international employment law firm alliance L&E Global
Singapore

Singapore: 2025, Looking Ahead

Author: Thomas Choo

A new Workplace Fairness Bill was introduced and the parental and mandatory paternity leaves are set to be enhanced in Singapore. Below are the details for these employment-related topics.

1. New Workplace Fairness Bill to protect Singapore employees against discrimination

A new workplace fairness bill was introduced in the Singapore Parliament on 12 November 2024 (the “Bill”).

The Bill is the first of the two bills that will be introduced and if passed, both bills are expected to take effect concurrently in 2026 or 2027 (the “Proposed Legislation”).

  1. The Bill provides for protection for workers, processes for dispute resolutions and sanctions for breaches.
  2. The second bill, which is expected to be introduced in 2025 will provide for claims procedures and amendments to the existing Employment Claims Act.

The Proposed Legislation aims to protect employees against discriminatory behaviour relating to employment and to establish fair employment practices. This would include provisions relating to discriminatory practices in hiring, dismissals and appraisals as well as subject errant employers to corrective action, fines, financial penalties imposed by the courts and civil lawsuits filed by the Ministry of Manpower.

The Proposed Legislation provides for certain protected characteristics which includes age, nationality, sex, marital status, pregnancy, caregiving responsibilities, race, religion, language ability, disability and mental health condition. It also spells out certain exceptions to these protected characteristics for example where employers are allowed to hire employees based on specific preferred traits due to the requirement of the role. In addition, it is also not considered discriminatory to prefer Singaporeans and Singapore Permanent Residents over foreigners.

Under the Proposed Legislation, employers are also required to develop and implement grievance-handling processes and inform employees about the process. Additionally, the Proposed Legislation prohibits retaliatory actions from employers against employees who report any workplace discrimination.

There is currently no legislation providing for fair employment practices in force in Singapore. The Proposed Legislation is expected to complement and not replace the existing Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices.

Once the Proposed Legislation is implemented, it is expected to positively impact Singapore’s employment landscape by providing stronger protection for employees and fostering a more inclusive and supportive work environment.

A copy of the Proposed Legislation can be found here.

2. Further Updates — Enhanced Parental Leave and Mandatory Paternity Leave

On 18 August 2024, the Prime Minister of Singapore, Lawrence Wong (“PM Wong”), had, in his National Day Rally 2024 speech, raised various upcoming employment-related changes including a new enhanced shared parental leave and mandatory 4 weeks paternity leave for eligible parents.

Read our legal update summarising the upcoming employment-related changes announced by PM Wong in his National Day Rally 2024.

The Child Development Co-Savings (Amendment) Bill covering the new enhanced shared parental leave and mandatory 4 weeks paternity leave was introduced in the Singapore Parliament in October 2024.

On 13 November 2024, the Singapore Parliament passed the Child Development Co-Savings (Amendment) Bill.

The upcoming amendments to the Child Development Co-Savings Act include the following:

1. Mandatory 4 weeks Paternity Leave for Eligible Fathers

  • Current entitlement:Eligible fathers are entitled to 2 weeks of government paid paternity leave with the option for employers to grant an additional 2 weeks of government paid paternity leave on a voluntary basis.
  • Upcoming changes with effect from 1 April 2025:The additional 2 weeks of government paid paternity leave (which employers currently have the option to offer this on a voluntary basis) will be made mandatory. As such, eligible fathers will be entitled to 4 weeks of government paid paternity leave.

2. Additional Shared Parental Leave

  • Current entitlement:Eligible fathers may share up to 4 weeks of their spouse’s government paid maternity leave.
  • Upcoming changes:
    • With effect from 1 April 2025:An additional 6 weeks of government paid shared parental leave will be provided on top of maternity leave to be shared between the parents.
    • With effect from 1 April 2026:The additional 6 weeks of government paid shared parental leave (to be in effect from 1 April 2025) will be increased to 10 weeks of government paid shared parental leave.

3. Minimum 4 weeks’ Notice Period to use Parental Leave

Employees who wish to use their parental leave in a continuous block will need to provide their employers with a minimum of 4 weeks’ notice. This would help employers to make the necessary covering arrangements and operational adjustments.

4. Employment Protection for Fathers and Adoptive Parents

Employment protection will also be extended to fathers and adoptive parents who take government-paid paternity leave and adoption leave from 1 April 2025.

Currently, such employment protection only applies to female employees who take maternity leave.

The changes are anticipated to be well-received by both employers and employees. They aim to support employees in balancing work and family caregiving responsibilities, while helping employers foster a more motivated and stable workforce.

Any questions

Ask our member firm Clyde & Co Clasis in Singapore