Singapore is Asia’s most business-friendly jurisdiction and one of the world’s leading financial and professional services centres. Ranked consistently at the top of global ease-of-doing-business indices, it serves as the Asia-Pacific headquarters for hundreds of multinational corporations across financial services, technology, commodities trading, logistics, and professional services. Its deep talent pool, near-universal English proficiency, stable legal system grounded in English common law, and strategic location at the crossroads of Southeast Asia make it the natural entry point for companies building a regional presence. For global employers, compliant hiring in Singapore requires navigating the Employment Act (Cap. 91), mandatory Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions administered by the CPF Board, income tax obligations under the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS), work pass requirements administered by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), and the Progressive Wage Model (PWM) and Local Qualifying Salary (LQS) framework for companies that employ foreign workers.
An Employer of Record Singapore provider registers with the CPF Board, IRAS, and MOM, manages monthly CPF remittances and Skills Development Levy (SDL) contributions, prepares IR8A income declarations under the Auto-Inclusion Scheme (AIS), and handles the full employment lifecycle without requiring you to establish a locally incorporated Private Limited Company (Pte Ltd) or branch office. Global Deployments provides Employer of Record services in Singapore through its vetted in-country partner network, covering employment, payroll, and statutory compliance under one engagement, with no local entity required on your side.
The Legal Framework for Hiring in Singapore
Employment in Singapore is primarily governed by the Employment Act (Cap. 91), which sets minimum standards for salary payment, overtime, leave entitlements, and notice periods. The Employment Act covers all employees under a contract of service in Singapore, with enhanced protections for non-workman employees earning up to SGD 2,600 per month and workmen (employees engaged in manual labour) earning up to SGD 4,500 per month.
Singapore’s income tax system operates on a self-assessment preceding-year basis. Employers do not withhold income tax from employee salaries (unlike PAYE systems in other jurisdictions). Instead, employers with five or more employees must participate in the Auto-Inclusion Scheme (AIS) and submit IR8A income declarations to IRAS by 1 March each year for the preceding calendar year. Employees then file their own income tax returns. IRAS administers all personal income tax obligations at iras.gov.sg.
Employment disputes are handled by the Employment Claims Tribunals (ECT), which have jurisdiction over salary-related disputes, and the Industrial Arbitration Court (IAC) for collective disputes. The Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) enforces the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices, which govern job advertising, hiring, and termination practices for all employers in Singapore.
Foreign nationals working in Singapore require a MOM-issued work pass. The three main work pass categories are the Employment Pass (for professionals, managers, and executives), the S Pass (for associate professionals and technicians), and the Work Permit (for semi-skilled workers in specified sectors). Each pass category has distinct eligibility criteria, salary thresholds, and quota obligations for employers.
Key Compliance Obligations for 2026
- CPF Contributions: All Singapore Citizens (SCs) and Permanent Residents (PRs) in private sector employment must have CPF contributions made by both the employer and employee each month. Contribution rates vary by employee age group and are calculated on Ordinary Wages (OW) up to the monthly OW ceiling of SGD 8,000 (effective 1 January 2026, raised from SGD 7,400 in 2025) and Additional Wages (bonuses and variable pay) up to the Annual Salary Ceiling of SGD 102,000. Monthly CPF contributions must be remitted to the CPF Board by the 14th of the following month. Foreign employees on Employment Pass or S Pass are not covered by CPF.
- Skills Development Levy (SDL): All employers must pay the SDL on the first SGD 4,500 of each employee’s monthly wages. The SDL rate is 0.25%, with a minimum of SGD 2 per employee per month and a maximum of SGD 11.25 per employee per month. SDL applies to all employees regardless of nationality (including EP and S Pass holders). SDL is remitted monthly to SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) alongside CPF contributions.
- IR8A and Auto-Inclusion Scheme (AIS): Employers with five or more employees must submit IR8A forms for all employees by 1 March each year under the AIS. The IR8A discloses each employee’s total employment income for the preceding year, including salary, bonuses, benefits-in-kind, and equity-based compensation. IRAS uses this data to auto-populate employees’ income tax assessments.
- Progressive Wage Model (PWM) and LQS Compliance: All employers who hire foreign workers (on S Pass or Work Permit) must pay their local employees covered by a sectoral or occupational PWM at or above the applicable PWM wage scale, and pay all other local employees at least the Local Qualifying Salary (LQS). From 1 July 2026, the LQS is SGD 1,800 per month (full-time) or SGD 10.50 per hour (part-time), increased from SGD 1,600 per month. Failure to meet LQS obligations disqualifies local employees from counting toward an employer’s MOM foreign worker quota. PWM sectors in 2026 include cleaning, security, landscaping, lift and escalator maintenance, retail, food services, waste management, and designated occupational categories (administrators, drivers).
- Fair Consideration Framework (FCF): Employers with 10 or more employees must advertise all job vacancies on MyCareersFuture.sg for at least 14 calendar days before applying for an Employment Pass for that role. TAFEP monitors FCF compliance and investigates complaints of discriminatory hiring practices. Employers who fail FCF obligations may have their EP and S Pass privileges suspended.
- Work Pass Quota Management: S Pass holders are subject to a quota cap of 10% of the workforce in services sectors and 15% in manufacturing, with tighter caps of 5% in construction, marine shipyard, and process sectors. Work Permits in construction, marine, and process sectors are subject to Dependency Ratio Ceilings (DRCs) and levy obligations. The employer is responsible for levy payment and quota monitoring across the full foreign workforce.
2026 Employment Pass and S Pass Salary Thresholds
Work passes in Singapore are subject to minimum qualifying salaries that rise with the candidate’s age, benchmarked against the local PMET (Professionals, Managers, Executives, and Technicians) and APT (Associate Professionals and Technicians) salary distributions.
| Work Pass | Sector | Minimum Monthly Salary (Age ~23 entry level) | Minimum Monthly Salary (Age 45+) |
| Employment Pass (EP) | Non-financial services | SGD 5,600 | SGD 10,700 |
| Employment Pass (EP) | Financial services | SGD 6,200 | SGD 11,800 |
| S Pass | Non-financial services | SGD 3,300 | SGD 4,800 (approx.) |
| S Pass | Financial services | SGD 3,800 | Higher (age-scaled) |
EP applicants must also satisfy the Complementarity Assessment Framework (COMPASS), a points-based scoring system assessing salary relative to local peers, skills diversity, firm support for local workforce development, and strategic economic priorities. A minimum COMPASS score of 40 points is required for all new EP applications and renewals.
2026 Income Tax Rates (Year of Assessment 2026)
Singapore taxes employment income on a preceding-year basis: income earned in calendar year 2025 is assessed to tax in Year of Assessment (YA) 2026. Employers do not withhold income tax; employees file their own returns. The progressive rates below apply to Singapore tax residents.
| Chargeable Income (SGD) | YA 2026 Resident Tax Rate | Tax Payable on Bracket |
| First SGD 20,000 | 0% | Nil |
| Next SGD 10,000 (up to SGD 30,000) | 2% | SGD 200 |
| Next SGD 10,000 (up to SGD 40,000) | 3.5% | SGD 350 |
| Next SGD 40,000 (up to SGD 80,000) | 7% | SGD 2,800 |
| Next SGD 40,000 (up to SGD 120,000) | 11.5% | SGD 4,600 |
| Next SGD 40,000 (up to SGD 160,000) | 15% | SGD 6,000 |
| Next SGD 40,000 (up to SGD 200,000) | 18% | SGD 7,200 |
| Next SGD 40,000 (up to SGD 240,000) | 19% | SGD 7,600 |
| Next SGD 40,000 (up to SGD 280,000) | 19.5% | SGD 7,800 |
| Next SGD 40,000 (up to SGD 320,000) | 20% | SGD 8,000 |
| Next SGD 180,000 (up to SGD 500,000) | 22% | SGD 39,600 |
| Next SGD 500,000 (up to SGD 1,000,000) | 23% | SGD 115,000 |
| Above SGD 1,000,000 | 24% | On excess over SGD 1,000,000 |
Non-resident employees are taxed at 15% of gross employment income or the resident progressive rates (whichever is higher). Total personal tax reliefs (CPF, earned income, spouse, parent, NSman, and others) are capped at SGD 80,000 per YA. The 60% personal income tax rebate that applied in YA2024 and YA2025 does not carry forward to YA2026.
2026 CPF Contribution Rates
CPF contributions apply to Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents only. Rates are tiered by employee age and are computed on Ordinary Wages up to the SGD 8,000 monthly ceiling (from 1 January 2026) and total Annual Wages up to SGD 102,000.
| Employee Age Group | Employer Contribution | Employee Contribution | Total Rate |
| 55 and below | 17% | 20% | 37% |
| Above 55 to 60 | 16% | 18% | 34% |
| Above 60 to 65 | 12.5% | 12.5% | 25% |
| Above 65 to 70 | 9% | 7.5% | 16.5% |
| Above 70 | 7.5% | 5% | 12.5% |
The 1 January 2026 rate update increased contributions for employees aged above 55 to 60 (from 33% to 34% total) as part of the government’s phased plan to equalise senior worker CPF rates with those of younger workers by 2030. Additional contributions for senior workers are allocated to the Retirement Account (RA) up to the Full Retirement Sum (FRS).
Contributions are remitted monthly to the CPF Board by the 14th of the following month. Late contributions attract a late payment interest charge of 18% per annum on the outstanding amount.
Work Standards and Leave Entitlements
The Employment Act sets a standard working week of 44 hours (exclusive of meal breaks) and a maximum of 9 hours per day. Overtime beyond 44 hours per week must be compensated at a minimum of 1.5 times the employee’s ordinary hourly rate. The maximum overtime allowed is 72 hours per month, subject to MOM approval for excess.
- Annual Leave: Employees who have completed at least 3 months of service are entitled to paid annual leave. The minimum entitlement starts at 7 days in the first year and increases by 1 day per additional year of service, reaching a maximum of 14 days from year 8 onwards. Unused annual leave may be encashed or carried forward, subject to agreement between employer and employee.
- Sick Leave: After completing 3 months of service, employees are entitled to 14 days of paid outpatient sick leave and up to 60 days of paid hospitalization leave per year (inclusive of the 14 outpatient days). A medical certificate from a registered medical practitioner or hospital is required.
- Maternity Leave: Eligible working mothers of Singapore citizen children are entitled to 16 weeks of Government-Paid Maternity Leave (GPML) under the Child Development Co-Savings Act (CDCA). The first 8 weeks are taken consecutively immediately following delivery; the remaining 8 weeks may be taken flexibly within 12 months of birth. For non-citizen children, the entitlement is 12 weeks (the first 8 weeks employer-paid, the remaining 4 weeks government-reimbursed). A minimum of 3 months’ service with the employer is required for eligibility.
- Paternity Leave: From 1 April 2025, all eligible fathers of Singapore citizen children are entitled to 4 weeks of Government-Paid Paternity Leave (GPPL), with the previously voluntary additional 2 weeks now mandatory. This applies to children born or adopted on or after 1 April 2025. A minimum of 3 months’ service is required.
- Shared Parental Leave (SPL): For children born on or after 1 April 2026, SPL increases to 10 weeks (5 weeks per parent by default), fully government-paid and capped at SGD 2,500 per week. SPL is in addition to the 16 weeks of maternity leave and 4 weeks of paternity leave, giving eligible families access to up to 30 weeks of paid parental leave in the child’s first year.
- Childcare Leave: Each parent receives 6 days of Government-Paid Childcare Leave (GPCL) per year for Singapore citizen children under the age of 7. For non-citizen children under 7, parents are entitled to 2 days of employer-paid childcare leave per year. GPCL is reimbursed by the government up to SGD 500 per day (SGD 1,500 per year per parent for the government-funded portion).
- Public Holidays: Singapore observes 11 gazetted public holidays per year, including New Year’s Day, Chinese New Year (2 days), Good Friday, Labour Day, Vesak Day, Eid Al-Fitr, National Day, Deepavali, and Christmas Day. Employees who are required to work on a public holiday are entitled to an extra day’s salary or a day off in lieu.
Termination and End of Service
Singapore law does not mandate statutory severance pay for all terminations. Retrenchment benefits are not universally prescribed by the Employment Act but are strongly recommended under the Tripartite Advisory on Managing Excess Manpower and Responsible Retrenchment, which advises 1 to 4 weeks’ wages per year of service based on company profitability and established practice.
- Notice Periods: Minimum statutory notice periods under the Employment Act are determined by length of service: less than 26 weeks of service (1 day’s notice), 26 weeks to less than 2 years (1 week), 2 years to less than 5 years (2 weeks), and 5 or more years of service (4 weeks). Contractual notice periods frequently exceed these statutory minimums for professional roles.
- Payment in Lieu of Notice: Either party may terminate employment without serving the notice period by paying salary in lieu for the full notice duration.
- Retrenchment Notification: Employers who retrench 5 or more employees within any 12-month period must notify MOM via the MOM portal. Retrenchment notifications must be filed before affected employees are informed. MOM uses this data to monitor retrenchment trends and offer employment assistance to affected workers through Workforce Singapore (WSG).
- Employment Claims Tribunal (ECT): Employees may file salary-related claims (unpaid wages, wrongful deductions, incorrect overtime, non-payment of leave encashment) with the ECT. Most claims must be filed within one year of the dispute arising. TAFEP handles complaints related to discriminatory termination or unfair dismissal.
Why Use an Employer of Record in Singapore
Incorporating a Pte Ltd in Singapore requires ACRA company registration, CPF Board employer registration, IRAS registration under the AIS, SDL enrolment with SkillsFuture Singapore, and MOM employer registration for work pass eligibility. For companies that need to onboard one or a small number of Singapore-based employees quickly, without committing to the full entity infrastructure, an EOR provides immediate statutory compliance from the first payroll run.
Global Deployments provides Employer of Record services in Singapore through its vetted in-country partner network, managing monthly CPF and SDL remittances, IR8A income declarations under the AIS, Employment Act-compliant employment contracts, PWM and LQS compliance for foreign worker quota management, and compliant offboarding under one engagement.
Global Deployments | Part of Africa Deployments Ltd. Address: The Strand, Beau Plan Business Park, Mauritius BRN: C19167158 | VAT: 27738392 global-deployments.com | Phone: +23057138629
Conclusion
Hiring compliantly in Singapore in 2026 requires monthly CPF contributions remitted to the CPF Board by the 14th of the following month (at the updated OW ceiling of SGD 8,000 and age-banded contribution rates from 12.5% to 37% total), SDL remittance at 0.25% of the first SGD 4,500 of monthly wages for all employees, annual IR8A income declarations by 1 March under the AIS, compliance with COMPASS-scored Employment Pass thresholds (from SGD 5,600 for non-financial services), the updated Local Qualifying Salary of SGD 1,800/month from 1 July 2026, and the new Shared Parental Leave framework for children born on or after 1 April 2026. The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) at mom.gov.sg and the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) at iras.gov.sg are the primary regulatory authorities governing employer obligations. An Employer of Record partner with in-country expertise in Singapore manages the full statutory compliance stack from day one, so your Singapore team is onboarded, paid, and legally protected without requiring a local entity.
