Welcome to Singapore!

After 3 months of service, Workers are covered by the Employment Act and are subject to certain protections.

Fixed-term contracts are permitted for a maximum of 4 years in Singapore. Workers on fixed-term contracts will still be covered by the Employment Act and subject to the protections/entitlements. Therefore, generally, the same notice periods are required to terminate a fixed-term contract as an indefinite contract.

Probationary periods are permitted and generally last between 3-6 months. Termination during the probationary period requires notice or pay in lieu of notice.

In Singapore, Workers recognize 10 paid public holidays, some of which are multiple days in duration. The President of the Republic of Singapore can also declare any day to be observed as a public holiday in addition to or in substitute of the 10 standard days. Workers required to work on a public holiday are entitled to an extra day’s salary or can agree to a day off in lieu.

After three months of service, Workers are entitled to 7 days of paid annual leave for the first 12 months of continuous service or a proportion thereof. After that, Workers are entitled to an additional day of paid annual leave for every subsequent 12 months of continuous service up to a maximum of 14 days of paid annual leave. Unused leave rolls over from year to year. 

Workers are entitled to 5 to 14 days of paid outpatient leave and 15 to 60 days of paid hospitalization leave per year. Unpaid time off allotments must be specified in the employment contract.

Normal working hours in Singapore are 8 hours per day, 44 hours per week.

Work over 44 hours per week is overtime. Overtime must be paid at 150%. Workers should not work more than 12 hours per day or 72 hours of overtime in a month.

An Annual Wage Supplement is customary, but not mandatory. When issued, it is typically one month's wages and is usually issued at the end of the calendar year.

Notice periods may be negotiated in the employment contract unless the Worker is covered by the Employment Act. In that case, the minimum requirements of the Employment Act must be adhered to. If notice is not negotiated in the employment contract, then it will depend on length of service. Workers who have less than 26 weeks of service are entitled to one day's notice, while those who have worked between 26 weeks and two years are entitled to one week's notice. Those who have worked between two and five years are entitled to two weeks' notice, and those who have worked for five years or more are entitled to four weeks' notice.

Workers must recognize the same notice periods as employers to resign from employment.