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Annual Leave In Singapore
In accordance with the Employment Act, you are entitled to paid annual leave if you have worked for your employer for at least 3 months. Find out about your entitlements.
Annual leave eligibility and entitlement
If you are covered by the Employment Act and have worked for at least 3 months, you are entitled to annual leave.
Eligibility
You are entitled to paid annual leave if you meet the following conditions:
- You are covered under Part IV of the Employment Act.
- You have worked for your employer for at least 3 months.
Entitlement
Your annual leave entitlement depends on how many years of service you have with your employer. Your year of service begins from the day you start work with your employer.
| Year of service | Days of leave |
| 1st | 7 |
| 2nd | 8 |
| 3rd | 9 |
| 4th | 10 |
| 5th | 11 |
| 6th | 12 |
| 7th | 13 |
| 8th and thereafter | 14 |
If an employee begins work on 14 Mar 2013, the annual leave entitlement will be calculated as follows:
| Period of employment | Completed months of service | Annual leave entitlement |
| 14 Mar 2013 to 13 Mar 2014 | 12 | 7 days (1st year) |
| 14 Mar 2014 to 13 Mar 2015 | 12 | 8 days (2nd year) |
| 14 Mar 2015 to 13 Mar 2016 | 12 | 9 days (3rd year) |
Pro-rated leave
| If you worked | Your annual leave is pro-rated |
| More than 3 months but less than a year | Based on the number of full months you have worked. This applies even if you’re still on probation. |
| More than a year | Based on the number of full months you worked in your current year. |
How pro-rated annual leave is calculated
Annual leave is pro-rated using this formula:
- (No. of completed months of service / 12 months) x No. of days of annual leave entitlement
Note:
- If the fraction of a day is less than one-half, round it down; if it is half or more, round it up to one day.
Example:
If an employee started work on 14 Mar 2014 and left service on 31 Jul 2014, the number of completed months of service is:
14 Mar 2014 to 13 Jul 2014 = 4 completed months
The period from 14 to 31 Jul 2014 is disregarded as it is not a completed month.
If an employee has completed 4 months of service and is entitled to 10 days of leave a year, the pro-rated annual leave is:
(4 completed months / 12 months) x 10 days of leave = 3.33 days
Rounded down to 3 days as the fraction is less than 0.5.
If you have taken unpaid leave
You should exclude periods of approved unpaid leave when calculating your annual leave entitlement.
If you have taken unpaid leave, your employer can pro-rate your leave entitlement based on how many complete months you have worked.
If you are serving notice
If you have resigned, your notice period is included when calculating your pro-rated annual leave.
- Example:
- An employee is entitled to 12 days of annual leave and took 2 weeks of unpaid leave in March. Subsequently, she tendered her resignation on 1 August and is serving 1 month’s notice.
- Her pro-rated annual leave entitlement from 1 January to 31 August excludes the month of March and includes August. It is calculated follows:
- (7 completed months / 12 months) x 12 days of leave = 7 days
Annual leave in special situations
Your annual leave entitlement may be affected under different scenarios, such as unconsumed leave, unpaid leave and leave on a half-day of work. Find out how.
Find out your annual leave entitlements under these scenarios:
Leave on half days of work
Any leave you take will be considered a full-day’s leave, even if it is taken on a half working day.
However, your employer can choose to treat it as a half-day’s leave. Check with your employer on whether it is the company’s policy to grant a full day or half day of leave.
Your working hours on Saturdays are 9am to 1pm. If you take leave on a Saturday, it is still counted as a full day of leave.
Forfeited or unconsumed leave
In accordance with the Employment Act, your annual leave entitlement can be used within 12 months or carried forward to the next year.
You started working on 1 April 2015. On 31 March 2016, you would be entitled to 7 days of annual leave if you have not used any annual leave in the last 12 months. You must use these 7 days of annual leave by 31 Mar 2017.
Your statutory annual leave entitlement will be forfeited if you:
- Are absent from work without permission or reasonable excuse for more than 20% of the working days in the months or year.
- Do not use your annual leave within 12 months after the end of 12 months of continuous service.
- Are dismissed on the grounds of misconduct.
If the number of days of unused leave exceeds the statutory entitlements, you should check your employment contract on how such leave should be treated. This includes whether it can be encashed or carried forward.
If annual leave is used up (unpaid leave)
You can apply for unpaid leave (also known as no-pay leave) if you are not eligible for paid annual leave or have used up your paid annual leave. Unpaid leave is subject to approval from your employer.
If you take more paid annual leave than you are entitled to, the excess leave is treated as unpaid leave, and your employer can deduct your salary accordingly. Your employer should therefore keep a record of all your leave applications, whether paid or unpaid.
If your shift exceeds 8 hours
If you work shifts that are longer than 8 hours, 1 day of annual leave is equivalent to your actual working day.
For example, if you work a 12-hour shift, 1 day of leave is equivalent to 12 hours.
Marriage and compassionate leave
There is no statutory entitlement for marriage and compassionate leave. Such leave entitlements depend on your employment contract or on mutual agreement between you and your employer.
You can apply for annual leave or unpaid leave for such purposes.
Absent without leave (AWOL)
If you were absent from work for more than 2 working days continuously without approval, you have breached the contract. You must pay salary in-lieu of notice to your employer.
However, you’re still entitled to encash any of your unused annual leave.
Source of Information for Employment, all Work Passes & their related matters is from the Ministry Of Manpower & TAFEP.
You may wish to visit Ministry Of Manpower (MOM) online for detailed information and current updates.
