In an effort to address dramatically low birth rates, Singapore proposes new employer-paid leave to support working parents that would be rolled out in two phases starting in 2025.
Employer Action Code: Monitor
During the 2024 National Day Rally in August, the prime minister announced several planned legislative changes to family leave entitlements. Most notable among these would be a new employer-paid shared parental leave as a distinct entitlement from other family leaves, phased in over two years starting in April 2025 and a doubling of the paternity leave entitlement under the Children Development Co-Savings Act (CDCA). Currently, under the CDCA, mothers may only transfer four of their 16 weeks of government-paid maternity leave to the father.
Key details
- The proposed parental leave would be rolled out in two phases:
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- Phase 1: Parents of children covered by the CDCA born on or after April 1, 2025, would be entitled to six weeks of employer-paid parental leave, to be taken within 12 months of the child's birth.
- Phase 2: Parents of children covered by the CDCA born on or after April 1, 2026, would be entitled to 10 weeks of employer-paid parental leave, to be taken within 12 months of the child's birth.
- Parental leave would be shareable between both parents. Parents can reallocate their leave based on their caregiving needs. Any changes to the parents' chosen leave-sharing arrangement should be made within four weeks following the birth; thereafter they would be subject to employers' agreements.
- During parental leave, claimants would be entitled to their normal wages (employers would be able to claim reimbursement from the government of up to 2,500 Singapore dollars (S$) per week and S$10,000 per month, inclusive of Central Provident Fund contributions). Employees would be required to provide four weeks' notice to their employers of their intent to take leave.
- Fathers of children covered by the CDCA born on or after April 1, 2025, would be entitled to four weeks of employer-paid paternity leave. Since January 1, 2024, fathers have been able to request two additional weeks (in addition to their entitlement of two weeks, for a total of four weeks), but the granting of additional leave is voluntary on the part of employers. Currently, employers can claim reimbursement from the government (up to the weekly ceiling described above). Fathers would also be required to be legally married to the birth mother for entitlement to both paternity and parental leave.
Employer implications
While these changes should help with work/life balance issues, it's worth noting that foreign employees (who account for a third of the workforce) are not entitled to CDCA benefits. They instead are covered by the Employment Act (EA), which in terms of family leaves only mandates employer-paid maternity leave (12 weeks for up to two births) and childcare leave (two days per year), the costs of which are not reimbursed by the government. From a policy perspective, the government is planning to increase such benefits to encourage families to have more children. Singapore has one of the lowest fertility rates in the world, at 0.97 births per woman as of 2023 (Singapore Statistics data). Improving minimum family benefits for citizens may increase pressure on employers to offer similar benefits for foreign workers. Currently, few employers surveyed by WTW enhance minimum required paternity and parental leaves (7% and 3% of surveyed companies, respectively).
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