Read the probation and notice clauses and work out what it would cost you to leave at any point.
Before you sign a job offer, find the probation clause and the notice clause and read them closely. Most people skim both, but together they set out how you or the employer can end the job and how much warning or money that takes.
Kai Wen, 27, is a software developer who has been offered a job at a fintech company in one-north (an example case). The recruiter wants him to sign by Friday and start in four weeks. He opens the contract, finds the salary on page one, checks that it matches what he was told, and is about to sign.
A friend asks him how quickly he could leave if the job did not work out in the first month, and what it would cost. He can't answer, so he goes back through the contract. It gives three months' probation, which the company can extend by up to three more months at its discretion. Either side must give one week's notice during probation, and one month's notice after confirmation. These are example terms, and your own contract may be quite different.
Probation is a trial period at the start of a job. During it, you and the employer each decide whether the job works. The contract should say how long probation lasts, what happens when it ends and whether it can be extended. The end of probation is called confirmation, and contracts handle it in different ways. Some confirm you automatically. Some require confirmation in writing. Some let the employer extend probation if it is not satisfied.
Notice during probation is usually shorter than notice after confirmation. The shorter period applies to both sides, so the employer can end the job faster and you can also leave faster. If probation is extended, the short probation notice period also runs for longer. Kai Wen sees that an extended probation would also extend his short notice period, and he does not mind.
The notice period is how much warning either side must give to end the contract. It decides how soon you can move to your next job. When a contract says nothing about notice, the Employment Act sets minimum notice periods based on how long you have worked there, and MOM's website lists them. Most contracts do state a notice period, often longer than the legal minimum, and it usually applies equally to you and the employer.
A long notice period can feel like a trap when you want to leave. It also protects you, because if the employer ends your job, it has to give you the same warning or pay you for it.
You can usually give notice in one of two ways. You can work it out, which means staying in the job until the notice period ends. Or you can pay salary in lieu of notice, which means compensating the other side for the notice you don't give. The contract normally says whether salary in lieu is allowed, and the Employment Act also provides for it. You can combine the two by working part of the notice and paying salary in lieu for the rest.
Salary in lieu matters most when a new employer wants you to start before your notice would end. Take Kai Wen after confirmation, earning S$6,000 a month on one month's notice, with a new employer that wants him in two weeks. If his contract allows salary in lieu, he can work two weeks and pay salary in lieu for the other two. That is about half a month's salary, or S$3,000. Some new employers will cover this cost for a candidate they want, but you need to ask. Salary in lieu also applies the other way round. If the employer ends your job with salary in lieu, you leave straight away and are paid for the notice period instead of working it.
Many people assume they can use leftover annual leave to shorten their notice. Offsetting notice with leave is sometimes possible but not automatic. Many employers agree to it. Others want you to work the full notice and pay out your unused leave instead, or have their own rules on how leave is treated when you resign. Check your contract or employee handbook first. If neither covers it, ask before you sign and get the answer in writing. When you resign, put the leave offset request in your resignation letter so it is on record. Kai Wen asks about this, and the recruiter agrees to add a line saying leave can offset notice by mutual agreement.
Before you sign, note down these terms from the contract:
the probation length whether probation can be extended the notice period during probation the notice period after confirmation whether salary in lieu is allowed whether leave can offset notice
Use them to work out the notice or money you would need to leave at each stage. For Kai Wen, leaving during probation would take one week's notice or one week's salary in lieu. Leaving after confirmation would take one month's notice or up to one month's salary.
None of this is a reason to turn down an offer. Kai Wen signs his contract and knows exactly how he could leave the job.
Your own contract, or an offer you're considering, has the same clauses, and you'll find them next.
Write down how long your probation is, your notice period during and after probation, and whether salary in lieu and leave offsets are allowed.
Junxiong-WFG Organisation is an authorised representative of AIA Financial Advisers Private Limited (Reg. No. 201715016G).