Paternity Leave In Singapore

From 1 January 2017, eligible working fathers, including those who are self-employed, are entitled to 2 weeks of paid paternity leave funded by the Government.

Eligibility

As a working father, you are entitled to Government-Paid Paternity Leave (GPPL) for all births if you meet the following requirements:

Your child is a Singapore citizen.
You are or had been lawfully married to the child’s mother between conception and birth.
For employees: you have served your employer for a continuous period of at least 3 months before the birth of your child.
For self-employed: you have been engaged in your work for a continuous period of at least 3 months before the birth of your child, and have lost income during the paternity leave period.

Adoptive fathers who meet the following requirements are also entitled to GPPL for all births:

Your child is a Singapore citizen.
For employees: you have served your employer for a continuous period of at least 3 months before the birth of your child.
For self-employed: you have been engaged in your work for a continuous period of at least 3 months before the birth of your child, and have lost income during the paternity leave period.

Entitlement

You get 2 weeks of GPPL.

Your GPPL entitlement per week depends on your number of working days in a week.

If you work 6 days a week, then you will get 12 days of GPPL.

For fathers of citizen children born (or with EDD) on or after 1 January 2017, as a working father, you are entitled to 2 weeks of GPPL.

Each week of GPPL is capped at $2,500, including CPF contributions.

You can take your leave as follows:

Arrangement	2 weeks GPPL.
Default, without any mutual agreement	Take 2 continuous weeks within 16 weeks after the birth of the child.
Flexibly, by mutual agreement	Take 2 continuous weeks any time within 12 months after the birth of the child. Split the 2 weeks into working days and take them in any combination within 12 months after the birth of the child.
Calculating actual leave days	2 weeks X the number of working days in the week. Capped at 6 working days per week.

You may also be able to take another 4 weeks of shared parental leave.

What are the changes announced in Budget 2023 on 14-Feb-2023 on Government-Paid Paternity Leave (GPL)?

Double the Government-Paid Paternity Leave on voluntary basis (Changes announced in Budget 2023 on 14-Feb-2023)

To be effective from 01-Jan-2024

The Government doubles the Government-Paid Paternity Leave from two weeks to four weeks for eligible working fathers of Singaporean children born on or after 1 January 2024.

1. a.For a start, the extra two weeks will be given on a voluntary basis, so that employers who are ready to grant the additional leave will be reimbursed by the Government.
2. b.This is also to give more time for employers to adjust, especially taking into account the existing economic conditions and manpower and operational challenges that many employers face.
3. c.But the Government will review this and intend to make this mandatory in due course.
4. d.With the doubling of paternity leave, the Government hopes the message is clear: The Government wants paternal involvement to be the norm in our society, and the Government will stand behind all our fathers who want to play a bigger role in raising Singaporean children.

Cash benefits in lieu of paternity leave to parents without paternity leave in Singapore

Some parents presently do not qualify for the benefits, as they may be on multiple short-term contracts or their employment contracts may have expired before the birth or adoption of their child.

These cash benefits under the new law are similar to the current government-paid maternity benefit for working mothers, but with cash given in lieu of the government-paid share of leave.

This is if their employment circumstances do not qualify them for leave.
Natural or adoptive fathers can receive cash benefits equivalent to two weeks of paternity leave under the new law.
Reimbursement is capped at $2,500 per week, inclusive of Central Provident Fund contributions.
Adoptive mothers can receive cash benefits equivalent to eight or 12 weeks of maternity leave, with reimbursement capped at $20,000 or $30,000, depending on how many children they have. The amount also depends on their average income.

Similar benefits were previously given only to natural mothers who are working, via the existing government-paid maternity benefit.

It provides them with up to $40,000 for each child, depending on their birth order as well as the mother’s income.

The new law applies to parents whose formal intent to adopt or whose child’s date of birth or estimated date of delivery is on or after 01-January-2021.
To qualify, parents must have worked for at least 90 days in the 12 months before their child’s birth or formal intent to adopt. Eligible parents may apply from 01-December-2021.
Parents who have been retrenched, but who have unconsumed parental leave, will also be granted cash benefits.

How to apply

For instructions on applying for leave or claiming reimbursement, you can use any of the following:

Visit www.profamilyleave.gov.sg
Call 1800 253 4757
Email contactus@profamilyleave.gov.sg

Find out more

To find out more about pro-family leave measures, you can:

Visit the Hey Baby website at www.heybaby.sg for more on other enhancements to the Marriage and Parenthood Package.
Read the guides for employees and employers on the Marriage and Parenthood leave measures.

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.

Paternity Leave In Singapore