Employment
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Meet our regional team of experienced lawyers
With the proliferation of business interests in Asia and the continued growth of an international workforce, many companies have increasingly seen the need to understand, navigate, coordinate and manage the many variances and complexities in the employment laws and policies amongst the ASEAN countries.
The Employment Practice of Rajah & Tann Asia, comprising a team of widely experienced and highly regarded lawyers drawn from each of the offices within our network has the ability to provide seamless support in relation to a broad range of both contentious and non-contentious employment issues across the various countries within our network.
The team of lawyers in our Employment practice are extremely experienced in advising multi-national corporations and individuals alike on cross border employment policies, designing new compensation plans, as well as representing them in in high stakes employment disputes in arbitration or courtroom settings.
Featured insights
Rajah & Tann Singapore Contributes Singapore Chapter of International Employment Lawyer's Guide to Workplace Investigations
The Guide to Workplace Investigations examines key issue that organisations need to consider when they initiate, conduct and conclude investigations in the 23 jurisdictions covered by the guide
Featured insights
Chambers and Partners Global Practice Guide: Employment 2023
Singapore Trends and Developments
Rajah & Tann Singapore contributed to the Singapore chapter of the Global Practice Guide: Employment 2023 published by Chambers and Partners. The chapter provides a snapshot of the key changes in the employment regulatory framework and legislation in Singapore thus far, and their anticipated impact on employers and employees moving forward.
OUR CROSS BORDER STRENGTH
Our regional team consists of resident experts in their home countries well versed with local employment laws with on the ground experience, and who have a firm grasp of local culture and business practices. Because of our presence in virtually every country in Asia, we provide unparalleled and seamless services to our clients who have employees in more than one country in the region wherever our clients are situated.
The team has been described as “having a good sense of industry developments” and “being diligent, very professional, and going the extra mile” for the clients.
- Establishment and Termination of Employment
- Employment policies
- Managing confidentiality, restraint of trade and non-competes
- Executive compensation
- Restructuring, reorganisation and retrenchments
- Occupational Health and Safety
- Mergers and acquisitions
- Contentious employment issues
Establishment and Termination of Employment
We advise and assist private, public and multinational companies extensively on employment related matters, including drafting of employment agreements for employees at multiple levels, advise on cross border employment concerns, advising on secondment issues, advising on termination issues including unfair dismissal claims.
Employment Policies
We are regularly involved in assisting our clients to design draft various forms of employee policies by way of handbooks and manuals dealing with employee entitlements, rights and obligations. These include advising on policies relating to use of emails, whistle-blowing policies, use of personal data, anti-corruption etc. We also conduct training for our clients in such areas of law.
Managing Confidentiality, Restraint of Trade and Non-Competes
We advise on all aspects of restraint and non-compete provisions for various levels of employees from varying industries, including financial institutions and multinational corporations. We also get involved in advising, designing and drafting policies intended to protect the confidentiality of trade secrets and other proprietary information, data protection policies as well as non-competition and non-solicitation clauses.
Executive Compensation
We have substantive experience in advising, designing and drafting various forms of compensation and benefit plans and agreements, Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), Long Term Incentive Plans (LTIPs).
Restructuring, Reorganisation and Retrenchments
We get involved extensively in restructuring and retrenchment exercise of large multinational corporations and financial institutions as well as assist in drafting relevant documentation for management of employees being retrenched, subsequent placements and referrals. We also advise on requisite training and re-skilling opportunities to be provided to retrenched employees as well as issues such as claims arising out of the retrenchment exercises.
Occupational Health and Safety
We advise on various aspect of compliance with health and safety regulations including ensuring board compliance and implementation of appropriate processes and procedures to meet reasonably practicable standards mandated by law, dealing with policies relating to pandemics in relation to instituting best practices to manage compliance with regulatory requirements, leave and other benefit issues, and employee privacy matters.
Mergers and Acquisitions
Our lawyers advise on the entire myriad of issues connected with the transfer of employees resulting from mergers and acquisitions including compliance with the Employment Act, change of jurisdiction of employment just to name a few.
Contentious Employment Issues
We are regularly involved in advising on enforcement of restraint of trade clauses and employee confidentiality agreements, investigation and action against employees for fraud, breach of fiduciary duties, business diversion and confidential information theft, taking action on behalf of employers in contractual disputes arising from termination or retrenchments of officers and employees, payment of salary, bonus, stock options etc.
Related Links
Recognition
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Bands 1 & 2 - Employment (Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam)Chambers Asia-Pacific (2024)
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Tiers 1 & 2 - Labour and Employment (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam)The Legal 500 Asia Pacific (2024)
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Tiers 1 & 2 - Labour & Employment (Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand))Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific (2024)
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5-Star Rating – Employment LawThe Straits Times Singapore’s Best Law Firms (2024)
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National Elite (Singapore)IEL Elite (2023)
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Ranked - Employment (Philippines)Chambers Asia-Pacific (2024)
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Outstanding - Labour & Employment (Indonesia, Singapore)Asialaw (2024-25)
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Highly Recommended - Labour & Employment (Philippines, Vietnam)Asialaw (2024-25)
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Recommended - Labour & Employment (Thailand)Asialaw (2024-25)
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Ranked - Labour and Employment (Malaysia, Vietnam)Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific (2024)
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Ranked - Labour and Employment (Malaysia)Asialaw (2024-25)
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"One-stop service, which makes the entire legal proceedings a seamless journey. Shielded the client from most of the direct pressure. The human touch by the Rajah & Tann team ensures that they stand out in comparison with other teams."The Legal 500 Asia-Pacific 2024 (Singapore)
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"The Assegaf Hamzah & Partners (Indonesia member firm) team is very well versed in employment law matters. Their technical knowledge of the law is equipped with the practical aspect, which adds value to their advice."Chambers Asia-Pacific 2024 (Indonesia)
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C&G Law (Philippines member firm) is very dependable and they are always available to address our concerns. They have commercial awareness and offer practical legal solutions to issues."The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2024 (Philippines)
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"Rajah & Tann LCT Lawyers’ employment and benefits team handles both contentious and non-contentious matters in the consumer goods, marketing, healthcare, and technology sectors, among others. The team continues to advise a wide range of clients in relation to unlawful terminations and remote working practices."The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2024 (Vietnam)
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"Rajah & Tann (Thailand) Limited demonstrates expertise in disputes involving labour unions, managing termination for misconduct, conducting reviews of HR policies and employment contracts, as well as alleged fraud and anti-corruption investigations."The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2024 (Thailand)
“Rajah & Tann team is outstanding. Their quality is consistently top-notch; responsiveness and strategic thinking are strengths. They are always driving for the client’s commercial goal and focused on recovery.”
Our Employment Team
Head, Employment (Corporate)
Consultant, Christopher & Lee Ong
