The Ministry of Manpower (MOM), Singapore National Employer’s Federation (SNEF) and National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) have announced a new set of guidelines for the employment of term contract workers detailing the leave benefits and notice period which should be provided.

Leave benefits

Under the Employment Act (EA) and the Child Development Co-savings Act (CDCA), term contract employees are entitled to statutory leave benefits if they have been working for a minimum of three consecutive months. This includes:

1. Annual leave (up to seven days for the first year of employment. Add one day for each year of service and cap annual leave at 14 days)

2. Sick leave (up to 14 days of non-hospitalization leave plus the lesser of either up to 60 days of hospitalization leave or 14 days plus the number of hospitalized days per year)

3. Maternity leave (16 weeks per childbirth if legally married and the child is a Singaporean citizen. Twelve weeks if not married or the child is not a Singaporean citizen)

4. Paternity leave (one week per childbirth)

5. Adoption leave (four weeks per child)

6. Childcare leave (six days per year for each child who is a Singaporean citizen under the age of seven and two days per year for each child who is not a Singaporean citizen)

However, some employees do not currently receive these benefits despite having worked for an employer for the necessary three month period. For instance, a worker may have had separate contracts, each shorter than the minimum three months period with repeated breaks in between.