Under the Employment Act, an employee who has worked for you for at least 3 months gets 7 days of paid annual leave in their first year, one more day for each further year of service, and 14 days from the 8th year. After 3 months they also get up to 14 days of paid outpatient sick leave and 60 days of hospitalisation leave a year. Every covered employee gets 11 paid public holidays, and parents of young children get childcare leave.
These are minimums: an employment contract can always give more. The tables below come from MOM's pages, linked at the end.
Who these rules cover
The Employment Act covers every employee under a contract of service, full-time or part-time, local or foreign, except seafarers, domestic workers, civil servants and statutory board employees. Managers and executives are covered for leave too. Most leave needs at least 3 months' service with you, and the key employment terms you give in writing should say what leave each person gets.
Annual leave: 7 to 14 days
An employee can take annual leave once they've worked 3 months. Until they've completed a year, and in any incomplete year after that, leave is pro-rated by completed months of service, probation included: (completed months ÷ 12) × the year's entitlement. A fraction of under half a day is rounded down; half or more becomes a full day.
Example: someone who joined on 1 March has 10 completed months by the end of December. Their first-year leave for that time is 10 ÷ 12 × 7 = 5.83 days, which rounds to 6.
| Year of service | Paid annual leave |
|---|---|
| 1st year | 7 days |
| 2nd year | 8 days |
| 3rd year | 9 days |
| 4th year | 10 days |
| 5th year | 11 days |
| 6th year | 12 days |
| 7th year | 13 days |
| 8th year and after | 14 days |
Sick leave and hospitalisation leave
Hospitalisation leave includes the outpatient days: the 60 days already count the 14, so the most paid sick leave in a year is 60 days, not 74. Outpatient sick leave needs a registered medical practitioner to certify the employee unfit for work, and they hand in the medical certificate when they return. The employee must tell you, or try to, within 48 hours of being absent.
| Completed months of service | Paid outpatient sick leave | Paid hospitalisation leave |
|---|---|---|
| 3 months | 5 days | 15 days |
| 4 months | 8 days | 30 days |
| 5 months | 11 days | 45 days |
| 6 months and after | 14 days | 60 days |
Public holidays: 11 paid days
Covered employees get 11 paid public holidays a year. The rules when a holiday doesn't fall on a normal working day:
- On a non-working day, such as a Saturday for someone on a five-day week: give another day off, or one extra day's salary at the gross rate of pay.
- On a rest day, usually a Sunday: the next working day is a paid public holiday.
- If they work on a public holiday: an extra day's pay by default. By agreement you can give a day off in lieu instead, but time off in lieu is only for employees not covered by Part 4 of the Employment Act.
- An employee absent without consent or a reasonable excuse on the working day before or after the holiday loses that holiday's pay, and you can deduct one day's gross pay. There's no holiday pay if the holiday falls in approved unpaid leave.
| Public holiday | 2026 date |
|---|---|
| New Year's Day | Thursday 1 January |
| Chinese New Year | Tuesday 17 and Wednesday 18 February |
| Hari Raya Puasa | Saturday 21 March |
| Good Friday | Friday 3 April |
| Labour Day | Friday 1 May |
| Hari Raya Haji | Wednesday 27 May |
| Vesak Day | Sunday 31 May (Monday 1 June off if Sunday is the rest day) |
| National Day | Sunday 9 August (Monday 10 August off if Sunday is the rest day) |
| Deepavali | Sunday 8 November (Monday 9 November off if Sunday is the rest day) |
| Christmas Day | Friday 25 December |
Childcare leave
Each working parent who has served you for at least 3 continuous months gets childcare leave every year, however many children they have:
- A parent with children in both age groups gets at most 6 days of paid childcare leave a year in total.
- For a Singapore citizen child, childcare leave is capped at 42 days per child under the Child Development Co-Savings Act.
- At the 2026 National Day Rally, the Government announced more childcare leave, with employers to be reimbursed for the full duration for parents of Singapore citizen children. MOM says the start date and eligibility will be released later, so check MOM before you change your policy.
| The child | Days a year for each parent | Who pays |
|---|---|---|
| Singapore citizen, under 7 | 6 days | You pay the first 3 days at the gross rate of pay; the Government reimburses the other 3, up to S$500 a day including CPF |
| Singapore citizen, 7 to 12 (extended childcare leave, for the youngest child) | 2 days | Paid by the Government, up to S$500 a day including CPF |
| Not a Singapore citizen, under 7 | 2 days | You pay, under the Employment Act |
Maternity, paternity and shared parental leave
For Singapore citizen children, working parents now have up to 30 weeks of government-paid leave between them: 16 weeks of maternity leave, 4 weeks of paternity leave for children born on or after 1 April 2025, and 10 weeks of shared parental leave for children born on or after 1 April 2026 (6 weeks for those born from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026). Shared parental leave is split equally by default and paid by the Government up to S$2,500 a week. Parents give at least four weeks' notice before taking it, and the eligibility rules are on MOM's and the Government's pages.
Keep a record of leave
MOM's employment records include the dates and details of leave taken and public holidays, kept for the latest two years for current employees, and for one year after someone leaves. A shared calendar of who is away also stops two people booking the same week before Chinese New Year.
Leave requests and balances in AQUORIA O.N.E (Business)
HR comes with Business. Staff ask for leave from their own phone under My work: the type (annual, sick, hospital, maternity, paternity, childcare, unpaid or other), the dates and a half day if they need one. You approve or reject it under Leave to approve. The app checks there's enough annual leave left this year and that it doesn't overlap leave already booked, and days off in their work week aren't counted.
Set each person's annual and sick leave days; the app shows Singapore's minimum as you do, and you can give more. Approved leave blocks that person's bookings for those days, approved unpaid leave comes off a monthly salary in payroll, and unused annual leave is added to the last payslip when someone leaves, for you to check.
How it works
- 1Add your team in HR and set each person's annual and sick leave days and work week.
- 2Staff ask for leave under My work on their phone, with the type, dates and any half day.
- 3Approve or reject under Leave to approve; the app checks the balance and overlaps.
- 4Approved leave comes off their bookings, and unpaid leave comes off their pay in payroll.
What you'll use
- HRBusinessHR software for Singapore teams: staff logins with roles, leave requests, clock-in with a location check, timesheets and staff records. Try it free.
- PayrollBusinessPayroll software for Singapore: CPF, SDL and self-help group funds worked out, itemised payslips, monthly pay runs and the year's pay for IRAS. Try free.
- Online booking systemAn online booking system for Singapore: services with durations, your own booking page, deposits, day-before reminders and a calendar. Try it free.
Plan: Business
Sources
- MOM: Who is covered by the Employment Act
- MOM: Annual leave eligibility and entitlement
- MOM: Sick leave eligibility and entitlement
- MOM: Public holidays entitlement and pay
- MOM: Public holidays 2026
- MOM: Childcare leave eligibility and entitlement
- MOM: Extended childcare leave
- Strategy Group, Prime Minister's Office: Enhanced parental leave schemes from 1 April 2025
- MOM: Employment records
- MOM: Leave for part-time employees
Published 4 November 2026
Questions
What is the minimum annual leave in Singapore?
Under the Employment Act, 7 days in the first year for an employee who has worked for you for at least 3 months, then one more day for each year of service, up to 14 days from the 8th year. Before a full year, it's pro-rated by completed months. Contracts can give more, and many employers do.
Is public holiday paid in Singapore?
Yes. Employees covered by the Employment Act get 11 paid public holidays a year. If they work on one, they get an extra day's pay, or by agreement a day in lieu. If it falls on their rest day, the next working day is a paid holiday. They lose the holiday's pay if absent without reason on the working day before or after.
Does hospitalisation leave include sick leave?
Yes. After 6 months' service, an employee gets up to 14 days of paid outpatient sick leave and up to 60 days of paid hospitalisation leave a year, and the 60 days include the 14. Between 3 and 6 months of service, both are pro-rated: 5 and 15 days at 3 months, rising to 14 and 60 at 6 months.
Who is entitled to childcare leave in Singapore?
A working parent who has served their employer for at least 3 continuous months. For a Singapore citizen child under 7, each parent gets 6 days a year; for an older citizen child aged 7 to 12, 2 days of extended childcare leave; for a child under 7 who isn't a citizen, 2 days, paid by the employer under the Employment Act.
Do part-timers and foreign employees get annual leave?
Yes. The Employment Act covers employees under a contract of service, local or foreign, apart from seafarers, domestic workers and public servants. Part-timers, who work less than 35 hours a week, get leave pro-rated under MOM's part-time rules and counted in hours: someone on 4-hour days uses 4 hours of leave for each day off.