Singapore: Enhanced parental leave and temporary financial support for involuntarily unemployed individuals

At the National Day Rally Speech on 18 August 2024, the Singapore Prime Minister announced that Singapore will enhance its paternity leave and shared parental leave schemes and introduce temporary financial support for involuntarily unemployed individuals. These policy changes will take effect from 1 April 2025. 

Additional Paternity Leave

Currently, working fathers are entitled to 2 weeks of Government-paid paternity leave for all births, provided that: 

• the child is a Singapore citizen;
• the child's parents are lawfully married; and
• the father has worked for the employer for at least 3 months. 

Employers may grant an additional 2 weeks of paternity leave on a voluntary basis. The additional 2 weeks' leave is reimbursable by the Government (up to a cap of SGD2,500 per week).
From 1 April 2025, the additional 2 weeks voluntary paternity leave will become mandatory. Working fathers who meet the eligibility conditions will therefore be statutorily entitled to 4 weeks of Government-paid paternity leave.

Enhanced Shared Parental Leave

Under the present shared parental leave scheme, working mothers who qualify for 16 weeks' paid maternity leave under the Child Development Co-Savings Act 2001 may agree to share up to 4 weeks of their maternity leave with the father of the child, provided that:

• the child is a Singapore citizen; 
• the child's parents are lawfully married; and 
• the child's mother agrees to "share" the leave.

From 1 April 2025, the current scheme will be replaced with a new shared parental leave scheme granting up to 10 weeks of parental leave shared between both parents. To manage the impact on employers, the new scheme will be implemented in two phases:

• From 1 April 2025: eligible parents will be entitled to 6 weeks parental leave, shared between both parents; and
• From 1 April 2026: eligible parents will be entitled to 10 weeks parental leave, shared between both parents.

Each parent is allocated half of the total shared parental leave by default, although parents can subsequently reallocate their share of the leave to suit their needs within 4 weeks from the child's date of birth.

The shared parental leave can be taken as one continuous block within the first 26 weeks of the child's birth. Alternatively, by mutual agreement between the employer and the employee, the leave can be taken flexibly within 12 months of the child's birth.

Fixed term employees who are not eligible for shared parental leave (ie, short-term contract workers) can enjoy parental leave benefits under the new Shared Parental Leave Benefits (SPB) scheme. Under the SPB scheme, eligible parents will be able to claim reimbursement from the Government for time taken off work to care for their infants and will similarly have the flexibility to share the 6 week entitlement with their spouses from 1 April 2025, or 10 week entitlement from 1 April 2026. More details on the reimbursement process for the new SPB scheme will be released by the Singapore Government closer to the implementation date.

Temporary Financial Support for Retrenched Employees

From 1 April 2025, Singapore will introduce the SkillsFuture JobSeeker Support scheme to assist eligible Singapore citizens (and from Q1 2026 onwards, Singapore Permanent Residents) who become unemployed due to involuntary reasons such as retrenchment, cessation of business, termination due to illness, injury or accident.

Individuals must meet the following eligibility criteria in order to participate in the SkillsFuture JobSeeker Support scheme:

• the individual must be a Singapore citizen (or from Q1 2026 onwards, a Singapore Permanent Resident);
• the individual became unemployed due to involuntary reasons such as retrenchment, cessation of business, dismissals or termination due to illness, injury or accident;
• the individual was previously employed for at least 6 months in the past 12 months prior to the application of the scheme;
• the individual must engage in job search and related activities that will help secure employment (eg submitting job applications, attending career workshops or coaching sessions,  participating in eligible training courses); and
• the individual has not have received a payout under the scheme in the past 3 years.

Eligible participants will receive up to SGD6,000 over 6 months. Monthly payouts start at SGD1,500 for the first month and subsequently taper down and are capped at an individual's previous-drawn monthly salary.

Once a participant successfully secures new employment, they will not be eligible to receive subsequent monthly payouts. Participants who receive payouts will not be eligible to participate in the scheme within 3 years of the date of their last monthly payout.

Key Takeaways

The upcoming policy changes demonstrate Singapore's continued efforts to improve employee benefits and protections and foster an inclusive and supportive employment landscape. 
Employers should review and update their existing policies to ensure that they will be compliant with the enhanced paternity leave and shared parental leave obligations once they come into effect on 1 April 2025. Employers should also consider whether any adjustments to their existing staffing plans or operations are necessary, in light of the upcoming changes.
Herbert Smith Freehills LLP provides access to Singapore law advice through our Formal Law Alliance with Prolegis LLC.