Achi Biz GuidesLevy And Quota For S Pass In Singapore

The number of S Pass holders you can hire is limited by a quota. You must also pay a monthly levy for these workers.

What is the foreign worker levy

The foreign worker levy, commonly known as “levy”, is a pricing mechanism to regulate the number of foreign workers in Singapore.

As an employer, you must pay the levy for all your S Pass holders. The levy liability starts from the day the S Pass is issued and ends when the pass is cancelled or expires.

You have to pay the levy using GIRO.

Levy rates are regularly reviewed and adjusted as required.

Visit MOM to learn more about levy.

Quota Requirement

• If you have never applied for a Work Permit or S Pass, you need to declare your business activity for calculating your quota.
• Under the quota, the number of S Pass holders your company can hire is subject to cap according to the industrial sectors.
• Employers who exceed the quota will need to increase their local workforce or reduce the number of foreign workers.

You can refer to MOM at www.mom.gov.sg for calculating your Quota or to the Guidelines on the Calculation of Quota and Levy Bill.

How is the S Pass quota calculated if the company has more than one CPF account?

The company’s S Pass quota will be based on the Central Provident Fund (CPF) account declared on the S Pass application form.

The following local employees are not counted when calculating your quota:

• Business owners of sole proprietorships or partnerships.
• Employees who receive CPF contributions from three or more employers.

Notes:

• You should not contribute CPF for the same employee under the different accounts to get more quota.
• If you hired new employees recently, you won’t see an immediate adjustment in your quota. It depends on when you pay the CPF contribution for each employee.

Dependency Ratio Ceiling

Dependency Ratio Ceiling (DRC) refers to the maximum permitted ratio of foreign workers to the total workforce that a company in the stipulated sector is allowed to hire.

Visit MOM to learn more about DRC.

Foreign Worker Levy (FWL)

FWL rates will remain unchanged for all sectors. The earlier-announced foreign worker levy increases for the Marine Shipyard and Process sectors will be deferred for another year as per the announcement in Budget 2020 (18-Feb-2020).

Levy Tiers

The levy tiers determine the levy rate to be paid for each foreign worker by a company and this depends on the proportion of S Pass and Work Permit holders it has employed.

Examples:

• A Services company would currently pay a Tier 1 levy rate for each of its Work Permit holder who falls within the first 20% of its total workforce.
• It would pay a Tier 2 levy rate for each of its Work Permit holder who falls between 20% and 30% of its total workforce.
• It would pay a Tier 3 levy rate for each of its Work Permit holder who falls between 30% and 50% of its total workforce.

Levy Rates For S Pass & Work Permit For All Sectors

Visit MOM to learn more about levy.