Paternity leave and shared parental leave
Eligible working fathers are currently entitled to two weeks of Government-Paid Paternity Leave (GPPL), doubled to four weeks from 1 January 2024. Noting the improvement in the earlier take up rates from one in four fathers to one in two fathers in 2024, the Prime Minister announced that GPPL will be made mandatory from 1 April 2025 to further encourage all working fathers to take their full GPPL entitlement. Employers will have to agree to fathers taking the full four week period if they apply for it.
Additionally, the arrangement under the Shared Parental Leave (SPL) between working parents, where working fathers are permitted to share up to four weeks of their wife's 16 weeks of Government-Paid Maternity Leave, will be progressively enhanced to a maximum of 10 weeks. The current SPL scheme will cease from 1 April 2025 and be replaced with a new SPL scheme, and all 10 weeks of SPL will be paid by the Government, up to the prevailing cap of SGD 2,500 per week (or approximately SGD 10,000 per month).
Based on the available information released on 15 August 2024 on the Government-Paid Leave Portal, the release by the National Population and Talent Division, and the related FAQ, we set out the comparative changes below:
| GPPL |
| Current (from 1 January 2024) |
From 1 April 2025 |
|
Two weeks mandatory
Two weeks voluntary, subject to employer's readiness to offer
|
Four weeks mandatory |
| SPL |
| Current (from 1 July 2017) |
From 1 April 2025 |
From 1 April 2026 |
|
An eligible working mother can share up to four weeks of her Government-Paid Maternity Leave (GPML) with her husband, to be taken in one continuous block or, with the employer's agreement, non-continuously within 12 months from child's date of birth (inclusive of the date of birth).
The Government will reimburse the employer for all four weeks of SPL, capped at SGD 2,500 per week or a total of SGD 10,000 for four weeks.
|
The four week eligibility is to be increased to six weeks of leave, shared between both parents.
Each parent will be allocated three weeks as a default, but parents may change this arrangement within four weeks of the child's birth.
|
The six week eligibility is to be increased to 10 weeks of leave shared between both parents.
Each parent will be allocated five weeks as a default, but parents may change this arrangement within four weeks of the child's birth.
|
Employers should note the following:
- Employees will be required to serve notice to their employers at least four weeks before using their parental leave entitlements. In the event that parents do not give sufficient notice to their employers, their employers have the discretion to not grant leave requested if the employer is unable to make the necessary covering arrangements in time, and they may instead request that the parents defer or adjust their GPPL and SPL plans.
- Employers will be able to verify their employee's leave entitlement and leave-sharing arrangement using the Ministry of Social and Family Development's (MSF) Government-Paid Leave Schemes portal from 1 April 2025, similar to how employers currently do so for the current SPL scheme. Each couple will be allowed to submit leave-sharing arrangements that add up to six weeks (from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026) or 10 weeks (from 1 April 2026 onwards). Employers are encouraged to discuss with their employees and verify the leave arrangements in MSF's GPLS portal (profamilyleave.msf.gov.sg), to ensure that the leave is taken in accordance with the leave-sharing arrangement indicated by their employees.
SkillsFuture Jobseeker Support scheme
Under the SkillsFuture Jobseeker Support scheme, to be implemented in the first half of 2025, the government will provide financial support to retrenched Singapore citizens, who were previously drawing an average monthly income below SGD 5,000, while they search for a new job.
Eligible individuals who become involuntarily unemployed (e.g., when they are retrenched or when their companies become insolvent) and demonstrate an active job search to seek new employment, and meet the monthly activity points target, will receive monthly payouts up to a maximum of SGD 6,000 over six months.
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