Editorial: Management Labour & Employment in Singapore
01 October 2007
This chapter identifies private practice lawyers with a proven track record representing and advising management on all aspects of labour, employment and industrial relations law. A number also have experience in litigation matters involving employment discrimination laws, sexual harassment, employee loyalty, wrongful discharge and individual employment contracts. We identify a select group of five lawyers.
Clients and peers “really rate” Susan de Silva from Alban Tay Mahtani & de Silva for her management-focused labour and employment work. De Silva heads the firm’s corporate and commercial group and has represented a number of well-known clients, including a major US pharmaceuticals company whom she acted for in its contracts for its Singapore facility’s employees. She also appears in our franchise and competition chapters.
Deborah Barker SC from KhattarWong is equally well respected for her work in this field and is also a prolific author on employment law in Singapore. Barker advises both local and foreign corporations on their employment issues and was praised by competitors as “very good indeed”. Barker recently acted in a High Court action relating to disputes arising out of a partnership deed and an employment agreement, which included a dispute over restrictive covenants.
Indranee Rajah SC is a director of Drew & Napier LLC and is an “extremely active litigator”, according to sources. Rajah works extensively for financial institutions and represented Arab Bank in a High Court action in connection with claims against an ex-employee. She also advised United Oversees Bank and Overseas Union Bank on employment issues related to their merger. Rajah also represents employees, including a managing director in a High Court claim against a listed company for bonus payments and damages for wrongful termination of contract.
Chan Hian Young at Allen & Gledhill LLP advises both employers and employees on issues including employment contracts, termination of employment, restrictive covenants and the protection of confidential information. The firm is often consulted on Singapore employment law by US law firms on behalf of clients with Singaporebased operations.
Conrad Campos from Robert Wang & Woo LLC has a wide-ranging employment practice. He represents professional service firms on both the employer and employee side in disputes relating to restraint of trade covenants, breach of confidence and wrongful termination or repudiation of contracts. Campos negotiates with labour unions, drafts employment contracts and reviews human resources policy. He has recently reviewed the business structure of a global consulting partnership, on issues arising from the proposed division of the audit tax and related services part of an accounting firm from its consultancy arm. He also advised the South-East Asian consulting partners on their enrolment in the global consulting partnership.
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