When your company receives a TADM mediation invitation, read the claim and prepare a document bundle that answers each disputed item. Start with the employment terms, payroll records and a dated chronology. Confirm who may represent the employer and the instructions for attendance. The aim is to explain the company’s position accurately, identify any genuine shortfall and consider a workable resolution.
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What is the claim actually about?
Separate unpaid salary, deductions, overtime, leave, notice pay and wrongful dismissal issues. Do not treat all of them as a single disagreement about an employee’s performance. List the amount claimed under each item, the period involved and the company’s calculation or response.
Where facts are missing, request clarification through the appropriate channel. Keep the invitation and case correspondence together. Diarise the dates given for the particular case rather than using a generic deadline copied from an unrelated guide.
The core employer evidence bundle
- The signed employment contract, key employment terms and relevant amendments.
- Payslips, payroll calculations, bank payment proof and relevant CPF records.
- Attendance, leave and overtime records where those issues are disputed.
- Resignation, termination or disciplinary correspondence relevant to the claim.
- A chronology identifying events, documents and the people with direct knowledge.
- A claim-by-claim calculation explaining agreements and disagreements.
Check that amounts reconcile across the payslip, bank payment and payroll ledger. If a record was corrected, retain the original and explain the correction. Do not backdate a document or create an attendance record that pretends to have been maintained at the time.
Who can attend for the company?
TADM’s official guide states that third parties such as lawyers are generally not allowed to participate in the mediation. For a company, an ACRA-registered director or an appropriately authorised full-time employee may represent the employer under the stated requirements. Check the current guide and the case instructions, including any letter of authorisation needed.
An associated law firm can advise the company and help prepare its position beforehand. Do not assume that engaging a lawyer means the lawyer may attend the mediation as the company’s representative.
Prepare the decision-maker as well as the papers
The representative should know which facts are agreed, which are disputed and what further information is needed. Establish internally who can authorise a settlement and how approval will be obtained if an unexpected proposal arises. A well-indexed bundle helps, but it cannot replace someone who understands the claim.
A practical example
Illustration: A former employee claims the final month’s salary was short. The payroll ledger shows the expected amount, but a bank upload omitted one payment. Before mediation, the employer identifies the omission, calculates the remaining balance and separates it from a disputed leave item. This allows discussion of the actual issues instead of defending a payroll report that did not match the money transferred.
What if mediation does not resolve the dispute?
The Judiciary explains that mediation at TADM precedes eligible claims at the Employment Claims Tribunals, with a claim referral certificate required for an unresolved claim to proceed. Eligibility and procedural requirements still apply. Keep the evidence bundle, follow the documents served and obtain advice on the next stage rather than assuming mediation attendance has completed the matter.
Related guides
- Employment Claims Tribunals and TADM in Singapore (2026): How Employers Handle Salary and Dismissal Claims
- Payroll
- How to retrench employees responsibly and fairly
Official sources
How Raffles Corporate Services can help
If you would like assistance with an employment dispute or employer compliance, email [email protected] or WhatsApp +65 8501 7133. We can coordinate relevant corporate services, tax advice and, where needed, legal assistance from advisers at associated law firms. Legal advice and representation are provided by those advisers. This article is general information and does not replace advice on your circumstances.