‘Is this considered normal in SG?' — Jobseeker says interviewer ghosted her after they collected her payslips, income letter, tax letter, and referee contact details
SINGAPORE: A jobseeker shared on Reddit that she was ghosted by a prospective employer after completing several rounds of interviews and submitting multiple personal documents.
Posting anonymously on the r/askSingapore subreddit, she explained that she had applied for a position that was originally advertised as a full-time, permanent role. After several interviews, however, the company informed her that the job would now be offered as a 12-month contract instead. They cited her career break and previous history of short-term roles as factors behind the decision to switch her to a contract position.
Despite the revised terms, she chose to proceed with the application. The company then asked for her 'payslips, an income letter, a tax letter, and the contact details of her referees,' stating that these were needed to prepare the job offer.
Unfortunately, after providing the necessary documents, she heard nothing more from the company.
'They completely ghosted me for a month now,' she said. 'Is this considered normal or fair in Singapore? Or should I be concerned that my info was used? Would love to hear others' or HR professionals' thoughts on this. Thanks,' she added. 'Your best option is to move on…'
In the discussion thread, a Singaporean working in human resources said the whole thing sounded super shady. They explained that when a company is preparing an employment contract, the only document typically required is the NRIC.
They added that there is usually no valid reason for a legitimate company to request income letters or tax documents at the hiring stage. The person suggested that whoever was asking for all these documents might not be a real employer but could be trying to collect sensitive personal data.
'It sounds as if some scammer wants your data instead of a company. This seems so BS. Referral contact makes sense. But if they ghost you, sometimes it MIGHT also be because they said some stuff that doesn't align with what they want,' they added.
Another Redditor commented, 'Red flag. You noticed it. If you don't move on, then any problem you face in the future is on you.'
A third wrote, 'No, not normal at all. I would have pushed back on the income letter and tax letter, and even for pay slips, I would have redacted certain information. This company is sus as hell.'
A fourth advised, 'There are many things that could have happened. Your references didn't work out, the company strategy changed, the hiring manager or HR left, there is a hiring pause because of tariffs/war, etc. It's not ideal, but nothing to be concerned about. I know it sucks when you were so close to landing a job, but your best option is to move on.' MOM: Only job-related info should be requested
While the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) does not explicitly prohibit employers from requesting documents such as income letters or tax records, such requests are generally uncommon. For payslips, candidates have the right to decline if they are uncomfortable sharing them.
Moreover, as per their guidelines, employers should only collect information that is directly relevant to assessing a candidate's suitability for the role. This includes qualifications, work experience, and job-related skills. See also Leisure marketplace SelenaGO raises seed funding from UMG Idealab
Application forms should also avoid questions about personal details such as race, religion, marital status, pregnancy, or disability, unless there is a clear and valid reason related to the job.
Read also: $1.5K a month and drowning': 27-year-old creative worker shares fears about the future
Featured image by Depositphotos (for illustration purposes only)
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