ST : Condo manager and MCST settle dispute

Nov 4, 2010

JOBS CREDIT MONEY TUSSLE

Condo manager and MCST settle dispute



Both CKH Strata Management and Bayshore Park's MCST claimed to be the rightful employer of 13 site staff working at the condominium. -- ST PHOTO: LIM CHIN PING

THE condominium manager which sued Bayshore Park over a Jobs Credit money dispute has reached a settlement with the management corporation strata title (MCST).

CKH Strata Management, which had initially sued for $55,742 in unpaid management fees, has accepted a sum of $11,000 from the MCST following a pre-trial conference on Oct 27.

A week before that, the condo management company's managing director, Mr Chan Kok Hong, filed a civil suit against his former employers after the condo failed to pay the company its management fees from April to June last year.

In retaliation, Bayshore Park counter-sued for $83,705.

This included $13,917 in Jobs Credit money it claimed was not CKH's to take.

Each claimed to be the 'true employer' of 13 site staff working at the Upper East Coast condo.

The sum also included an amount of $48,778, which the condo wanted for 59 fire-rated doors, saying CKH had overcharged for them in 2008.

Bayshore Park's lawyer, Mr Kevin Kwek, said: 'It was a very good settlement, in favour of the MCST, in the light of the substantial amount that was deducted from what CKH wanted originally.'

But he said the Jobs Credit money dispute remains unresolved as a judgment was not made to determine which party should have the money.

The Jobs Credit scheme was introduced during the economic downturn last year as a quarterly cash payment from the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore for every Singaporean and permanent resident on a company's Central Provident Fund (CPF) payroll.

The grant was 12 per cent of the first $2,500 of a worker's pay each month, designed to help employers retain their staff.

Mr Chan claimed he was the rightful employer of the condo's 13 site staff, because he decided on their 13th-month bonuses and CPF contributions were made in his company's name.

Bayshore Park claimed otherwise, saying that the management company was at most a facilitator, because the MCST has been paying the salaries and CPF contributions of the site staff.

CKH's lawyer, Mr Michael Low, declined to comment, citing a confidentiality clause in the settlement.

CHERYL ONG