Annual leave
Under the Employment Act, employees who have completed at least 3 months of continuous service are entitled to paid annual leave. The minimum entitlement scales with years of service:
| Years of service | Minimum AL (days) |
|---|---|
| 1 year | 7 |
| 2 years | 8 |
| 3 years | 9 |
| 4 years | 10 |
| 5 years | 11 |
| 6 years | 12 |
| 7 years | 13 |
| 8 years and above | 14 |
These are statutory minimums. Many Singapore F&B and retail employers offer above this — 14 days from year one is common in mid-size groups, and senior roles often get 18-21 days.
Pro-rating for part-timers
Part-time employees are entitled to pro-rated annual leave. The pro-ration is based on the ratio of working hours to a full-time equivalent. For example, a part-timer doing 22 hours a week against a 44-hour full-time benchmark gets 50% of the equivalent full-time leave.
For staff who work irregular shifts, calculate the average weekly hours over the leave year and apply the same pro-rating.
Pro-rating for the first year
In the first year, AL is pro-rated by the fraction of the year completed once the employee passes the 3-month mark. If your leave year is calendar-based, an employee starting in April who clears probation in July is entitled to AL pro-rated from the start date.
Encashment and carry-over
The Act does not require AL to be encashed, but in practice many employers do encash unused AL on resignation or at the end of the year. If your contract or employee handbook says so, that becomes binding.
Carry-over of unused AL into the following year is also common but not mandatory. Set the policy in writing — most Singapore employers allow up to half the annual entitlement to be carried forward.
Medical leave
Medical leave (commonly called "MC") is split between outpatient and hospitalisation:
The 60 days of hospitalisation leave is inclusive of the 14 outpatient days, not additional. So in any given year a covered employee can have up to 14 days of paid outpatient MC and an additional 46 days of paid hospitalisation leave if hospitalised.
Eligibility scaling
During the first 6 months of service, MC entitlement is pro-rated based on length of service. Full entitlement applies from 6 months onwards. The Act sets minimum entitlements at:
| Months of service | Outpatient (days) | Hospitalisation (days) |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | 5 | 15 |
| 4 | 8 | 30 |
| 5 | 11 | 45 |
| 6+ | 14 | 60 |
MC certification rules
For an MC to be valid for paid sick leave, it must be issued by:
- A medical practitioner registered under the Medical Registration Act (Singapore-registered doctor)
- A dentist registered under the Dental Registration Act for dental-related MC
- A medical officer of an approved public medical institution
The employee must inform the employer within 48 hours of taking sick leave, and provide the MC as evidence. An MC from an overseas doctor for a Singapore-based employee is not automatically valid — case by case judgement applies.
Worth knowing: If an employee is absent and provides no MC, the absence is unpaid. The Act does not require the employer to pay an unauthorised absence. But unauthorised absence is typically a disciplinary matter, not a payroll one.
Hospitalisation leave specifics
Hospitalisation leave applies when the employee is:
- Admitted as an in-patient at an approved hospital
- Quarantined under a Singapore law or regulation
- Determined by the doctor to need full-day rest at home as part of treatment (e.g. day surgery recovery)
This category exists specifically because longer recovery times need protection that the 14-day outpatient cap does not provide.
Managing leave for shift workers
For shift-based businesses, the practical challenges are different from those of a 9-to-5 office:
Counting a leave day
If a worker is scheduled for an 8-hour shift on the day they take AL, one full day of AL is used. If they were scheduled for a half-shift, half a day. If they were not scheduled at all, no AL is used (you cannot take leave from a non-working day).
MC interaction with shifts
If a worker is rostered and calls in sick with an MC, that shift is paid as if worked (under MC) and you need to find cover. The cover shift is a normal shift for whoever takes it.
PH overlapping with leave
If a public holiday falls during an annual leave period, the PH does not count against AL — the worker still gets it as a PH and AL is preserved.
Accrual transparency
Shift workers especially appreciate seeing their AL balance in real time. If your system can show it, do — it reduces queries to managers and reduces the chance of an unpleasant surprise at year-end when leave has been over-spent.
Track AL, MC and shifts in one place
FlexiWork applies SG leave rules per employee, pro-rates for part-timers, and shows every worker their live AL balance.
Start free — 14 daysOther types of leave
The Employment Act and related laws also cover:
- Maternity leave — 16 weeks for eligible Singaporean mothers (Government-Paid Maternity Leave); shorter entitlements for foreign mothers.
- Paternity leave — 4 weeks (Government-Paid Paternity Leave) for eligible fathers, increased from 2 weeks under the 2024 enhancements.
- Childcare leave — 6 days a year for eligible parents with children under 7; 2 days extended childcare leave for parents with children 7-12.
- Adoption leave — 12 weeks for eligible adoptive mothers of children below 12 months.
- Reservist (NS) leave — paid by employer for in-camp training; the employer can claim back from MINDEF.
These are separate entitlements with their own rules and government co-funding. They do not eat into AL or MC.