Book Launch cum 41st HR Sharing – 6th September 2019
About 80 HR professionals attended Martin Gabriel’s book launch cum 41st HR sharing at the AQueen Paya Lebar Hotel. The ambience was beautiful as the event was held on the 12th floor function room, with a breath taking view as the function hall was sitting on an open space roof-top garden. For Mr Gabriel, It was indeed a ‘feather in his cap’ after writing 3 HR books prior to his latest 2nd Edition. All of his earlier books had been sold-out. A Guide to The Employment Act & Its Related Legislations (2nd Edition) started receiving orders even before the books were delivered. As this article is being written, more than 200 copies have already been sold, and it’s been 3 weeks only since the books were delivered. Most HR professionals who attended the book launch cum HR sharing bought additional books for their colleague and friends.
Gerald Giam, the Director and Solutions Architect of Vitis Solutions Pte Ltd was the first speaker to grace the event. Mr Giam spoke about HRIS and the Digital Transformation. Some of the salient features of his talk were about, digital transformation and the fourth industrial revolution. How is digital transformation impacting SMEs? Why HR functions need digital transformation, and with a live demo of the digitalisation of HR. The presentation was current and in line with the Government’s push for embracing technology to improve productivity.
Founder and author, Martin Gabriel took to the stage as the second and final speaker. Martin’s presentation reflected the changing times, and how laws have been amended to widen the scope of protection. PMEs (Professionals, Managers and Executives) are now fully protected by the Employment Act. The basic salary of up to $4,500 cap had been lifted. In the past, only PMEs earning up to a basic of $4,500 or less were protected. This cap had been repealed, effectively allowing all PMEs, regardless of their salaries to be covered within the ambit of the Employment Act. Martin also highlighted about the Employment Claims Tribunal as an additional recourse for dismissal and salary claim disputes. It is expeditious and does not involve any lawyers. Functional from 1st April 2017, many organisations were still unfamiliar with its process. Martin gave an insightful presentation and what organisations should look-out for, when there are disputes with employees. Two case studies were presented and discussed about, as he opened the discussion to the floor and took questions.
Another issue Martin brought up was MOM’s insistence that employees who visited the A&E (accident and emergency), should be fully reimbursed. According to Martin, the Employment Act does not mention anything about A&E. Therefore he believes that MOM needs to clarify its stand clearly.
The session ended on a high note when participants approached Martin for his personal autograph to be included in their book.
Book Launch cum 40th HR Sharing – 8th September 2017
More than 70 HR professionals turned up for Martin Gabriel’s book launch cum 40th HR sharing. It was indeed an achievement for the HR Consultant who founded and built-up HRmatters21. For almost 15 years, Martin tirelessly toiled to build this familiar well-known HR training / consultancy institute, to what it is today. With over 4,000 members from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, HRmatters21 has taken training and consulting to greater heights.
Theresa Lee is a veteran HR practitioner for over 40 years, she inspired the audience with a refreshing topic, which was “What is a HR business partner?” She was ahead of her time and spoke on the relevance of HR practices to the digital world that would disrupt, traditional HR processes. “Doing transactional work will become obsolete very soon” said the seasoned HR practitioner. She advocated strategic thinking that would add value to the job scope. Any job that is simply a process will be discarded soon. Numerous HR professionals surrounded her during the coffee break to ask more candid questions and to tap on her enormous experience.
Founder and author, Martin Gabriel took to the stage as the second and final speaker. Martin’s presentation reflected the changing times, and how laws have been amended to widen the scope of protection. PMEs (Professionals, Managers and Executives) earning a basic salary of more than $4,500, are not protected by The Employment Act, and any recourse for salary claims had to involve a lawyer with hefty fees. The newly introduced Employment Claims Tribunal is an additional recourse for salary claims. It is expeditious and does not involve any lawyers. Functional from 1st April 2017, many organisations were still unfamiliar with its processes. Martin gave an insightful presentation and what organisations should look-out for, when there are disputes with employees. It is also notable that Martin’s latest book, (A Guide to The Employment Act & Its Related Legislations) has devoted a whole chapter pertaining to the ECT.
The event ended on a high note when participants approached Martin for his personal autograph to be included in their book.
By Michelle Yeo
The All New Malaysian Employment Act Seminar – 15th May 2017
The Malaysian Employment Act workshop was rejuvenated in the form of a new speaker. Ms Serene Yap, has given the workshop a new lease of life by bringing in more case studies, to stimulate engagement and intense discussions. 15th May 2017 was a red letter day for HRmatters21 as more than 20 participants embraced the event.
HRmatters21 took great pains in looking for a new speaker, including crossing the border to interview potential candidates in Johore Bahru. We received over 15 applications from all parts of Malaysia. At the end of the day, we decided to place our bet on Ms Serene Yap, who has a string of accomplishments over her 25 years’ of experience as a HR professional.
Said Mr Koh (a participant) “The notes are updated and current, which is what we are looking for, so that we could immediately apply, what we learnt”.
HRmatters21 organises the Malaysian Employment Act workshop, twice a year. And this workshop had been confirmed over the past five years. In recent memory, there has never been a postponement. We look forward to Ms Yap visit again in November 2017.
Book Launch cum 39th HR Sharing – 24th Mar 2016
Senior HR Consultant, Martin Gabriel launched his second book at the MHC Asia studio on the 24th of March 2016. Over 60 HR professionals attended the auspicious event. His decision to write a second book titled “Human Resource Case Studies” was partly due to the success of the first book. The first book, titled “A Guide to The Employment Act & Its Practical Applications” launched early last year, sold over 800 copies. According to Martin, he said “Many told me that they loved the three case studies from the first book, and wanted a book that was all about case studies”. And of course, Martin obliged. Over 200 copies of his new book were sold within 3 weeks after it’s launched. At the book launch cum HR sharing, Martin took a case study from the book and discussed the issues. The case was about a complaint of sexual harassment. The case was interesting and intriguing. The 39th HR Sharing was a regular event held once every three to four months. It is a platform where current HR issues were being discussed and debated. This sharing was similar to the 37th HR sharing as it incorporated Martin’s book-launch.
However, it was never complete without the usual guest speaker. Dayanand Menon, the latest inclusion to the many other illustrious consultants of HRmatters21, shared tips pertaining to payroll administration. Mr. Menon had already completed one run of the Payroll Administration Workshop prior to the HR sharing and received very good feedback, that it would be a lost, to the HR audience had he not shared such valuable tips. During the coffee break, many from the audience were seen surrounding Mr. Menon, asking numerous questions with eagerness to learn from an experienced mentor.
After the coffee break, Martin spoke about the latest changes to the Employment Act pertaining to the inclusion of 17 key employment terms and the mandatory issue of itemised pay-slips, with effect from 1st April 2016. According to the Ministry of Manpower, they will take a light approach and treat offences to the above as administrative and fines would not be more than S$200 per occurrence or per employee. There is a grace period of over one year for companies to adjust, and that enforcement action would only be taken from 1st April 2017. The book launch cum sharing was wrapped up with Martin signing autographs for those who purchased the book. We look forward to seeing you at the 40th HR Sharing.
By Michelle Yeo
38th HR Sharing – 6th Aug 2015
There was a heavy downpour on 6th of August, however more than 30 HR Professionals and business personnel turned up for the 38th HR Sharing held at 2 Bukit Merah Central.
First to take to the stage was Kevin Lee, a financial expert and associate trainer of HRmatters21. As we approached the end of 2015, numerous businesses needed assurance and knowledge application with respect to filing their taxations. One of the most confusing aspects of taxation pertains to benefits. Are benefits taxable? Kevin was there on hand to answer all questions. An area of concerned was outbound employment. Are employees deployed overseas with additional benefits liable for taxation in Singapore? As Kevin regularly conduct workshops pertaining to Benefits-In-Kind, he had no problems tacking every question, as most of the questions were of the same nature. Kevin was also generous enough to touch on tax equalization although it wasn’t a scheduled topic to be discussed. He just couldn’t say no to the participants.
Andy Sng from Payroll2U was our next speaker. Andy spoke about how fast technology has been changing and that payroll employees are finding it extremely difficult to keep up with new technological challenges, especially companies with numerous branches across the Asia pacific. Organisations that have various branches across Asia have had to grapple with multiple employment laws in order to process their payroll. Most companies prefer to decentralize their payroll administration or outsource it to a competent vendor. That’s where Payroll2U comes in. They are able to handle payroll for multiple different countries, and this increases productivity as it frees up time for HR personnel to engage in more strategic planning rather than being bogged down with chores. There is no need to speak to various HR representatives from different countries, all you need to do is to speak to just one vendor, and that is Payroll2U, and they will get the job done for you.
In between breaks, Martin Gabriel, Senior HR Consultant for HRmatters21 opened the discussion to the floor, allowing participants to bring up whatever issues they were concerned with. Some of the issues that were touched on included the higher compensation for workplace injuries and the Ministry of Manpower’s decision to increase the salaries of employment pass holders when applying for dependent pass.
As usual, we had our network session over coffee with light snacks. This is the time where HR professionals mingle with each other to share information and offer tips of best HR practices. Charles Wong wrapped up the session by sharing tips pertaining to compensation and rewards. When do we reward employees and what system could HR professionals consider implementing that would accurately measure an improvement in employees’ performance? How do we quantify it in a fair manner and how do we link it with the performance appraisal? Another wonderful and fruitful session had come to an end, as we look forward to the 39th HR Sharing.
By Michelle Yeo
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