Boss made sexual advances

The first sign that something was amiss came at lunch-time on the very first day of work for Ms Sarah Tan (not her real name) in an eye-care firm in late July.

The 39-year-old sales representative says her direct boss, a married man in his 40s, joked that married men liked to have girlfriends.

When she disagreed, she says, he said: "Oh you must be a lesbian."

As the weeks rolled by, he would ask her to be his "girlfriend" - albeit in a "laughing, jokey way".

Once when she asked if she could be sponsored for a course, he replied: "Of course, all you have to do is sleep with me."

By last month, he had become more direct, claims Ms Tan.

He was overseas and they were discussing work via WhatsApp messages late one night when she was tired and said: "Let's sleep."

He replied immediately: "Let's sleep together." Two days later, he sent another message: "Give me a kiss." And a crude follow-up, in Chinese.

When she rebuffed his advances repeatedly, she claims, he began finding fault with her looks as well as her work. She worked harder still, including on weekends, hoping for a turnaround.

But when he refused to give her days off in lieu and rejected her ideas for upcoming promotions, she says something snapped, and she decided to complain to her company's human resource department.

It did a quick investigation and she was deemed "overly sensitive".

When she decided to resign, she was told that during her two-week notice period, she would have to continue to report to her boss.

She has since lodged complaints with Aware and even consulted the Ministry of Manpower.

She says she was told that in the United States, where the company is based, there are specific laws to protect victims of workplace harassment.

"I wish we get such laws someday soon."

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