LABOUR LAWS ON HOME-BASED WORKERS

Dr Kanwaljit Soin asked the Minister for Labour whether there are any guidelines for factories or businesses who contract out home-based work.

Dr Lee Boon Yang: Home-based work is of two categories. In Singapore, most home-based work does not involve employer-employee relationship. The usual arrangement is for a company to enter into a contract for service (as against a contract of service) with an individual party to perform a task or to undertake work at his home, using his own tools and at his own pace without any supervision. As he is not an employee of the company, he will not be paid a salary. Instead, he will be paid a fee based on work done for the company. An example of this type of home-based work is a housewife who undertakes to sew and complete dresses for garment factories in her own homes and at her own pace for a fee on a piece-rate basis. Another example is a freelance accounts personnel who helps a company to prepare and complete a set of accounts and be paid a fee for his services. As there is no employer-employee relationship, our labour laws do not apply to them. Should there be any dispute between the contractual parties, they would have to seek remedies in the Civil Courts.

Another category of home-based work is those which involve employer-employee relationship under an employment contract of service. Under their contracts, the employees concerned could operate from both the office and their homes as long as they could deliver what is expected of them. With advanced technology in telecommunications such as computers and fax machines, more and more people are now able to operate from their homes. As long as such persons are covered by an employment contract, they are employees of a company, and the appropriate provisions of our labour laws will apply to them. An example of this category of home-based work is the journalist, insurance or property agent who is given the flexibility to operate both from the office and his home.