The Republic of Singapore is a high-tech and wealthy city-state in Southeast Asia. The country covers 728.3 km2 and comprises the diamond-shaped Singapore Island with some 60 small islets. Singapore is a financial powerhouse with thriving industrial and financial sector, accompanied by superb education, health, transportation, and communications services. The country’s economy is highly dependent on investment capital from foreign multinational corporations.
*Please note that the official currency is the currency of remuneration when employed through WorkMotion in Singapore.
Capital : Singapore | Currency : Singapore Dollar (S$, SGD) | Languages spoken : English, Malay, Mandarin, Tamil |
Population : 5.44 million (2021 est.) | Minimum wage 2023 : S$1,400 monthly for foreign workers | Cost of Living index : $$$$ (10 of 139 nations) |
Payroll Frequency : Monthly | VAT - standard rate : 7% | GDP - real growth rate : 7.6% (2021 est.) |
The national holidays mentioned below are valid for the year 2023:
The approximate time for sharing the contract with an employee in Singapore is 6 business days assuming no special requests or changes to our standard employment contract. Any such requests or changes would need to undergo internal and external review, directly leading to a time delay.
NOTE: This number is subject to change and is only an estimation of the Contract Sharing Time. The estimated Contract Sharing Time begins from the moment that WorkMotion has received all required information from both the client and the employee.
Contractual working hours (excluding break time and overtime) cannot exceed 8 hours a day or 44 hours a week.
An employee must not be permitted to work overtime for more than 12 hours a day (excluding break times) and 72 hours a month.
Employers must pay at least 1.5 times the hourly basic rate of pay for overtime within 14 days after the last day of the pay period. The overtime rate payable is capped at an hourly rate of S$13.60.
There is no mandatory probation period in Singapore, but common practice is three to six months.
Termination notice periods under contracts of service depend on employees’ employment length:
| Length of Service | Notice Period |
| Less than 26 weeks | 1 day |
| 26 weeks to less than 2 years | 1 week |
| 2 to less than 5 years | 2 weeks |
| 5 years or more | 4 weeks |
Employees who have worked at least three months are entitled to seven days of paid annual leave during their first 12 months. An additional day of paid annual leave is added for every subsequent 12 months of continuous service with the same employer, up to a maximum of 14 days paid annual leave.
Employees are entitled to paid sick leave and hospitalization leave if they have worked for at least three months; and are informed or tried to inform the employer within 48 hours of their absence.
The length of paid sick leave and hospitalization leave employees are entitled to depend on their service period as follows:
| Number of Months of Service Completed | Paid Sick Leave (Days) | Paid Hospitalization Leave (Days) |
| 3 months | 5 | 15 |
| 4 months | 8 | 30 |
| 5 months | 11 | 45 |
| 6 months and thereafter | 14 | 60 |
Eligible working parents who have any Singapore citizen child below seven years old can enjoy up to six days of paid childcare leave (Government-Paid Childcare Leave, GPCL) per relevant period.
Eligible working parents who have any Singapore citizen child between seven and 12 years old (both inclusive) can enjoy two days of extended childcare leave (Extended Childcare Leave, ECL) per relevant period.
Parents of non-citizens can get two days of extended childcare leave a year.
Eligible working mothers can enjoy up to 16 weeks of paid maternity leave (Government-Paid Maternity Leave, GPML) within 12 months from the child’s date of birth (inclusive of date of birth).
Employers will pay all 16 weeks of the leave at employees’ gross rate of pay, with the Government reimbursing for the 9th to 16th weeks for the 1st and 2nd child and all 16 weeks for the 3rd child or subsequent child.
Eligible working fathers are entitled to up to two weeks of paternity leave (Government-Paid Paternity Leave, GPPL) within 12 months from the child’s date of birth (inclusive of date of birth).
The employer will pay all two weeks, with the Government reimbursing for all two weeks of the employee’s GPPL, capped at S$2,500 per week or a total of S$5,000.
Employers are required to grant a leave of absence to national servicemen (NS) employees when they are called upon to perform their NS duties. For more details on Military Leave, visit the National service in Singapore.
There is no statutory provision for unpaid leave in Singapore.
Singapore’s social security system has three aspects: retirement, healthcare, and social welfare taken care of through the Central Provident Fund (CPF). CPF is a mandatory savings scheme funded by both employers and employees. It covers everything from housing, retirement, healthcare, etc. Employer contribution rates vary based on employee age and residency status. In addition to CPF contributions, employers are also mandated to pay contributions towards skills development in the country.
An overview of employer contributions towards mandatory benefits is given in the table below:
Benefits | Employer Contribution | Employee Contribution |
Central Provident Fund (CPF)* | 17 % (can be reduced to 3.5% based on age and residence status) | 20% |
Skills Development Levy (SDL) | 0.25% | |
Work Injury Compensation Insurance | 0.20% | – |
*Employers and employees contribute 17% and 20%, respectively, of ordinary monthly wages, up to an income ceiling of SGD 6,000. Their respective maximum contributions are therefore SGD 1,020 and SGD 1,200 per month.
Healthcare benefits are provided to employees via their Medisave Account (MA) under the CPF to cover any hospitalization and medical expenses. All Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents are also automatically covered under MediShield Life, which covers large hospital bills and selected outpatient treatment costs.
The employer pays 0.20% towards the Work Injury Compensation Insurance. Employers must obtain adequate work injury compensation insurance (WIC) for all employees doing non-manual work earning S$2,600 or less a month, excluding any overtime payment, bonus payment, annual wage supplement, productivity incentive payment and any allowance. This applies to both local and foreign employees.
There is no unemployment insurance in Singapore.
The minimum retirement age is 62. Employers are also required to offer re-employment to eligible employees who turn 62, up to age 67. The retirement and re-employment ages in Singapore will be progressively raised to 65 and 70 by 2030. The retirement and re-employment ages in Singapore are progressively raised to 65 and 70 by 2030.
The only government-mandated pension system in Singapore is the Central Provident Fund (CPF). Employers pay 17% towards CPF.
Skill Development Levy is a compulsory employer contribution at 2.5% of monthly total wages, which then gets channeled to the Skills Development Fund to support workforce upgrading programmes and training grants when employees are sent for training under the National Continuing Education Training system.
The information contained in this Country Guide is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice on any subject matter. The contents of this Country Guide contain general information and may not reflect current legal developments or address your situation. You should not act or refrain from acting on the basis of any content included in this Country Guide without seeking the advice or representation of a licensed attorney. WorkMotion Software GmbH disclaims all liability for actions you take or fail to take based on any content included in this Country Guide.
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