For sg employment claims tribunal salary, the strongest first move is usually a clear file. Caira can help build it from uploads. Ask about Singapore law, draft letters or forms, and upload files for review.
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Check the dismissal date, deadline, contract, warnings, pay records and messages first.
For SGD 2 million of salary, bonus or severance, a careful chronology can change the negotiation.
Preserve lawful evidence, but avoid taking confidential files you should not access.
Use Caira to build a timeline and draft a response checklist.
A Singapore salary claim is easier to prepare when the worker separates three questions. What salary or employment payment is actually owed? What evidence proves it? Which official route applies before a claim reaches the Employment Claims Tribunals? The official sources point to Ministry of Manpower salary-payment guidance, MOM employment-dispute guidance, and TADM's file-a-claim workflow. These are your starting points before drafting a demand or filing anything.
This article helps employees organise an unpaid salary file. It also helps employers check what records should exist. It does not decide whether a claimant is an employee, contractor, manager, executive, domestic worker, freelancer, or another category. Status and claim limits must always be checked against current official guidance.
Confirm the work relationship
Before calculating money, identify the relationship. Start by gathering the employment contract, Key Employment Terms, offer letter, payslips, and CPF records where relevant. Add work pass information if relevant, rosters, timesheets, resignation or termination letter, and messages about pay. If the person was called a freelancer or contractor, keep the services agreement, invoices, payment records, and any evidence of control or supervision. Do not assume the Employment Claims Tribunal route applies just because money is unpaid.
Useful labels for a bilingual file include: unpaid salary, salary claim, MOM, TADM, Employment Claims Tribunals, payslip, Key Employment Terms, 老板不发工资, 工资单, 雇佣合约, and 调解.
Calculate the claim in a table
Make a simple table. Each row covers a pay item—basic salary, overtime (if claimed), allowances, commission, public-holiday pay, notice pay, final salary, deductions, reimbursement, or other disputed items. For every item, list the pay period, amount claimed, the document proving entitlement, how much was paid, shortfall, and the employer’s explanation. If you're not sure of an amount, show the calculation; don’t round up without showing why.
Check current MOM salary guidance for the latest on payment rules and final payment deadlines. Don’t overstate the case. A clear, honest calculation is more persuasive than a long message saying the employer is cheating.
Use TADM before thinking about ECT filing
The official route usually starts with TADM’s file-a-claim workflow and MOM dispute guidance. In most employment-payment disputes, TADM mediation comes before filing at the Employment Claims Tribunal. Always check updated TADM and tribunal guidance for eligibility, time limits, claim limits, needed documents, fees, and next steps. This article leaves out exact thresholds because they need checking at your filing date.
If mediation already happened, preserve the appointment notices, mediation documents, settlement proposals, any certificate or referral document, and all correspondence. If the employer didn’t attend or failed to comply with an agreement, keep proof. Ask TADM or check the tribunal workflow for the right next step and which document is needed.
Build the evidence folder
Arrange documents chronologically: offer, contract or KETs, roster, attendance records, payslips, bank credits, CPF records, deductions, messages, HR emails, termination or resignation letters, mediation documents, and your claim table. Screenshots should always show dates, names, phone numbers, and context. Where possible, export chats rather than just using isolated cropped images.
Workers with work passes should keep work-pass documents and any messages about housing, levy, agency, or repatriation that relate to the job context. Don't threaten immigration or criminal consequences in a salary demand unless an adviser has checked the facts first.
A concise salary request
A worker can send: Hi [Employer/HR], I am reconciling my salary records for [period]. Based on my contract, payslips, roster, and bank records, I believe the unpaid amount is [amount], made up of [items]. Please confirm the payment date or provide your calculation by [date]. If we cannot resolve this, I will check the MOM/TADM employment-claims workflow. Regards, [Name].
Common mistakes
People often file before making a calculation. Mixing salary with unrelated complaints, relying only on verbal promises, or losing rosters are frequent issues. Others ignore payslip discrepancies, delete messages after termination, miss mediation steps, or use the ECT only because TADM steps were skipped. Employers also stumble: unclear payslips, unexplained deductions, late final payment communication, and scattered HR records all make disputes harder to resolve.
Where Unwildered fits
Upload your contract, KETs, payslips, bank records, rosters, chat exports, termination documents, TADM documents, and your claim table. Unwildered can help organise the evidence, compare your claimed amounts to records, and prepare focused questions before you start the official MOM, TADM, or Employment Claims Tribunal workflow.
Sources
MOM: Key Employment Terms
MOM: Salary
Tripartite Alliance / Employment Claims route
This article is general information, not legal, financial, medical or tax advice.
