Working Cultures
Hierarchical Relationships * Treat employers and superiors with utmost respect.
* Refrain from calling their employers by first names – preferring instead to call them “Mr/Mrs/Miss” and followed with their surname/personal name or simply “Sir/Madam/Boss”. * Practise the “arrive before the boss, leave after the boss” working hours.
Collectivism * Speaking up about individual efforts to complete a task – even if you did complete the task on your own. It is advisable to say “Mr Pang, I have managed to draft out a comprehensive business proposal with the help of my team”. * Disagreeing with group decisions – even if you did have sound reasons for your decision. It is advisable to adhere to (and practise!) the common “majority wins” approach when trying to reach a consensus.
Asian "Face" * Do not correct your employer/superior's mistakes in public. * Do not question your employer/superior in public. * Do not disagree with their employer/superior in public. * Do not refuse your employer/superior outright. Employees may publicly comply to unreasonable demands with an agreeable “yes” but the “yes” is often accompanied with signs of non-compliance (“it might be difficult…”). * Do not engage in public display of anger or confrontation against your employer/superiors.
Working hours
Many companies in Singapore have moved from 6 days to 5 days per week schedule. This is especially true for MNCs and companies engaged in white collar work. Normal working hours are 40-45 hours per week. However depending on the workload you may end up spending more hours per week. Normally there is half-an-hour to one-hour lunch break. Over-time is not applicable to most of the professional and managerial jobs.
If overtime is applicable to your job, it's one-and-a-half times the basic hourly rate. Pay for time worked on holidays and normal days off is two-and-a-half times the normal rate. If you job is covered under the employment act, an
* Refrain from calling their employers by first names – preferring instead to call them “Mr/Mrs/Miss” and followed with their surname/personal name or simply “Sir/Madam/Boss”. * Practise the “arrive before the boss, leave after the boss” working hours.
Collectivism * Speaking up about individual efforts to complete a task – even if you did complete the task on your own. It is advisable to say “Mr Pang, I have managed to draft out a comprehensive business proposal with the help of my team”. * Disagreeing with group decisions – even if you did have sound reasons for your decision. It is advisable to adhere to (and practise!) the common “majority wins” approach when trying to reach a consensus.
Asian "Face" * Do not correct your employer/superior's mistakes in public. * Do not question your employer/superior in public. * Do not disagree with their employer/superior in public. * Do not refuse your employer/superior outright. Employees may publicly comply to unreasonable demands with an agreeable “yes” but the “yes” is often accompanied with signs of non-compliance (“it might be difficult…”). * Do not engage in public display of anger or confrontation against your employer/superiors.
Working hours
Many companies in Singapore have moved from 6 days to 5 days per week schedule. This is especially true for MNCs and companies engaged in white collar work. Normal working hours are 40-45 hours per week. However depending on the workload you may end up spending more hours per week. Normally there is half-an-hour to one-hour lunch break. Over-time is not applicable to most of the professional and managerial jobs.
If overtime is applicable to your job, it's one-and-a-half times the basic hourly rate. Pay for time worked on holidays and normal days off is two-and-a-half times the normal rate. If you job is covered under the employment act, an