Poly student says she was fired from internship without warning and wasn't paid for a week of work

Independent Singapore

17-07-2025

SINGAPORE: A polytechnic student is seeking help online after she was suddenly fired from her internship without any warning or pay.
Sharing her dilemma on Reddit's 'SGexams' forum on Sunday (Jul 13), the Year 3 student shared that she had been interning at a local company for about a week when she was suddenly removed from 'all group chats with no notice.'
'I had worked there for about a week, putting in full hours every day,' she said. 'During that week, the boss made us do OT every day and often arrived late, making us wait around 30 minutes each morning before we could even start.'
Concerned about the working conditions, she approached her school lecturer for advice. However, he allegedly dismissed her concerns and told her to
just grow up,' saying that this was just 'part of the working life.'
Shortly after that conversation, the student found herself cut off from all work communication without any explanation.
She said she had tried messaging her supervisor about her pay but has not received any response for more than three weeks. She also mentioned that another intern who was not fired had already been paid, although he had to follow up multiple times to receive it.
When she raised the issue of her unpaid wages with her lecturer, he reportedly responded, 'Anyway, the money is a week of work so can't be more than 100 dollars right? So why is it so urgent for you? Have some empathy.'
'I feel like it's my right to ask for pay for the days I put in?' she continued. 'Why is he [my lecturer] downplaying it? It's not even about the money anymore, it's about the principle of the situation, and if it is only S$100, why is it so hard to pay me?'
She added that she had asked her lecturer for a copy of her internship contract, as she was considering filing a claim with the Small Claims Tribunal. Unfortunately, he refused to provide it and scolded her for pursuing the matter, suggesting she was making too big a deal out of the situation.
'He refused to send it to me, so I'm not sure how my claim would hold up despite having pictures and videos of me working,' she said.
'And he berated me again for asking for it, claiming that basically I'm 'doing too much'—not exact words but basically the idea—and that I should just allow what happened to me to just happen.'
She ended her post by asking if there were any official channels to report the incident or steps she could take to escalate the matter further.
'I'm refusing to keep quiet about this,' she wrote. 'I feel really lost and frustrated. I know it was just one week, but I did the work, and it feels so wrong to not get paid or even get a proper explanation.' 'Your lecturer is so out of touch with the world.'
In the comments, many Singaporean Reddit users criticised the lecturer for brushing off the student's concerns.
'Your lecturer handled the internship situation in the worst possible way,' one comment read.
'From what you've shared, he offered no real support as any responsible lecturer should and instead appeared to have sided with the company. Telling you to 'just suck it up' or saying it's 'just 100 dollars' and that you should show more empathy to the company shows a complete lack of empathy on his part.'
'What part of normal working life involves getting fired with no notice or explanation at all? LOL, your lecturer is tripping,' another commented.
'Your lecturer is so out of touch with the world or just super jaded by it,' a third said. 'The lecturer smells fishy,' a fourth remarked. See also Overdraft facility is useful for business growth and expansion
Meanwhile, other users chimed in to give the student some advice. One suggested that the student try escalating the matter to the head of the school department.
Another recommended, 'Go straight to your course manager, and if that still does not work, escalate to the director of your school. Try to resolve it at school level first. I don't think the school will be this uncaring of their students; it does sound like it is a problem with that lecturer.' What can you do if your employer doesn't pay you?
According to Gloria James-Civetta & Co (GJC Law), if contacting your employer about unpaid wages doesn't resolve the issue, you can escalate the matter by submitting a formal complaint to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM). MOM may step in to mediate and advise both parties.
If the matter still remains unresolved after MOM's involvement, the next course of action is to file a claim with the Employment Claims Tribunal (ECT), which handles salary-related disputes and wrongful dismissal disputes between employers and employees.
Read also: 'All MCQs with answers given?' Employee doubts manager's degree and credibility, says he was promoted unfairly
Featured image by freepik (for illustration purposes only)