Part-Time employment In Singapore

If you are a part-time employee covered by the Employment Act, find out your entitlements for rest days, public holidays, overtime pay and leave. These are usually calculated based on how much you work.

Who is a part-time employee

Find out the definition of a part-time employee and what should be included in your contract of service.
A part-time employee is one who is under a contract of service to work less than 35 hours a week.
Part-time employees are covered by the Employment Act (except for those who are domestic workers or seamen).

Contract of service

As a part-time employee, your contract of service must specify your:

Hourly basic rate of pay.
Hourly gross rate of pay (the hourly basic rate plus allowances).
Number of working hours per day or per week.
Number of working days per week or per month.

Overtime for part-time employees

Part-time employees are entitled to pay for overtime work based on whether their hours exceed the normal working hours of a similar full-time employee.

What is overtime

Overtime work is work that exceeds a part-time employee’s normal daily working hours.
As a part-time employee, you are entitled to pay for overtime work. The payment depends on whether your hours exceed the normal working hours of a similar full-time employee.

Calculating overtime pay

Your overtime pay is calculated as follows:

If hours worked	Overtime pay is calculated
Exceed your daily working hours but less than a full-time employee’s normal hours	At your basic hourly rate of pay
Exceed a full-time employee’s normal hours	At your basic hourly rate x 1.5
Example: You work 4 hours a day and a full-time employee works 8 hours. Your hourly basic rate of pay is $5. If you work 9 hours in a day, your overtime pay is: (8 hours x $5) + (1 hour x $5 x 1.5) = $47.50

Rest days for part-time employees

If you are a part-time employee covered under Part IV of the Employment Act, you are entitled to rest days and pay for working on a rest day.

Entitlement

If you’re a part-time employee covered under Part IV of the Employment Act, you are entitled to 1 rest day per week if you are required to work for at least 5 days in a week.
If you work on a rest day, your pay depends on whether the work was done at your employer’s request or at your own request.

When rest days can fall

The employer determines the rest day, which can be on a Sunday or any other day.
If the rest day is not a Sunday, your employer should prepare a monthly roster and inform you of the rest days before the start of each month.

Pay for work on a rest day

Payment for work on rest days is calculated as follows:

If work is done	At employer’s request	At employee’s request
Up to half your normal daily working hours	1 day’s salary at basic rate of pay	½ day’s salary at basic rate of pay
More than half your normal daily working hours	2 days’ salary at basic rate of pay	1 day’s salary at basic rate of pay
More than your normal daily working hours and up to normal hours of full-time employee	2 days’ salary + your basic hourly rate of pay	1 day’s salary + your basic hourly rate of pay
More than your normal daily working hours and more than normal hours of full-time employee	2 days’ salary + your basic hourly rate of pay + 1.5 times your basic hourly rate of pay	1 day’s salary + your basic hourly rate of pay + 1.5 times your basic hourly rate of pay
Example: You work 4 hours a day and a full-time employee works 8 hours. Your hourly basic rate of pay is $5. If you work 9 hours on a rest day at your employer’s request, your rest day pay is: 2 days’ salary + your basic hourly rate of pay + 1.5 times your basic hourly rate of pay (4 hours × $5) × 2 days + (4 hours x $5) + (1.5 × 1 hour × $5) = $67.50

Public holidays for part-time employees

You are entitled to paid public holidays if you work part-time. However, you may agree with your employer to encash the public holidays instead.

Entitlement

As a part-time employee, you are entitled to paid public holidays. Your public holiday pay should be pro-rated based on the number of hours you work.
Your pay is pro-rated as follows:

x No. of days of public holiday of a similar full-time employee with equal length of service x No. of working hours in a day of a similar full-time employee

Example:

A part-timer works 22 hours per week, versus similar full-timer’s 44 hours. The part-timer’s annual entitlement is:
x 11 public holidays x 8 hours
= 44 hours of pay for all 11 public holidays
Therefore, for every public holiday, the part-time employee should be paid: (44 hours / 11 days) = 4 hours

Encashing public holidays

Instead of getting paid for the holidays, you may agree with your employer to encash the public holidays and add it into your hourly gross rate of pay. Such an agreement should be clearly stated in the contract of service.
The formula for encashing public holidays is:

x Hourly gross rate of pay

Example:

If the hourly gross rate of pay is $5, the encashed amount added to the hourly gross rate of pay is:
x $5 = $0.19
Hence, the total hourly gross rate of pay including encashed public holidays is $5.19.

Pay for working on a public holiday

If you are required to work on a public holiday, you should be paid the following:

Basic rate of pay for 1 day’s work.
Amount entitled to for a public holiday.
One day’s travel allowance if included in the contract.

Leave for part-time employees

A part-time employee is entitled to paid annual and sick leave. Eligible parents can also qualify for maternity leave, paternity leave and childcare leave.

Entitlement

If you are covered by the Employment Act, you are entitled to paid annual leave, sick leave, and hospitalisation leave as a part-time employee. Eligible parents are also entitled to maternity and childcare leave.
Your pay while on leave is based on the number of hours you work.

Annual leave

If you have completed 3 months of service, you are entitled to paid annual leave in proportion to the yearly entitlement of a similar full-time employee, based on your working hours.
The leave entitlement is calculated as follows:

( Number of working hours per year of part-time employee / Number of working hours per year of a similar full-time employee ) x Number of days of annual leave of a similar full-time employee with equal length of service x Number of working hours in a day of a similar full-time employee

Example:

A part-timer works 4 hours a day for 5 days a week (20 hours per week)
A similar full-timer works 8 hours a day for 5.5 days per week (44 hours per week)
The full-timer’s leave entitlement is 7 days in the first year
The part-timer’s entitlement after 3 months is:
× 7 days × 8 hours per day = 25.5 hours

Encashing annual leave

Instead of taking annual leave, you can agree with your employer to encash your earned annual leave and add it into your hourly gross rate of pay. Such an agreement must be clearly stated in the contract of service.
Note: You cannot encash your annual leave if you work at least 5 days a week and from 30 to 34 hours a week.
The formula for encashing annual leave is as follows:

x Hourly gross rate of pay

Example:

If the hourly gross rate of pay is $5, the encashed amount to be added to the hourly gross rate of pay will be:
× $5 = $0.12
Hence, the total hourly gross rate of pay including encashed annual leave is $5.12.

Sick and hospitalisation leave

You are entitled to paid sick leave and hospitalisation leave if you are covered by the Employment Act and you have completed 3 months of service.
You cannot encash your leave entitlement.
Your leave entitlement is calculated as follows:

(Number of working hours per year of part-time employee / Number of working hours per year of similar full-time employee) x Number of days of sick leave of similar full-time employee with equal length of service x Number of working hours in a day of similar full-time employee

Example:

If a part-time employee works 20 hours a week and a similar full-time employee works 44 hours a week:

Sick leave is:

× 14 days × 8 hours = 50.9 hours of sick leave per year.

Hospitalisation leave is:

× 60 days × 8 hours = 218.2 hours of hospitalisation leave per year. This includes the 50.9 hours of sick leave.

Medical reimbursement

Your employer must pay for your medical consultation fee if you meet all the following requirements:
You are covered by the Employment Act.
You have completed at least 3 months of service.
You were granted at least one day of paid sick leave.
Your medical certificate (MC) was given by a medical practitioner from an approved public medical institution or appointed by your company.

Medical benefits schemes

Today, employers generally provide their employees with medical benefits beyond what the Employment Act stipulates.
Note: You should check your employment contract for details on the medical benefits provided by your company.

Cosmetic procedures

Employers are not required to grant paid sick leave or reimburse medical consultation fees for cosmetic procedures. The doctor performing the examination will decide whether a procedure is for cosmetic reasons. Your company policy may cover this as an employee medical benefit.
Note: Find out more about sick leave entitlement in special situations.

Maternity leave

You are entitled to maternity leave benefits and protection if you meet the eligibility criteria.
Payment is based on the number of days you are contracted to work, at your gross rate of pay.

Paternity leave

You are entitled to paternity leave benefits if you meet the eligibility criteria.
Payment is based on the number of days you are contracted to work, at your gross rate of pay.

Shared parental leave

You are entitled to shared parental leave benefits if you meet the eligibility criteria.
Payment is based on the number of days you are contracted to work, at your gross rate of pay.

Childcare leave

You are entitled to childcare leave and extended childcare leave benefits if you meet the eligibility criteria.
Government-Paid Childcare Leave is calculated as follows:

(Average number of hours a week part-time employee has to work / Average number of hours a week a similar full-time employee has to work) x Days of childcare leave a similar full-time employee has, based on duration of employment x Number of hours a day a similar full-time employee has to work

Your childcare leave entitlement should be adjusted based on the number of working hours, so that it is equivalent to that of a full-time employee. It is subject to a minimum of 2 days.

Example:

A part-time employee works an average of 4 hours a week, and a similar existing full-time employee works an average of 8 hours a day and 44 hours a week.

The part-time employee’s paid childcare leave entitlement is:
4 ÷ 44 × 6 × 8 = 4.4 hours (subject to minimum of 2 days).
The part-time employee will be entitled to 2 days of childcare leave, equivalent to four hours each day.

Childcare leave in accordance with the Employment Act is calculated as follows:

x 2 days childcare leave x Number of hours a day a similar full-time employee has to work

Adoption leave

You are entitled to 12 weeks of adoption leave based on your respective work schedule of you meet the qualifying conditions.

Unpaid infant care leave

You are entitled to unpaid infant care leave if you meet the qualifying conditions.
Your unpaid infant care leave entitlement should be adjusted based on the number of working hours, so that it is equivalent to that of a full-time employee.

Hourly and daily pay for part-time employees

If you are a part-time employee paid by the month, you can calculate your hourly and daily basic rates of pay.
For a monthly-rated part-time employee, your hourly and daily rates of pay are calculated as follows:

Hourly basic rate of pay	(12 x Monthly basic rate of pay) / (52 x No. of hours worked in a week)
Daily basic rate of pay	(12 x Monthly basic rate of pay) / (52 x Number of days a part-time employee is required to work in a week)

Source of Information:
For all types of Work Passes with their related matters is from the Ministry Of Manpower (MOM), TAFEP &/or Immigration And Checkpoints Authority (ICA), Singapore accordingly.
For all other matters are from the relevant Authorities or Agencies of Government of Singapore.

ACHI BIZ is one of the licensed Employment Agencies in Singapore. We will assist your work pass related applications and appeals at our level best with the regulatory authority Ministry Of Manpower (MOM) for successful outcome.

Part-Time Employment