Leave policy in Singapore

Employers must offer their employees a certain number of days off to comply with local labor law. This is known as a leave policy. In Singapore, for example, the policy outlines how much paid vacation, sick leave, maternity leave, and parental leave employees are entitled to. 

When hiring employees in Singapore, you’ll need to stay compliant with these legal requirements, and partnering with an Employer of Record (EOR), like Payoneer Workforce Management, can help streamline the process.

Vacation leave policy in Singapore

The leave policy in Singapore states that the number of vacation days employees are entitled to depends on their length of service with the employer.

Employees can take 7 days of paid vacation in their 1st year of service, but only after working for 3 continuous months. 

After that, employees earn an extra vacation day for each completed year of service. For example, they are entitled to 8 vacation days as soon as they have completed 12 months with your company.

This process continues until they earn 14 paid vacation days in their 8th year of service. Employers aren’t legally required to offer any more vacation days beyond this. 

Public holidays in Singapore

Singaporean employees are entitled to 11 paid public holidays each year. These include:

Public holiday	Date
New Year’s Day	January 1st
Chinese New Year	Varies every year
Good Friday	Varies, usually in March or April
Hari Raya Puasa	Varies, usually in March or April
Labor Day	May 1st
Vesak Day	Varies, usually in April, May, or June
Hari Raya Haji	Varies, usually in April, May, or August
National Day	August 9th
Deepavali	Varies, usually in October or November
Christmas Day	December 25th

The dates of some of these holidays may change from year to year based on religious calendars. 

When a public holiday falls on a Sunday, employers must offer the following available working day as a paid holiday. 

General or presidential elections may be considered public holidays, too.

The leave policy in Singapore also specifies that if an employee is required to work on a public holiday, employers can either pay the employee an extra day’s salary, or for certain employee groups employer may offer a day in lieu.

Parental leave policy in Singapore

Employees who have children are entitled to additional forms of leave. Here’s what you need to know about the parental leave policy in Singapore.  

Maternity leave

Employees are entitled to maternity leave in Singapore if:

• They have worked for you for at least 3 continuous months before the birth of their child
• The child is a Singaporean citizen
• They are legally married to the child’s father

Eligible employees can receive 16 weeks of Government-Paid Maternity Leave (GPML), as long as they give their employer at least 4 weeks’ notice. 

The employer is responsible for paying the employee during maternity leave. They can then claim reimbursement from the government as per the following table.

Child	Paid by the employer	Reimbursed by the government
First and second	First 8 weeks, at the employee’s gross rate of pay	Last 8 weeks, capped at SGD 10,000 per 4 weeks
Third and subsequent		All 16 weeks, capped at SGD 10,000 per 4 weeks

It may be an offence for an employer to dismiss an employee while they’re taking maternity leave in Singapore.

Paternity leave

Working fathers in Singapore are entitled to Government-Paid Paternity Leave (GPPL) if:

• Their child is a Singaporean citizen.
• They are or were married to the child’s mother between conception and birth
• The father must be employed by a company that has at least 50 employees.

Fathers are eligible for a statutory minimum of 2 weeks of GPPL(paid by the employer), with a possible extension of 2 more weeks voluntarily (reimbursed by the government). 

Shared parental leave

Working parents who meet the criteria for GPML and GPPL are also entitled to shared parental leave in Singapore. This is on top of maternity and paternity leave and is to be shared between both parents.

Adoption leave

Adoptive mothers are entitled to 12 weeks of paid adoption leave as long as:

• The adopted child is less than a year old when the employee formally decides to adopt
• The adopted child (or at least one of the parents) is a Singapore citizen
• The employee has been working for the employer continuously for at least 3 months

Employers pay the employee and are reimbursed as per the following table:

Adoption	Paid by the employer	Reimbursed by the government
First and second	First 4 weeks, at the employee’s gross rate of pay	Last 8 weeks, capped at SGD 20,000
Third and subsequent		All 12 weeks, capped at SGD 30,000

Adoptive parents who meet the eligibility requirements are also entitled to shared parental leave and maternity leave in Singapore.

Sick leave in Singapore

Employees who have worked for your company for at least 6 months are entitled to sick pay at their gross wages. This includes 14 days for employees certified unfit to work by a medical practitioner (“paid outpatient sick leave”) and 60 days for employees who require hospital care (“paid hospitalization leave”).

If an employee has worked for your company for 3 to 6 months, sick leave entitlement is prorated as follows:

Number of months of service completed	Days of paid outpatient leave	Days of paid hospitalization leave
3	5	15
4	8	30
5	11	45
6 or more	14	60

Employees must be certified unfit by a registered medical practitioner; TCM certificates may not be accepted for paid sick leave. Sick leave can be carried forward for 12 months, but encashment is not mandatory.

Other leave policies in Singapore

Other types of leave in Singapore include:

• Childcare leave: Employees with Singaporean children under 7 may also be entitled to 6 days of paid childcare leave.
• Unpaid infant care leave: Working parents are entitled to 12 days of unpaid infant care leave for Singaporean children under 2.

Explore Payoneer Workforce Management in Singapore

The leave policy in Singapore can be tricky to manage as a foreign employer. But with Payoneer Workforce Management, an EOR in Singapore, complying with local labor laws is streamlined. 

Find out more about our EOR service in Singapore. 

Book a demo today!

FAQs

1) How many days off do you get in Singapore?

Employees start with 7 vacation days per year and can accumulate up to 7 more, earning 1 extra day per year of service.

2) How many days of holiday are there in Singapore?

There are 11 public holidays in Singapore, including New Year’s Day, Chinese New Year, and Hari Raya Puasa.