Singapore parents are now entitled to government-paid maternity, paternity or adoption leave if they are employed on short-term employment contracts, have been recently laid off, or are newly employed before the birth or adoption of their child — under the Child Development Co-Savings (Amendment) Bill that passed parliament on 2 Aug 2021. The measures aim to improve family-friendly workplace policies and apply to children born, or for whom the intent to adopt, falls on or after 1 Jan 2021. However, applications will only be accepted from 1 Jan 2022, pending subsidiary legislation to implement the scheme.   

Highlights

• Eligible working natural or adoptive fathers and adoptive mothers employed on multiple short-term contracts are entitled to government-paid paternity or adoption leave if their contract ends shortly before the birth or adoption of a child. Parents can opt to receive a cash benefit instead of taking such leave. To be eligible, parents must have worked for 90 days or more during the previous 12-month period.

• The benefit amount will be calculated on the average income the parent earned during the 12 months prior to the birth or adoption. The paternity benefit will be capped at SG$2,500 per week and includes Central Provident Fund contributions. Adoptive mothers can receive eight or 12 weeks of maternity benefits capped between SG$20,000 and SG$30,000, depending on the number of children in the family.

• Parents with unused maternity, paternity or adoption leave who are laid off from their job due to redundancy or corporate reorganization are eligible for the corresponding benefit payment. Under former rules, their outstanding paid leave would be forfeited.

• The government will reimburse employers that voluntarily grant paid maternity, paternity or adoption leave to employees who are continuously employed for fewer than three months.

• Parents of stillborn babies (a child born after the twenty-second week of pregnancy — who would have been a Singapore citizen) will be entitled to certain government-paid leave and benefit schemes. 

Related resources

• Interim information on paid family leave changes (Government, August 2021)
• Child Development Co-Savings (Amendment) Bill (Government, 5 Jul 2021)
• Proposed amendments to Child Development Co-Savings Act to provide more support for parents and employers (Government, 5 Jul 2021)