be a strategy

Both parties must attend CMCs and hearings unless the tribunal allows otherwise. Current Judiciary guidance states that the tribunal may continue and make orders if a party is absent without reasonable excuse.

A claimant who fails to attend may have the claim dismissed. A respondent who fails to attend may face an order in the claimant’s favour.

The process cannot be defeated simply by refusing to show up.

15. The tribunal can order payment of salary-related claims

Where a salary-related claim is proved, the tribunal can order the respondent to pay the amount determined to be due, subject to jurisdiction and the claim limits.

The order converts the employment entitlement into a judgment-like obligation capable of enforcement.

The ECT does not automatically collect the money. If payment is not made, the successful party must decide whether to begin enforcement.

16. Wrongful dismissal can end in reinstatement

For a successful wrongful-dismissal claim seeking reinstatement, the tribunal may require the employer to reinstate the employee to the former employment and pay an amount equivalent to wages the employee would have earned if not dismissed.

This is a powerful remedy because it attempts to restore both the position and lost income.

It will not be suitable in every dispute. The tribunal must assess the remedy within the legal framework and practical employment relationship.

17. Wrongful dismissal can instead end in compensation

Where reinstatement is not the appropriate route, the ECT can direct the employer to pay compensation measured in wages according to the tribunal’s determination.

Compensation recognises that some employment relationships cannot realistically be restored even when the dismissal was wrongful.

The remedy therefore protects the legal right without pretending the workplace relationship is unchanged.

18. The tribunal can also dismiss a claim or order costs

Not every filed employment claim succeeds. The tribunal can dismiss all or part of a claim where the claimant does not establish the legal entitlement.

The ECT can also make costs orders in circumstances allowed by law and can refer parties back toward mediation where appropriate.

Filing therefore creates access to a decision, not a presumption that the employee or employer is correct.

19. Appeals are deliberately narrow

A party dissatisfied with a tribunal magistrate’s order does not receive an automatic full appeal on every factual disagreement.

Current Judiciary guidance states that permission to appeal is required and the appeal must involve a question of law or a claim said to be outside the tribunal’s jurisdiction. The appeal proceeds to the General Division of the High Court if permission is granted.

The General Division’s decision on such an ECT appeal is final and not subject to further appeal.

20. Filing an appeal does not automatically suspend the order

An ECT order remains enforceable unless it has been stayed or set aside. A party seeking to prevent enforcement while an appeal is pending must obtain a stay from the appropriate court.

This prevents an appeal from becoming an automatic delay tactic. The party must justify why enforcement should pause.

A stay changes the timing of enforcement, not the existence of the order itself.

21. ECT orders can be enforced like District Court orders

Current Judiciary guidance states that ECT orders may be enforced in the same way as District Court orders.

This connects the employment tribunal to Singapore’s broader civil-enforcement machinery. A successful party can use an enforcement application and, where appropriate, methods such as attachment, seizure or examination of the enforcement respondent.

As with other civil orders, enforcement must be initiated by the successful party and does not guarantee recovery if the defaulting party lacks recoverable assets.

22. A worked example: unpaid commission

Imagine an employee’s written contract provides a commission formula and the employee says $12,000 remains unpaid after leaving the company.

The employee files at TADM within the applicable time, producing the contract, sales records, payslips and correspondence. If mediation fails and a referral certificate is issued, the employee files in the ECT through CJTS.

The tribunal then determines whether the commission was contractually earned and unpaid. If proved, it can order payment within the statutory jurisdiction.

23. A worked example: wrongful dismissal allegation

Suppose an employee says dismissal followed immediately after the employee exercised a statutory employment right. The employer says the real reason was documented misconduct.

The tribunal must examine evidence rather than infer the answer from timing alone. Termination letters, investigation records, correspondence, performance records and the parties’ explanations may all matter.

If wrongful dismissal is established, the tribunal can consider reinstatement with lost wages or compensation under the applicable law.

24. Common misconceptions

Misconception: Employees can file directly in the ECT immediately.
No. Eligible disputes must first go through compulsory TADM mediation and receive a referral certificate if unresolved.

Misconception: Every dismissal is wrongful if the employee disagrees with it.
No. Wrongfulness depends on the legal reason and circumstances of dismissal.

Misconception: Lawyers argue ECT cases.
No. Lawyers are not allowed to represent parties in ECT proceedings.

Misconception: Winning an ECT claim guarantees immediate payment.
No. Enforcement may still be necessary if the losing party does not comply.

Misconception: Any factual disagreement can be appealed all the way through the court hierarchy.
No. ECT appeals are restricted, require permission and are focused on legal or jurisdictional grounds.

25. The deeper idea: employment justice works best when settlement and adjudication are connected

Employment disputes often involve amounts that matter deeply to individuals but are too small for conventional litigation to be efficient. They also arise inside relationships where a negotiated solution can sometimes preserve jobs, references, payment plans or dignity better than a binary judgment.

Singapore’s TADM–ECT sequence tries to capture both realities. Mediation is compulsory because settlement is often efficient. The tribunal exists because settlement cannot be compulsory in outcome.

That combination creates a credible ladder: negotiate, mediate, file, manage, adjudicate, appeal on limited grounds, enforce if necessary. Each stage is lighter than the next, but each has a clear route forward when the previous stage cannot solve the dispute.

How the Employment Claims Tribunals Work | Salary and Wrongful-Dismissal Claims, Mediation and Adjudication