{
  "id": 2357592,
  "title": "MOM investigating claims that airport wheelchair assistant had pay docked for being 11sec late",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/21/mom-investigating-claims-that-airport-wheelchair-assistant-had-pay",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-08-21T10:16:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Straits Times",
    "slug": "straits-times",
    "url": "https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/mom-investigating-claims-that-airport-wheelchair-assistant-had-pay-docked-for-being-11sec-late"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is investigating allegations that a wheelchair assistant at Singapore's Changi Airport had $5 deducted from his pay for being 11 seconds late to work. The incident was reported on August 12 by Juliet Low, founder of the caregiving app Maid Without Borders Singapore, on LinkedIn. Low shared a post detailing her encounter with the assistant, who claimed he had lost $5 from his pay for a 11-second tardiness, describing it as \"completely disproportionate\" given his hourly rate of $7. The Ministry of Manpower's statement on August 21 confirmed they were aware of the case and had contacted the employee's employer, Aventa Services, to investigate the nature and extent of the deductions. MOM emphasized that employers can only make salary deductions for reasons authorized under the Employment Act, which include tardiness, but the deduction must be proportionate to the period of absence. Unauthorised or excessive deductions may constitute a failure to pay salaries in accordance with the Employment Act, potentially leading to prosecution. SATS, the airport ground services provider, expressed concern over the allegations and noted Aventa Services was responding directly to MOM's queries.",
  "summary": "The wheelchair assistant had $5 docked from his pay for being 11 seconds late for work..",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}