A whistleblower report has landed. A senior employee has been suspended. A
departure has turned into a claim. We act for employers running an investigation,
and for senior employees whose exit has gone wrong — including where the
same facts also create a fraud or regulatory problem.
Jerrie Tan LLC advises on both the civil and regulatory front. This includes advising on workplace investigations, executive exits, wrongful dismissal and restrictive covenants.
An employment problem rarely stays an employment problem. A dismissal for suspected misappropriation of funds is also a civil recovery question, sometimes a police matter, and — if handled badly — a wrongful dismissal claim of its own.
Internal investigations into misconduct, fraud and policy breaches for employers, including listed companies and multinationals.
Contractual claims in the civil courts.
Negotiated departures, separation agreements, and disputes over notice, bonus, shares and deferred compensation.
Recovery where an employee has taken money, diverted opportunities or misused company property or information.
Non-competition, non-solicitation and confidentiality clauses, garden leave, and applications to restrain a departing employee.
Grievance handling, workplace harassment complaints, and the conduct of a defensible internal process.
Advising boards and management on how to receive, triage and act on internal reports without creating fresh exposure.
Where a dismissal, an investigation and a police or
Commercial Affairs Department interest run on
the same facts.
Jerrie has more than 40 reported judgments across the State Courts, the Supreme Court and the Singapore International Commercial Court. The matter below is described only as far as it appears in the published judgment.
Acting for the employee in a wrongful termination claim. The appeal dealt with the interpretation of “serious misconduct” within the scope of a particular term of the employment contract, and with what amounts to a wilful breach in the employment context — the question at the centre of most summary dismissals.
Jerrie Tan is the Founding Director of Jerrie Tan LLC, a Singapore disputes practice acting where commercial risk, regulatory scrutiny and personal liability intersect. She has been in practice since 2013 and spent almost a decade at an international law firm working alongside leading Senior Counsel, developing a commercial disputes and corporate investigations practice with a particular focus on Mandarin-speaking and China-based clients.
She has more than 40 reported judgments and has appeared across the State Courts, the Supreme Court and the Singapore International Commercial Court. She teaches Advocacy to law graduates preparing for call to the Singapore Bar and serves as an Adjunct Fellow at the NUS Centre for Pro Bono and Clinical Legal
Education.
In a time when disputes lawyers become more and more specialised, not just in areas of practice but right down to specific roles and tasks, Jerrie’s exposure and width of practice makes her a ‘complete’ lawyer, who understands the full legal and commercial concerns of clients, and provides clients with holistic and well considered advice.
NARAYANAN SREENIVASAN S . C . · MANAGING DIRECTOR , SREENIVASAN CHAMBERS LLC
You should file a wrongful dismissal claim with the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM) within one month from your last day of employment. The Ministry of Manpower states that time limit directly, and the claim then goes to TADM mediation before being referred, if unresolved, to the Employment Claims Tribunals (ECT) for adjudication. That said, matters heard at TADM and the ECT have a monetary cap. If your claim exceeds the monetary cap, the appropriate course would be to bring the case in the civil courts.
An employer may dismiss without notice on the ground of misconduct, but only after an inquiry — otherwise the proper route is notice or salary in lieu of notice.
Take advice before the interview, not after it. Ask in writing what the allegation is, in what capacity you are being interviewed, whether the meeting is being recorded and whether you may be accompanied — and do not speculate, reconstruct or fill gaps to be helpful. The most damaging material in an investigation is very often an inaccurate account given in good faith by someone trying to be cooperative. If there is any prospect the same facts could interest the police or a regulator, that changes what you should say and when.
Sometimes — a restraint of trade clause is void unless the employer can show it protects a legitimate proprietary interest and goes no further than is reasonable to protect it. That test comes from the courts rather than from statute. In practice, breadth is what defeats these clauses: a twelve-month, worldwide, whole-industry restriction on a mid-level employee is far more vulnerable than a narrow, well-targeted non-solicitation clause.
Consultations are by appointment and treated in confidence. Whether you are the employer or the employee, the first week is where most of the damage is done.
This page is general information only and does not constitute legal advice. It does not create a solicitor–client relationship. Outcomes depend on the specific facts of each matter. Case references are described only as far as they appear in publicly reported judgments. Please seek advice on your own circumstances.
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