Team Handbook (SG)

The Software Practice, a software development firm located at 138 Cecil Street, #12-02/03, Cecil Court, Singapore 069538 (Co. Reg. 201118383N) hereinafter referred to as the “Company”

Individuals who are being employed by the Company hereinafter known as the “Employees”

1. General Employment Terms and Conditions#

1.1. The work location will be at 138 Cecil Street, #12-02/03 Cecil Court, Singapore 069538.

1.2. The Company is result-driven and does not track the clock in/out times. Thus, the working hours are practically flexible, as long as the Employees complete their work at the satisfactory level. Employees shall be accountable to utilize their flexible work arrangements in a responsible and prudent manner. Employees will still be expected to adjust their working arrangements when necessary to meet business needs and remain mindful of business confidentiality and work safety policies even when working remotely. For example, the employees will need to coordinate their schedules with their team’s members to allow team meetings and discussion.

1.3. The Company reserves the right to suspend, modify or terminate indefinitely any and all flexible work arrangements for reasons including, but not limited to, the disruption of business operations, change in job or business requirements, staff shortage, or negative impact on the individual’s performance and work. In the event of such suspension, termination, or modification of the flexible work arrangements scheme, the Company will give staff two (2) weeks’ written notice to make any required adjustments.

1.4. Confirmation of employment is subjected to satisfactory performance as evaluated by the Company.

1.5. Employees are expected to adhere to a standard of professional conduct and integrity. This ensures that the work environment is safe, comfortable and productive. Employees should interact with co-workers, managers, subordinates and customers with mutual respect and common courtesy. General cooperation between co-workers and supervisors is expected. Any non-compliance with the Company policies may be subjected to disciplinary actions, including termination, as per Ministry of Manpower regulations [1] .

2. Attendance#

2.1. Employees who will be absent from work should notify their Project Manager(s) and HR/Ops in advance, or as soon as possible in the event of an emergency. Employees who are absent from work without notice are considered tardy and may be subjected to disciplinary actions.

2.2. Employees need to submit their leave application via the ZOHO People platform. The details of this process can be found in the Leave Application and Public Holidays [2] .

2.3. If an Employee absents himself / herself from work for more than two (2) working days without valid reasons, he / she is deemed to have broken his/her contract of service. In this situation, the Company reserves the right to terminate the employment agreement without prior notice, as per Ministry of Manpower regulations [3] .

3. Renumeration#

3.1. The starting salary of any Employee will be determined by the Company in line with the job appointment and consideration of relevant qualifications and working experience of the Employee.

3.2. Employees will receive their monthly salary through their bank accounts on the 1st of the following month unless otherwise stated.

3.3. All new Employees will furnish the Company with (i) Employee’s name as per bank account, (ii) bank name and branch and (iii) bank account number. Employees will inform the Company of any change to their bank account particulars.

4. Reimbursement#

4.1.  All reimbursement (including transport cost to and from client’s office) will have to go through approval before submitting via QuickHR.

4.2 Other Reimbursement Approval

4.2.1 Approval Process

1. Seeking Approval: Employees are required to submit a written request for reimbursement to the Operations team before incurring any expenses. This request must be submitted via YouTrack TSP Helpdesk System. This request should include details such as the purpose of the expense, estimated cost, and any supporting documents or receipts.

2. Approval Confirmation: Upon receiving the request, the Operations team will review it and provide written confirmation of approval via reply in YouTrack TSP Helpdesk System. This written confirmation serves as the official approval for the reimbursement.

3. Expense Incurrence: Once approval is received, employee can proceed with incurring the expense. It is crucial to keep all relevant receipts and documentation for the expense.

4. Submission for Reimbursement: After incurring the expense, employee must submit a new reimbursement request via YouTrack TSP Helpdesk System along with the written confirmation of approval from the Operations team and all supporting documents.

5. Reimbursement Process: Reimbursement requests will be escalated to Finance upon receipt of all required documentation. Finance will notify employee via email once the reimbursement cost has been transferred.

5. Probation#

5.1. New employees will be required to fulfil the probationary period as stated in the Employment Agreement.

5.2. Discipline may be in the of form of probation, which is set in clause [13] .

6. Medical Benefits#

6.1. Medical benefits given to Employees can be found in respective employment agreements.

6.2. The sick leave eligibility and entitlement are as per Ministry of Manpower regulations [4] .

7. Annual Leave#

7.1. The annual leave eligibility and entitlement are based on the Ministry of Manpower regulations [5] , with a modification as described in 7.2

7.2. In the first 3 months of employment, Employees are allowed to apply for paid annual leave. If the Employees are to leave or to be terminated from the Company within their first 3 months of employment, the salary that is equivalent to their approved annual leave will be deducted from their final payroll.

7.3. The number of days of paid annual leave given to Employees can be found in respective employment agreements. Employees need to submit their leave application via the ZOHO People platform. The details of this process can be found in the Leave Application and Public Holidays [2] .

7.4. The Annual Leave shall be taken at a time or times as shall be approved by the Company. The time at which the Annual Leave may be taken is at the discretion of the Company, but not more than 10 consecutive working days of the Annual Leave may be taken at any one time.

7.5 The Employee may carry forward a maximum of 7 days of unused annual leave to the next calendar year. However, any carried-forward leave must be utilized by the 30th of June of the next calendar year. Carried-forward leave cannot be extended to cover the remaining 6 months of the year and cannot be further carried forward to another subsequent year. Unused carried-forward leave will be forfeited if not utilized within the stipulated timeframe. Exceptions may be granted in extraordinary circumstances, subject to the discretion of the Company.

7.6 There will be no year-end encashment for unused annual leave. Unused annual leave will not be converted into cash or any other form of compensation at the end of the calendar year.

7.7 If the Employee has taken more Annual Leave than he is entitled to, he hereby consents to and the Company is hereby authorised to deduct the value of the days taken in excess of his accrued entitlement from the final salary payment due. Alternatively, the Employee will be entitled in his final salary payroll to receive payment for any holiday accrued but not taken.

7.8 The Employee will be paid his normal basic remuneration during any period or periods of absence from work due to incapacity for a total of up to 14 working days (i.e. Monday to Friday) in any 52 consecutive weeks of Employment under this Contract. Thereafter, the payment of remuneration and provision of benefits shall be at the Company’s discretion.

7.9 Annual Leave will be pro-rated in the years in which the Employee joins and leaves the Company and the resulting entitlement will be rounded up to the nearest half day.

8. Maternity Leave#

8.1. Maternity leave eligibility and entitlement are as per Ministry of Manpower regulations [6] .

9. Paternity Leave#

9.1. Paternity leave eligibility and entitlement are as per Ministry of Manpower regulations [7] .

10. Childcare Leave#

10.1. Childcare leave eligibility and entitlement are as per Ministry of Manpower regulations [8] .

10.2. Employees may be entitled to 2 days of extended childcare leave every year if their youngest child is in primary school, as per Ministry of Manpower regulations [9] .

11. Infant Care Leave#

11.1. Employees might be entitled to unpaid infant care leave, as per Ministry of Manpower regulations [10] .

12. Reservist Training#

12.1. Upon receiving notice of reservist training or routine reporting, the Employees are advised to submit a copy of the notice with a made-up pay claim form to the HR/Ops Team and submit their leave application via the ZOHO People platform.

13. Disciplinary Actions#

13.1. The company reserves the right to discipline and / or terminate any Employee who violates company policies, practices or rules of conduct. Poor performance and misconduct are also grounds for discipline or termination, as per Ministry of Manpower regulations [1] .

13.2. Actions such as, but not limited to, engaging in acts of discrimination or harassment in the workplace, possessing, distributing or being under the influence of illicit controlled substances, damage, destruction or theft of company property, equipment or assets, performing any act, engaging in any conduct or course of action or making or publishing an adverse, untrue or misleading statement which has or may reasonably have the effect of demeaning the name or business reputation of the Company and/or its Clients, are considered grounds for disciplinary action. The Company reserves the right to determine the severity and extent of any disciplinary action based on the circumstances of each case. 

13.3. Discipline may take the form of oral warnings, written warnings, probation, suspension, demotion, discharge, removal or some other disciplinary action, in no particular order. The course of action will be determined by the Company at its sole discretion as it deems appropriate. 

14. Grievance Handling#

14.1. The Company takes all grievances seriously and assures that confidentiality will be maintained throughout the grievance procedure. There shall be no disciplinary action taken against employees who appeal to the superior of the immediate supervisor. This is to assure employees who are not familiar with a grievance process, and may be hesitant to raise grievances for fear of reprisals from the management.

14.2. Employees can file grievances when

• They have been victims of workplace harassment.
• Their health and safety have been compromised.
• They’ve witnessed poor supervisor and/or management behavior.
• There are unjust changes made to the employment agreement.
• Policy guidelines are violated.
• There is a dispute between coworkers, suppliers, and/or management.

14.3. Employees can file a formal grievance via help@thesoftwarepractice.com

14.4. Head of Operations will conduct the investigation and work with relevant parties to resolve the grievance.

14.5. All grievances reported will be treated with utmost privacy and confidentiality. Only a limited number of authorized personnel in the company (Head of Operations and senior management) will have access to this information. Rest assured that this matter will not be disclosed to any other parties.

14.6. More information about workplace grievances can be found in this Ministry of Manpower regulations [11] .

15. Termination / Return of Company Property#

15.1. Employment with the Company is on an at-will basis and may be terminated voluntarily or involuntarily at any time. 

15.2. The duration of notice period can be found in respective employment agreements.

15.3. Upon confirmation of the Employee’s appointment, the Employee may resign upon giving written notice of his / her intention to resign. It is within the Company’s discretion to agree in writing to a shorter notice period or to the Employee’s immediate resignation upon the payment to the Company of a sum to be agreed in lieu of such notice. The Company may terminate an Employee’s appointment at any time by way of written notice or payment to the Employee of salary in-lieu, according to the Employment Agreement.

15.4. Any misbehaviour or misconduct on the Employee’s part, and any dishonesty, insubordination, moral turpitude or breach of Company’s practices or policies shall be sufficient grounds for the Employee’s dismissal without notice, as per Ministry of Manpower regulations [1] .

15.5. Upon termination, Employee is required to:

• Continue to work until the last scheduled day of employment;
• Turn in all reports, paperwork required to be completed by the Employee when due and no later than the last day of work;
• Remove his / her possessions from the Company’s premises and immediately deliver to the Company all means of access to the Company’s premises and all Company property including but not limited to Confidential Information and Work Product and copies thereof that are within the Employee’s possession, custody or control.

16. References#

[1] Ministry of Manpower (Misconduct) > https://www.mom.gov.sg/employment-practices/termination-of-employment/termination-due-to-misconduct#:\~:text=Misconduct%20found,of%20notice%20will%20be%20paid.

[2] Leave Application Guideline

[3] Ministry of Manpower (Termination without notice) > https://www.mom.gov.sg/employment-practices/termination-of-employment/termination-without-notice

[4] Ministry of Manpower (Sick leave eligibility and entitlement) > https://www.mom.gov.sg/employment-practices/leave/sick-leave/eligibility-and-entitlement

[5] Ministry of Manpower (Annual leave eligibility and entitlement) > https://www.mom.gov.sg/employment-practices/leave/annual-leave/eligibility-and-entitlement

[6] Ministry of Manpower (Maternity leave eligibility and entitlement) > https://www.mom.gov.sg/employment-practices/leave/maternity-leave/eligibility-and-entitlement

[7] Ministry of Manpower (Paternity leave) > https://www.mom.gov.sg/employment-practices/leave/paternity-leave

[8] Ministry of Manpower (Childcare leave eligibility and entitlement) > https://www.mom.gov.sg/employment-practices/leave/childcare-leave/eligibility-and-entitlement

[9] Ministry of Manpower (Extended childcare leave) > https://www.mom.gov.sg/employment-practices/leave/childcare-leave/extended-childcare-leave

[10] Ministry of Manpower (Unpaid infant care leave) > https://www.mom.gov.sg/employment-practices/leave/unpaid-infant-care-leave

[11] Ministry of Manpower (Workplace grievances) > https://www.mom.gov.sg/employment-practices/workplace-grievances