How do Singapore working time and leave rules work in 2026?

The rules come from the Ministry of Manpower hours-of-work page and Part IV of the Employment Act. The weekly cap is 44 hours across no more than 6 days.

Who is covered

Part IV covers two groups:

• All workers (regardless of salary) in non-managerial and non-executive roles
• Workmen (manual labourers) earning up to SGD 4,500 per month

Managers and executives earning above SGD 2,600 per month are not covered by Part IV. Their working hours are governed by their employment contract. In practice most Singapore employment contracts for professional roles do not set a fixed cap, though MOM expects working hours to be reasonable.

Daily hours

For employees working five days or fewer per week, the daily cap is 9 hours. For those working six days per week, it is 8 hours per day. Overtime is permitted beyond these limits but requires the employee's consent and attracts a premium rate.

No individual opt-out

Unlike the United Kingdom, Singapore has no mechanism for individual workers to opt out of the working-time cap. An employer cannot contractually waive the Part IV limit for a covered employee. The only way to remove the cap is for the employee to move into a managerial or executive role above the salary threshold.

Singapore's Employment Act does not prescribe a specific minimum daily rest period between workdays in the way some other jurisdictions do. The Act focuses on the daily hours cap and the weekly rest day. A daily rest floor is not currently captured in the statutory text.

Rest day work

Employees can work on a rest day if they agree to do so. Pay rules apply. An employee working on a rest day at the employer's request is entitled to an extra day's pay at the basic rate, plus the day's regular pay. An employee who requests to work on their own rest day is entitled to half a day's extra pay.

Overtime pay

Overtime work beyond the daily or weekly cap requires the employee's consent and must be paid at a rate of at least 1.5 times the hourly basic rate. The cap on compellable overtime is 72 hours per month. Overtime premium pay applies only to Part IV employees earning up to SGD 2,600 per month.

The rules come from Section 88A of the Employment Act. Annual leave is earned progressively. An employee gets 7 days in year one, 8 days in year two, then one additional day per year until the entitlement reaches 14 days in year eight onwards.

How public holidays interact

Singapore's 11 gazetted public holidays are entirely separate from annual leave. Employees take public holidays in addition to their annual leave allowance. If a public holiday falls on a rest day, the following working day is a substitute holiday. If it falls during an employee's annual leave, an extra day of annual leave is added to compensate.

Eligibility

Annual leave under the Employment Act applies to employees who have been in continuous employment with the same employer for at least three months. Employees with less than three months of service do not have a legal entitlement to paid annual leave under the Act, though the contract may grant it.

Carry-over rules

Unused annual leave does not automatically carry forward. The Employment Act allows employers to require employees to take their annual leave within 12 months of the end of the leave year. Where an employer does not permit carry-over, unused leave that the employee was not able to take through no fault of their own must be paid out. Carry-over by mutual agreement is common in practice.

Holiday pay calculation

Annual leave pay is calculated at the employee's basic rate of pay. Variable components such as overtime pay and allowances are generally excluded from the calculation unless the contract states otherwise.

1. Check whether Part IV applies

   Confirm the employee's role and salary. Part IV of the Employment Act covers all non-managerial and non-executive workers, and workmen earning up to SGD 4,500 per month. Managers and executives earning above SGD 2,600 per month are not covered by the hours cap.

2. Set the weekly hours limit in the contract

   For Part IV employees, the weekly cap is 44 hours across no more than 6 days, or 9 hours per day on a 5-day week. There is no individual opt-out. The daily cap applies from day one and cannot be waived by contract.

3. Track annual leave entitlement by tenure

   Annual leave starts at 7 days in year one and increases by one day per year of service, reaching 14 days after 8 or more years. Leave accrues only after the first 3 months of continuous employment.

4. Add public holidays on top, not inside, the leave total

   Singapore's 11 gazetted public holidays sit entirely outside the annual leave allowance. They are paid days added on top. If a public holiday falls during an employee's annual leave period, the employee receives a replacement day.

5. Apply the correct sick leave entitlement by tenure

   After 6 months of service, employees are entitled to 14 days of paid outpatient sick leave and 60 days of paid hospitalisation leave per year. All sick leave must be certified by a registered medical practitioner.

6. Handle parental leave reimbursement correctly

   Government-Paid Maternity Leave is 16 weeks for Singapore citizen children; the government reimburses the employer for the second 8 weeks up to SGD 20,000. Government-Paid Paternity Leave is 4 weeks for births on or after 1 April 2025, fully government-funded up to SGD 10,000 total.

Source: MOM public holidays for 2026. When a public holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday becomes the substitute day. When it falls on a Saturday, an additional day off in lieu is given, or an extra day's pay is paid in lieu.

Working on a public holiday

Employers can request employees to work on a public holiday. Employees who work on a public holiday are entitled to an extra day's pay at the basic rate. No enhanced premium beyond one extra day's basic pay is required by law, though contracts often provide more. Part IV employees earning up to SGD 2,600 per month are covered by this rule.

Maternity leave

Under the Child Development Co-Savings Act, an employee expecting a Singapore citizen child is entitled to 16 weeks of Government-Paid Maternity Leave (GPML). The first 8 weeks are employer-paid. The government reimburses the employer for the remaining 8 weeks, capped at SGD 10,000 per 4-week block (SGD 20,000 total per confinement).

For non-citizen children, employees covered by the Employment Act receive 8 weeks of maternity leave. The first 8 weeks are employer-paid with no government reimbursement.

To qualify for GPML, the employee must have been employed by the same employer for a continuous period of at least 3 months before delivery.

Paternity leave

The Government-Paid Paternity Leave (GPPL) entitlement is 4 weeks for fathers of Singapore citizen children born on or after 1 April 2025. Before that date the entitlement was 2 weeks. The leave is fully government-funded, reimbursed to the employer up to SGD 2,500 per week (capped at SGD 10,000 total for 4 weeks).

To qualify, the father must be lawfully married to the child's mother and have been employed by the same employer for at least 3 months before the child's birth. Eligible self-employed persons may also claim GPPL from the government.

Shared Parental Leave

Singapore introduced Shared Parental Leave in January 2024. Working fathers can share up to 4 weeks from the mother's 16-week GPML. This is in addition to the father's own GPPL entitlement. From 1 April 2025 the father's own GPPL is 4 weeks, meaning combined paternity-related leave can reach up to 8 weeks where the couple shares from the maternity pool.

Childcare leave

Parents of Singapore citizen children below 7 years old are entitled to 6 days of paid childcare leave per year. Parents of non-citizen children below 7 years old receive 2 days. The first 3 days are employer-paid; the remaining 3 days (for citizen children) are government-paid.

Singapore's sick leave entitlement comes from Section 89 of the Employment Act. It is not a weekly payment rate. It is a number of paid days per year, earned progressively with length of service.

Hospitalisation leave (60 days) is inclusive of the outpatient allowance (14 days). An employee admitted to hospital receives up to 60 days total per year, of which up to 14 may be outpatient.

Certification requirements

All paid sick leave must be supported by a medical certificate from a registered doctor, dentist, or approved medical practitioner. Self-certification is not accepted for paid sick leave under the Employment Act. The employee must inform the employer of the absence and produce the certificate as soon as practicable.

Employer cost

Sick leave pay is at the employee's basic rate of pay. There is no government reimbursement scheme for sick leave. The full cost sits with the employer. Unlike the UK's Statutory Sick Pay, there is no fixed weekly rate. The daily cost depends on the employee's salary.

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Key sources: MOM hours-of-work page, MOM annual leave, and MOM paternity leave.