Centre for Future-ready Graduates
Information for Students
NUS Vacation Internship Programme (VIP)
The NUS Vacation Internship Programme is intended to provide students with opportunities to gain work experience,
apply their classroom learning and contribute to companies during the vacation periods in May and December every
year. Students volunteer to participate in this internship programme.
Internship Job Scope Guidelines
Employers are advised to ensure scope of internship is meaningful and serves to enhance the student's educational
experience and career development. Learning objectives are recommended to be structured into the internship
programme and employers are advised to appoint a reporting supervisor who will be responsible for the learning
outcomes of the intern and to ensure that the established objectives are met. In order to ensure a good learning
outcome for students, internship requests will be screened by Centre for Future-ready Graduates (CFG). Approved
requests will be published on NUS TalentConnect.
VIP Period
The internship period takes place during the official vacation breaks each year.
For Academic Year 2014/2015, the VIP periods are:
 Semester 1: 8 December 2014 – 9 January 2015 (5 weeks)
 Semester 2: 11 May 2015 – 31 July 2015 (12 weeks)
Note: NUS recognises the above official vacation periods under the Vacation Internship Programme.
Any extension beyond the official period would be on the student’s own personal arrangement with the organisation, and
is subjected to approval by the respective faculties of the student. Students should provide employers with a written
approval by the faculty permitting them to intern beyond the official school vacation period.
International students (student pass holders) undergoing a part-time internship beyond the official school vacation period
would be subject to the MOM’s guideline of working a maximum of 16 hours per week during NUS term time.
For more details, please visit http://www.ica.gov.sg/page.aspx?pageid=325&secid=182 under “Work privileges for IHL
students”.
Employment Act
The Employment Act covers every employee who is engaged under a contract of service, including interns.
An employer should accord statutory benefits prescribed under the law to an intern if he/she is performing work and
has work arrangements similar to that of a regular employee in the organisation.
Click here for details.
Hours of Work, Overtime & Rest Days
Under the Employment Act, an employee should not be required to work for more than 8 hours in one day or more
than 44 hours in a week. However, he/she may be required to work overtime if he consents to do so, subject to the
limit of 12 hours per day and totalling 72 hours per month. Under the Act, the employer must pay the employee for the
extra hours of work or for working on his rest days or public holidays. The rate for overtime work should be no less
than one and a half times his hourly basic rate of pay. An employer must grant the employee one rest day (which is
not paid) in a week, which may be on a Sunday or any other day.
Click here for details.
Annual Leave
An employee is entitled to Annual Leave (prorated) if he/she has worked for at least 3 months. Click here for details.
Sick Leave
An employee covered by the Employment Act is entitled to paid sick leave (prorated), including medical leave issued
by a dentist if:
• The employee has served the employer for at least three months.
• The employee has informed or attempted to inform the employer of his/her absence within 48 hours. Otherwise, the
employee will be deemed to be absent from work without permission or reasonable excuse.
• The sick leave is certified by the company's doctor, or by a government doctor (including doctors from approved
public medical institutions). Click here for details.
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Payment of Allowances
The recommended allowance for an intern is S$800 to S$1000 per month, and is to be mutually agreed upon between
the company and the intern. Allowances paid to students are exempted from Central Provident Fund (CPF)
contributions. For more information, please refer to the CPF board website.
Insurance
Internships in Singapore
Students are covered against personal or bodily injuries caused by or arising out of accidents through a Group
Personal Accident Insurance Scheme arranged by NUS. However, employers may wish to cover the intern under their
organisation’s insurance schemes such as medical or workmen’s compensation.
Overseas internships
For overseas internships, students and employers are responsible to check on the visa and permit requirements for
the host country and relevant immigration authorities in compliance with immigration regulations. As the NUS
insurance scheme for students only applies to coverage within Singapore, please check with the employer on the
provision of travel insurance. If not provided, you may wish to purchase travel insurance as additional cover for the
internship period overseas.
For travel notices, please refer to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website.
Termination
Students are expected to complete the entire internship period or the mutually agreed period. In the case of early
termination by either party, students must provide a written explanation to CFG detailing the reasons and meet with a
staff of CFG.
Procedures
1. Internship opportunities will be publicised on NUS TalentConnect on a rolling basis as application deadlines will
vary depending on the employer. Students are encouraged to start reviewing internship postings and submitting
applications directly through NUS TalentConnect. Please also refer to our weekly e-newsletters (every Thursday)
and set notification settings within NUS TalentConnect to receive updates on latest internship postings.
2. Students with self-sourced internships will have to get the HR contact person of the employer to complete the
Self-Sourced VIP Request Form for Employers. The completed form will have to be submitted to CFG for approval
to ensure that the job scope qualifies as an internship.
3. Students may be contacted by employers for interviews and if an offer is made, students may be requested by
employers to sign a formal internship contract to prevent any future potential disputes.
4. Once students have accepted an offer by the employer,
employerservices@nus.edu.sg with the following details of internship:
a) Full Name
b) Faculty of the student
c) Contact number
d) NUS email address
e) Company Name
f) Internship Position (if any)
g) Job Reference Number (from NUS TalentConnect, if any)
students
are
requested
to
email
5. Towards the end of the internship, employers and students will be asked to provide feedback on each other’s
performance and internship experience by completing an online evaluation.
Certificate of Participation
Certificates of Participation are now provided upon request. Please email your request to careers@nus.edu.sg with
the following details and you will be notified when the certificate is ready for collection from our counter at CFG:
Subject: Request for Certificate of Participation – Internship
Full Name:
Company that you interned in:
Internship period: Start and End date
NUS email address:
Centre for Future-ready Graduates
Yusof Ishak House, Level 2, 31 Lower Kent Ridge Road, Singapore 119078Tel: (65) 6516 1385
employerservices@nus.edu.sg
Website: www.nus.edu.sg/cfg
Fax: (65) 6774 4463
Email:
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