Corporate employment lawyer in Singapore: This article will highlight 3 key considerations that you need to ask your employment lawyer in Singapore when you engage them for your particular matter.
Singapore employment law has changed from a pro-employer stance to a more balanced stance that protects both workers and employers. Choosing the right corporate employment lawyer is important as it will help you decide on your relevant course of action.
Usually people engage employment lawyers in Singapore for two reasons:
#1: The first reason is to review an employment agreement if there are important commercial considerations to include in this employment agreement (the “Review Reason”).
#2: The second reason to review an employment agreement is you are unfairly dismissed and want to decide on your next course of action (“Unfair Dismissal Reason”).
We will deal with both reasons below.
#1: Review Reason
People under this header typically are looking to join a new company and the usual reason why they get a corporate employment lawyer to review their employment contract is usually because such employees have special terms in their employment contracts in addition to the usual monthly salary component. Such special terms may include employee share options and other perquisites of the job.
Such special terms warrant an employment lawyer in Singapore to review such terms to ensure that what your employer promises you is actually properly set out in the employment contract. It is well and good that your employer dangles a carrot in front of you to sign on the dotted line but if you don’t get a proper lawyer to review the contract, you may find that to your dismay when you actually want to encash your carrot, it does not stand up to scrutiny.
#2: Unfair Dismissal Reason
In an unfair dismissal situation, people usually will bring their employment contract to a law firm to review. We would suggest that in such a situation, spend time detailing the detailed chronology of events to prepare for a lawsuit. Even if ultimately you determine it is not worth the hassle, getting your facts/ documents organised will help you proceed and crystalise your case.
Some usual things that people take into consideration when finding a law firm for an unfair dismissal action:
- Budget: If you are disputing a small amount, a smaller firm may work for you from a legal fee perspective. If the amount being disputed is large, you can consider going to a medium to a large law firm.
- Conflict of interest: Most of the larger firms do work for financial institutions so if you intend to take a case against a large financial institution, the larger law firms may be unable to act for you.
- Trust for the lead lawyer acting for you: A lawsuit is a long drawn process. Choose a lead lawyer for your case that you can trust and are able to work well with.
In conclusion, we would suggest that you hire the best law firm that your budget will allow for. Employment law in Singapore is changing to be more balanced so such changes may be beneficial from an employee perspective. Finding the best lawyer that you can trust for your case is essential and we trust that you will choose well.
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