Employment Act 1955 · Updated to 1 Aug 2023 · Part III · Payment of Wages
18. Wage period
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A contract of service must set a wage period of no more than one month. If a contract of service sets no wage period, the wage period is treated as one month.
Summary · Drafted with AI, checked against the official text on 30 Sep 2026.
A contract of service shall specify a wage period not exceeding one month.
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;
If in any contract of service no wage period is specified the wage period shall for the purposes of the contract be deemed to be one month.
wage period
“wage period” means the period in respect of which wages earned by an employee are payable;
Calculation of wages for incomplete month’s work 18a. Notwithstanding section 60i, an employee who is employed on a monthly rate of pay and has not completed a whole month of service—
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;
where he commenced employment after the first day of the month;
where his employment was terminated before the end of the month;
where he took leave of absence without pay for one or more days of the month; or
where he took leave of absence by reason of having been called up for national service under the National
Service Act 1952 [Act 425], to present himself for national service training as required under the National
Service Training Act 2003 [Act 628] or to comply with any other written law relating to national service, shall be paid wages due to him for that month calculated according to the following formula:
Monthly wages
X
Number of days eligible in the wage period.
Number of days of the particular wage period