The Employment Pass holder, who has been trying to gain permanent resident status for the past few years, said that his request to work remotely was rejected. The firm wanted him to take no-pay leave instead.
Due to the uncertainties in travel at the start of this year owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, it was only in May that he returned to New Zealand, where he stayed for four and a half months until his father’s condition improved. This has been made possible by the accelerated digitalisation across almost all industries, which enabled employees to work away from the office during the pandemic.
The pandemic, now into its second year, has drastically altered the work landscape, shattering the traditional office-centric structures, and making work from home — in fact, work from anywhere — an increasingly favoured arrangement for white-collar employees and employers. As for Mr Chong, his planned trip to Thailand stems from his pent-up desire to travel. As more VTLs opened up, he felt that he could integrate work and travel.
As working beyond one’s local borders becomes increasingly attractive and feasible, Ms Dion Thai, a global employer services tax partner from professional services firm Deloitte Singapore, said that in the past two years, her firm has seen “a lot more queries on the tax implications of remote work arrangements”.
Factors such as taxation and labour laws mean that prolonging the period where one works remotely overseas for a Singapore firm will come with complications. For example, in Singapore, foreign visitors are typically permitted a duration of stay between 14 and 30 days, but can extend their stay to no more than 89 days in general, according to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority and Ministry of Foreign Affairs websites.
Veteran HR practitioner Carmen Wee said that for the first group, as long as their work can be done from anywhere, there are generally fewer issues as they are overseas on short stints that can be seen as “work during holidays”.
Ms Low Peck Kem, president of the Singapore Human Resources Institute, said that in such a situation, it is “wise for both employer and employee to be clear on the terms and conditions of employment”.
Source: Healthcare Press (healthcarepress.net)
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