Do you operate in Singapore, or have staff situated in Singapore? Learn all about the various Singapore Leave Laws in this article, including requirements for paid annual leave, nationwide paid holiday requirements, sick leave, maternity and paternity leave and more.
This page is intended for reference purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please see official government sources or consult a legal professional for actual legal advice.
There are 11 paid public holidays for employees in Singapore.
Here are the public holiday dates in Singapore for 2024:
| Date | Holiday |
|---|---|
| January 1 | New Year’s Day |
| February 10-11 | Chinese New Year |
| March 29 | Good Friday |
| April 10 | Hari Raya Puasa |
| May 1 | Labour Day |
| May 22 | Vesak Day |
| June 17 | Hari Raya Haji |
| August 9 | National Day |
| October 31 | Deepavali |
| December 25 | Christmas Day |
If a public holiday falls on a non-working day for the employee (such as a Saturday or Sunday), the public holiday will move to the next working day (generally the following Monday).
Employees are entitled to their gross rate of pay, along with the day off, for each of these public holidays.
If an employee works on a public holiday, they are entitled to an additional day’s pay (in addition to the regular day’s pay), or a public holiday in lieu (a paid day off to be taken at a later date).
Learn more on the Singapore Ministry of Manpower website.
After working for an employer for at least 3 months, employees covered by Singapore’s Employment Act are entitled to paid leave. This applies to both full-time and part-time employees.
Annual leave entitlement depends on the length of service the employee has with their employer. In the first year of service, they are entitled to 7 days’ paid leave.
Each year of service after this, they are entitled to an additional day of paid leave, up to a maximum of 14 days.
| Year of Service | Paid Leave Entitlement (days) |
|---|---|
| 1st | 7 |
| 2nd | 8 |
| 3rd | 9 |
| 4th | 10 |
| 5th | 11 |
| 6th | 12 |
| 7th | 13 |
| 8th+ | 14 |
These are the minimum requirements by law – employers may choose to offer more than this (but not less), and if so, it should be stipulated in the employment contract.
You can carry forward any unused leave for the following 12 months.
For example: if you have 7 days of paid leave in 2021, and only take 3 days off, you will have 4 days to carry over to 2022 (in addition to your paid leave entitlement for 2022). However, at the end of 2022, if these 4 days you carried over from 2021 are not taken, they will be forfeited.
Unless the employee is dismissed on the grounds of misconduct, they will be paid out their gross rate of pay for any outstanding days of paid leave remaining.
Employees are entitled to paid sick leave after serving at least 3 months of continuous employment with a company. Upon completing 6 months of service, the employee will be entitled to the full minimum amount of sick leave or paid hospitalisation, which is:
The accrual of sick leave, based on time served, is as follows:
| Months of Service | Paid Outpatient Sick Leave (days) | Paid Hospitalisation Leave (days) |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | 5 | 15 |
| 4 | 8 | 30 |
| 5 | 11 | 45 |
| 6+ | 14 | 60 |
Under the Employment Act, employees are required to inform their employer that they will be unable to report for work within 48 hours, and should give a medical certificate when they return to work.
From 1st January 2017 onwards, working mothers in Singapore can be entitled to up to 16 weeks of government-paid maternity leave, if certain conditions are met:
If the child is not a Singaporean citizen, the mother will be entitled to 12 weeks of government-paid maternity leave.
Working fathers in Singapore are entitled to 2 weeks of government-paid paternity leave, assuming the following conditions are met:
The same applies for adoptive fathers.
The 2 weeks is calculated based on their regular working schedule, and each week of paid leave is capped at $2,500.
By default, the father is allowed to take 2 continuous weeks of paternity leave within 16 months after the child’s birth. Or, by mutual agreement with the employer, these 2 weeks can be taken (continuously or split up into individual days) within 12 months of birth.
If the mother is also approved for maternity leave, the father can take up to 4 weeks of shared parental leave, sharing from the 16 weeks given to the mother for maternity leave.
Parents may be eligible for up to 6 days per year of paid childcare leave.
To be eligible, the child must be a Singaporean citizen, and the employee must have at least 3 months’ service with their employer (or the same length of time being self-employed).
With these conditions met, both the mother and father will each get 6 days of childcare leave per year, if their youngest child is under 7 years old.
The total amount of childcare leave is capped at 42 days for each parent, and the payment is capped at $500 per day.
The first 3 days of childcare leave is paid by the government, while the following 3 days is paid by the employer.
There is no legal requirement to bereavement leave, under Singapore’s Employment Act. This is therefore up to the discretion of each individual employer, whether to allow dedicated bereavement leave (as opposed to including this under regular paid time off), and how much.
The regular allowance is 2 to 3 days of paid bereavement leave (separated to annual leave), and some companies may require a death certificate for this to be approved.
Further Reading: The Singapore Employment Act
This page is intended for reference purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please see official government sources or consult a legal professional for actual legal advice.
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