Employment Practices - Compulsory Leave in Singapore

 

Annual Leave

 

Eligibility

You are entitled to paid annual leave if you meet the following conditions:

  • You are covered under Part IV of the Employment Act
  • You have worked for your employer for at least 3 months

 

Entitlement 

Your annual leave entitlement depends on how many years of service you have with your employer. Your year of service begins from the day you start work with your employer.

Year of service

Days of leave

First

7

Second

8

Third

9

Fourth

10

Fifth

11

Sixth

12

Seventh

13

Eighth and thereafter

14

 

Sick Leave

 

Eligibility

If you’re covered by the Employment Act, you are entitled to paid sick leave and hospitalisation leave if:
  • You have served your employer for at least 3 months.
  • You have informed or tried to inform your employer within 48 hours of your absence.
Paid sick leave
To qualify for paid sick leave, you must to be certified to be unfit for work by a company-approved doctor or a government doctor. This includes doctors and dentists from approved medical institutions.
 
Paid hospitalisation leave
To qualify for paid hospitalisation leave, you must be certified to be ill enough to be hospitalised in an acute hospital or national centre. This must be done by a government doctor or a doctor appointed by your employer.
If you are certified so, you are eligible for hospitalisation leave, regardless of whether you recuperate in an acute hospital, community hospital or at home.
 

Entitlement to paid sick or hospitalisation leave

The number of days of paid leave you are entitled to depends on your period of service, up to 14 days for paid sick leave and 60 days for paid hospitalisation leave. The 60 days of hospitalisation leave includes the 14 days sick leave entitlement.

 

If you have worked for 6 months or more, you will get the full entitlement.

 

 

Government Paid Leaves (Moms)

Childcare Leave

 

Eligibility

You are eligible for Government-Paid Childcare Leave (GPCL) if you meet the following requirements:

  • Your child is below 7 years old.
  • Your child is a Singapore citizen.
  • For employees: you have served your employer for at least 3 continuous months.
  • For self-employed: you have been engaged in your work for at least 3 continuous months and have lost income during the childcare leave period.
     

Entitlement

You and your spouse each get 6 days per year of childcare leave until the year your child turns 7 years old, regardless of the number of children you have.

 

Childcare leave is capped at 42 days for each parent.

 

You need to consume your yearly childcare leave entitlement by the end of that year. You cannot carry forward childcare leave meant for one year to the next.

 

Your leave is paid as follows:

 

  • The first 3 days will be paid by your employer.
  • The remaining 3 days will be paid by the Government.
  • Payments are capped at $500 per day, including CPF contributions.

 

 

Maternity Leave

 

Entitlement

You are eligible for 16 weeks of paid maternity leave if you meet the following requirements:

  • Your child is a Singapore citizen.
  • You are lawfully married to your child's father. (Not applicable for unwed mothers whose citizen child is born or with estimated delivery date (EDD) on or after 1 January 2017.)
  • For employees: you have served your employer for a continuous period of at least 3 months immediately before the birth of your child.
  • For self-employed: you have been engaged in your work for at least 3 continuous months and have lost income during the maternity leave period.
  • You have given your employer at least 1 week's notice before going on maternity leave, and informed them as soon as possible of your delivery. Otherwise, you are only entitled to half the payment during maternity leave, unless you have a good enough reason for not giving the notice.

Your employer will pay your usual monthly salary during the leave period. They can then claim reimbursement from the Government in accordance with the Government-Paid Maternity Leave (GPML) scheme:

 

Births

Paid by employer

Reimbursed by Government

First and second

First 8 weeks

Last 8 weeks

Third and subsequent

–

All 16 weeks

 

 

 

Adoption Leave

 

Eligibility

As the mother of an adopted child, you are entitled to adoption leave if you meet the following criteria:
  • Your adopted child is below the age of 12 months at the point of your formal intent to adopt. The “formal intent to adopt” happens:
    • For a local child: when you file the court application to adopt.
    • For a foreign child: when in-principle approval is granted for a Dependant’s Pass.
  • The adopted child is a Singapore citizen.
  • If the child is a foreigner:
    • One of the adoptive parents must be a Singapore citizen.
    • The child must become a Singapore citizen within 6 months of the adoption.
  • You must be lawfully married at the point of formal intent to adopt. Not applicable for unwed adoptive mothers whose formal intent to adopt is on or after 1 January 2017.
  • You must have served your employer or been self-employed for a continuous period of at least 3 months immediately before your formal intent to adopt.
  • The adoption order must be passed within 1 year from the formal intent to adopt.

 

Entitlement

If your formal intent to adopt is on or after 1 July 2017, you are entitled to 12 weeksof adoption leave for mothers, capped at $10,000 per every 4-week leave taken, including CPF.
 
If your formal intent to adopt is before 1 July 2017, you are entitled to 4 weeks of adoption leave, capped at $10,000, including CPF.
 
You can start your adoption leave from your formal intent to adopt.
 
You must consume your adoption leave before the child’s first birthday.
 
Your employer will pay your usual monthly salary during the leave period. They can then claim reimbursement from the Government accordingly:
 

Births

Paid by employer

Reimbursed by government

First and second

First 4 weeks

Last 8 weeks

Third and subsequent

–

All 12 weeks

 

Reimbursement is subject to a maximum of $20,000 for the first and second children, and $30,000 for the third and subsequent children, including CPF.

 

You can take your leave as follows:

Arrangement

12 weeks

Default, without any mutual agreement

Taken as a continuous stretch, from the date of formal intent to adopt.

Flexibly, by mutual agreement

The first 8 weeks must be taken in one continuous stretch starting any time between the date of formal intent to adopt and the date when the Adoption Order is granted, including both dates.

The last 4 weeks can be taken flexibly in days before the child's first birthday.

Calculating working days

4 weeks X number of working days in the week.

Capped at 6 working days per week.

 

 

Government Paid Leaves (Dads)

Childcare Leave

 

Eligibility

You are eligible for Government-Paid Childcare Leave (GPCL) if you meet the following requirements:

  • Your child is below 7 years old.
  • Your child is a Singapore citizen.
  • For employees: you have served your employer for at least 3 continuous months.
  • For self-employed: you have been engaged in your work for at least 3 continuous months and have lost income during the childcare leave period.
     

Entitlement

You and your spouse each get 6 days per year of childcare leave until the year your child turns 7 years old, regardless of the number of children you have.

 

Childcare leave is capped at 42 days for each parent.

 

You need to consume your yearly childcare leave entitlement by the end of that year. You cannot carry forward childcare leave meant for one year to the next.

 

Your leave is paid as follows:

  • The first 3 days will be paid by your employer.
  • The remaining 3 days will be paid by the Government.
  • Payments are capped at $500 per day, including CPF contributions.

 

 

Paternity Leave

 

Eligibility

As a working father, you are entitled to Government-Paid Paternity Leave (GPPL) for all births if you meet the following requirements:

  • Your child is a Singapore citizen.
  • You are or had been lawfully married to the child's mother between conception and birth. (Not applicable for adoptive fathers whose formal intent to adopt is on or after 1 January 2017.)
  • For employees: you have served your employer for a continuous period of at least 3 months before the birth of your child.
  • For self-employed: you have been engaged in your work for a continuous period of at least 3 months before the birth of your child, and have lost income during the paternity leave period.
     

Entitlement

You get 2 weeks of GPPL.

Your GPPL entitlement per week depends on your number of working days in a week.

 

 

Shared Parental Leave

 

Eligibility

If you are a working father, including one who is self-employed, you are entitled to shared parental leave if you meet the following requirements:

  • Your child is a Singapore citizen.
  • The child's mother qualifies for Government-Paid Maternity Leave (GPML).
  • You are lawfully married to the child's mother.

 

Entitlement

If your citizen child is born, or has an estimated delivery date (EDD) on or after 1 July 2017, you are entitled to take up to 4 weeks of shared parental leave, capped at $2,500 per week, including CPF. The shared parental leave is allocated in blocks of full weeks, e.g. your wife can allocate 1 to 4 weeks of shared parental leave.

 

If your citizen child is born, or has an EDD before 1 July 2017, you will be entitled to 1 week of shared parental leave, capped at $2,500, including CPF.

 

You can take your leave as follows:

Arrangement

Up to 4 weeks

Default, without any mutual agreement

Take in a continuous stretch within 12 months after the birth of the child.

Flexibly, by mutual agreement

Take in blocks of weeks or in working days, in any combination within 12 months after the birth of the child.

Calculating working days

Number of weeks x the number of working days in the week.

Capped at 6 working days per week.

 

Source: MOM website