Employment Act 1955 · Updated to 1 Aug 2023 · Part II · Contracts of Service
14. Termination of contract for special reasons
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After due inquiry, an employer may dismiss without notice, downgrade or otherwise punish an employee for misconduct, with unpaid suspension limited to two weeks. During the inquiry, suspension may last up to two weeks on at least half wages. An employee may end the contract without notice when facing immediate danger of violence or disease not accepted in the contract.
Summary · Drafted with AI, checked against the official text on 30 Sep 2026.
An employer may, on the grounds of misconduct inconsistent with the fulfilment of the express or implied conditions of his service, after due inquiry—
employer
“employer” means any person who has entered into a contract of service to employ any other person as an employee and includes the agent, manager or factor of such first mentioned person, and the word “employ”, with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, shall be construed accordingly;
dismiss without notice the employee;
downgrade the employee; or
impose any other lesser punishment as he deems just and fit, and where a punishment of suspension without wages is imposed, it shall not exceed a period of two weeks.
For the purposes of an inquiry under subsection (1), the employer may suspend the employee from work for a period not exceeding two weeks but shall pay him not less than half his wages for such period:
employee
“employee” means any person or class of persons— (a) included in any category in the First Schedule to the extent specified therein; or (b) in respect of whom the Minister makes an order under subsection (3) or section 2a;
Provided that if the inquiry does not disclose any misconduct on the part of the employee the employer shall forthwith restore to the employee the full amount of wages so withheld.
wages
“wages” means basic wages and all other payments in cash payable to an employee for work done in respect of his contract of service but does not include— (a) the value of any house accommodation or the supply of any food, fuel, light or water or medical attendance, or of any approved amenity or approved service; (b) any contribution paid by the employer on his own account to any pension fund, provident fund, superannuation scheme, retrenchment, termination, lay-off or retirement scheme, thrift scheme or any other fund or scheme established for the benefit or welfare of the employee; (c) any travelling allowance or the value of any traveling concession; (d) any sum payable to the employee to defray special expenses entailed on him by the nature of his employment; (e) any gratuity payable on discharge or retirement; or (f) any annual bonus or any part of any annual bonus;
An employee may terminate his contract of service with his employer without notice where he or his dependants are immediately threatened by danger to the person by violence or disease such as such employee did not by his contract of service undertake to run.
contract of service
“contract of service” means any agreement, whether oral or in writing and whether express or implied, whereby one person agrees to employ another as an employee and that other agrees to serve his employer as an employee and includes an apprenticeship contract;