Expired licence and an unlicensed new hire: pressure to work the shift
RapidGuard Security holds a valid security agency licence. You are a security officer deployed to a 320-unit condominium. On Monday morning your supervisor, Mr Tan, tells you that your Security Officer licence expired nine days ago and that the renewal is 'still with the licensing authority'. He says the replacement officer from Johor has not arrived, the condominium's managing agent is not to be told, and you should work your usual 12-hour shift and 'just show the old card if anyone asks'. Later that day a new hire, 18 years old, who has completed the basic licensing course but has not yet been issued a licence, is posted to the same site to cover the second guard post. The site contract requires two licensed officers on duty at all times. The estate manager asks you for the officers' licence numbers for the monthly security report, due tomorrow, and Mr Tan tells you to 'use the numbers from last month'.
1. Can you lawfully work the shift, and what should you do if Mr Tan insists?
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No. The Private Security Industry Act requires a person carrying out security officer duties to hold a valid licence, and it prohibits an agency from deploying anyone who is not licensed. An expired licence is not a licence; there is no grace period and no 'renewal pending' exemption. Working the shift would be an offence by you and by the agency.
What to do. Tell Mr Tan clearly and in writing (a message is fine, keep it) that you cannot work unlicensed and ask for a licensed relief officer or for the post to be stood down. If he insists, escalate to the agency director or HR the same day and record the instruction and your refusal. Keep copies off company systems.
Why the risk is real, not theoretical. Unlicensed, you have no insurance cover, no standing with the client, and full personal exposure if anything goes wrong, while performing duties you are not lawfully entitled to perform. 'Just show the old card' adds a deception element on top of the licensing offence.
Options that are not answers. Resigning immediately is not required; refusing the unlicensed shift is. Nor is working 'just tonight' - there is no de minimis exception, and tonight is when an incident would happen.
2. Assess the position of the 18-year-old new hire and the instruction to reuse last month's licence numbers in the client report.
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The new hire. Completing the basic licensing course is not the same as holding a licence. Until the licence is issued he cannot perform security officer duties either. The site is therefore contractually non-compliant twice over: it is paying for two licensed officers and has none. That is a client-facing problem you should not paper over.
The report. Reusing last month's licence numbers in a client document is falsification. It is dishonest, it may amount to a document offence, it breaches the standards expected of licensees and agency directors, and it contaminates the estate's records. The fact that the numbers belong to real people makes it worse, not better.
What to do instead. Do not sign or submit a report you know to be false. Give the true position in writing: 'Post 1 - officer licence expired on [date], renewal pending, relief requested; Post 2 - new hire awaiting licence issue.' Clients and managing agents generally prefer an accurate bad-news line to a false good one, because their own audit trail depends on it. If Mr Tan submits the falsified version anyway, record your objection the same day and copy the director.
3. If this comes to light after an incident at the site, who bears liability and what are the realistic consequences?
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You. Criminal liability for carrying out security officer duties without a valid licence, plus a real risk that the pending renewal is refused or granted with conditions, because the regulator will see the file. Your professional credibility on future deployments is also damaged.
Mr Tan. Deploying an unlicensed officer and directing a false report expose him to abetment of the offences and to action against his own supervisory licence; a supervisor directing non-compliance is treated more harshly than an officer who merely complied under pressure.
RapidGuard. Corporate liability, financial penalties, suspension or revocation of the agency licence, termination of the condominium contract, and an insurance position that may be void for unlicensed deployment - which means the agency, not an insurer, pays for any injury or loss.
Practical advice. Written notice, dated records, escalation to the director level, and if nothing changes, a report to the licensing authority. Keep the tone factual: you are protecting the client, the public and yourself, not settling a score with a supervisor.