Singapore to Enhance Paid Family Leave Entitlements
The government of Singapore introduced a bill creating a new shared parental leave and increasing mandatory paternity leave to further support families.
The bill, which amends the Child Development Co-Savings Act (CDCA), was introduced in the Singapore parliament on 15 October 2024. Pending the final passage of the bill, the changes are expected to enter into effect beginning 1 April 2025. Additional guidance for employers on the implementation of the changes is expected to be provided by Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower, likely in early 2025.
Key details
The changes will only apply to eligible working parents with children who are Singapore citizens and with a date of birth (or estimated delivery) on or after 1 April 2025.
Paternity Leave
Singapore previously doubled Government-Paid Paternity Leave (GPPL) for eligible working fathers from two to four weeks from 1 January 2024. The first two weeks of GPPL are mandatory, and the additional two weeks can currently be granted by employers on a voluntary basis, with mutual agreement between employer and employee (see previous Lockton alert here (opens a new window)).
From 1 April 2025, the additional two weeks of GPPL will also be mandatory and the full four weeks of GPPL must be granted by the employer if the employee applies for it. The employee may apply for GPPL by submitting a government-prescribed declaration form to the employer, or by applying through the employer’s own declaration form or system (information requested should be similar to those in the government-prescribed declaration form, which can be found on the Government-Paid Leave Portal here (opens a new window)).
GPPL is taken by default in one continuous block within the 16 weeks following the birth or adoption of the child. If mutually agreed between employer and employee, GPPL may instead be taken within 12 months from the child’s birth in one continuous block or non-consecutively. To be eligible for GPPL:
The child must be a Singapore citizen or become a Singapore citizen within 12 months of birth.
The child’s father must be lawfully married to the child's mother at conception, become lawfully married to the child's mother after conception but before the child’s birth (whether or not such marriage remains subsisting at the time of the child’s birth), or become lawfully married to the child’s mother within 12 months commencing on the date of the child’s birth.
The father must have at least three months of continuous service with their current employer preceding the date of childbirth.
Adoptive fathers of a child who is a Singapore citizen must have at least three months of continuous service with their current employer preceding the date of their formal intent to adopt.
GPPL is also payable in case of a stillbirth. Multiple births are treated the same as a single birth.
GPPL is initially payable in full by employers. However, employers may apply for 100% reimbursement from the government. For eligible fathers of children born on or after 1 April 2025, the GPPL benefit (including employer-funded Central Provident Fund contributions) is capped at:
SGD 2,500 per week; and
A total of SGD 10,000.
Employers may wish to note that they are not required to pay employees above the reimbursement cap, though they may do so voluntarily.
New Shared Parental Leave
Currently, an eligible working mother can share up to four weeks of her 16 weeks of Government-Paid Maternity Leave (GPML) with the eligible father of the child. Any amount of leave taken by the father under this arrangement would correspondingly reduce the amount of GPML available for herself.
The current scheme will cease from 1 April 2025 and be replaced with a new Shared Parental Leave (SPL) scheme, which will grant 10 additional weeks of leave shared between both parents to be used within the first 12 months of the child’s birth.
To provide employers with time to adjust, the new scheme will be implemented in two phases:
six weeks of SPL will be available for parents with babies born from 1 April 2025; and
10 weeks of SPL will be available for parents with babies born from 1 April 2026.
To qualify for SPL, an employee must be the natural mother or father of the child and be eligible for GPML or GPPL. Each eligible parent will be allocated half of the SPL but may reallocate any amount of the leave to the other. Any changes to the sharing arrangement must be made within four weeks of the child's birth, and changes thereafter will require agreement with their employers.
SPL will initially be payable in full by employers. However, employers may apply for 100% reimbursement from the government up to SGD 2,500 per week (or approximately SGD 10,000 per month). Under the bill, it is expected that employers will not be required to pay employees above the reimbursement cap, though they may do so voluntarily.
Minimum Notice Period
Along with the enhancement of GPPL and introduction of the new SPL, employees will be required to serve a new minimum notice period of four weeks before using any family leave entitlement (GPML, GPPL, new SPL or adoption leave).
Lockton comments
In anticipation of the passage of the bill and the changes to take effect from 1 April 2025, employers should start preparing updates to their internal leave policies and procedures and assess the relevant impact on their operations.
As the new SPL would apply in addition to GPML and GPPL entitlements, it is expected to have a significant impact on employers’ operational and manpower arrangements. With eligible employees having more time off, employers will have to allocate more resources towards planning for these extended absences and may have to bear additional costs of temporary replacements or increasing workloads of existing employees.
For employees whose gross pay rate exceeds the government reimbursement caps, employers must also decide if they wish to voluntarily pay the difference to their employees in respect of new SPL and the increase in mandatory GPPL.
The Lockton Global People Solutions compliance team will monitor any further key guidance that may be released by Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower and provide updates accordingly.
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