# Should my partner give up her S Pass?



## dipsomatic (May 18, 2009)

Hi everyone. My wife and I are working here in Singapore at an International School. I have an employment Pass (I am a teacher) and she has an S Pass (she has a teaching assistant/admin role). The school is asking her to now give back her S Pass so they can put her on a Dependant Pass. I understand that the school only gets so many S Passes, but it doesn't seem right to me that they would change her legal working status to 'dependant' just so they can have another S-Pass up their sleeve for the next potential employee. Should we refuse giving up the S-Pass or do as they ask? Please keep in mind, my wife is currently studying and will be gunning for a promotion in the company next year. I'm not sure if that would require an S-Pass or not.


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

The school cannot "put her on a Dependent's Pass." Only the Ministry of Manpower can do that, and only if you (her EP sponsor) apply for a DP for her. There's a cost to do that -- it's not free.

If you decide to sponsor her for a DP, and if the Ministry of Manpower approves one, she's not yet employable. The school has to request a Letter of Consent (LoC) to employ her on a DP.

I'd say this is at least highly irregular. It's probably illegal for the school to make anything related to her employment contingent on her marital status, so they shouldn't even be talking to her about a possible DP -- that's none of their business. Yes, you work for the same school, so obviously they know you're married, but they're not supposed to treat either of you any differently than any other workers.

The school certainly has the right to terminate her employment and terminate her S pass (except if that termination is illegal). Then she certainly has the right not to work for that school and has no obligation whatsoever to accommodate them via a DP/LoC. Note that there's no guarantee an LoC would be approved.

I think she should tell her employer -- politely, of course -- that she is satisfied with the current arrangement (if that's true) and has no other comment.


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## dipsomatic (May 18, 2009)

Thank you so much for the help. We really appreciate it. If anyone wants to chime in please feel free to do so. I agree that we should say no to this proposal. Any number of things could go wrong.


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## simonsays (Feb 11, 2009)

errrr, as said by Bbcwatcher, nowadays getting to DP doesn't guarantee LOC..

and nowadays DP is also not guaranteed if your salary is just at the required pay ...


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## beppi (Jun 10, 2013)

The request is understandable from the school's standpoint - there's a quota of S-Pass holders they can employ and DP/LoC holders do not count towards it. In addition, there is a levy to be paid to the government for every S-Pass holder employed, but none for DP/LoC.
On the other hand, the DP/LoC holder has less job security (and usually gets paid less).
I would ask the school to compensate for this disadvantage. Paying out at least the S-Pass levy they save seems fair to me!


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

There's no guarantee both a DP and an LoC would be issued.

Here's another idea. Tell the school if they get an in-principle approval letter from MoM endorsing this switch that you'll seriously consider their idea. Put the onus on the school to contact the government. If they have a scheme, let them pitch it to MoM.


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