The HR’s Guide to Maternity Leave in Singapore 2024
The HR's Guide to Maternity Leave in Singapore 2024
Singapore's government and employers are enhancing maternity benefits and support for new mothers in 2024. With one of the world's lowest birth rates, various initiatives make it easier for working women to balance their career and family plans.
This comprehensive guide covers everything parents need to know about Singapore's latest maternity, paternity, shared parental leave, and related benefits. We highlight updated eligibility rules, the number of leave weeks mothers and fathers are entitled to, how to apply for company and government-paid schemes, what allowances are provided, and more useful details applicable in 2024.
Overview of Maternity Leave in Singapore
Maternity leave refers to paid or unpaid time off working mothers who are legally provided around childbirth to care for their newborn.
Subject to eligibility criteria, the Singapore government mandates that employers provide 16 weeks of maternity leave - with 8 weeks paid by the company and 8 weeks paid by a government scheme. The periods before and after birth can be flexible as long as at least 8 weeks are counted after childbirth.
Companies can choose to offer a longer paid leave duration than the 8-week minimum as part of their employee benefits policies. During maternity leave, medical, insurance, and other employment terms are protected for the employee.
Key Objectives Behind Maternity Leave Policies
Maternity legislation and leave durations aim to:
- Protect the health of mother and child during pregnancy and after birth
- Provide job security for mothers during a vulnerable period
- Allow both parents to bond with their newborns
- Address Singapore's declining birth rates over decades
The Singapore government and employers continue enhancing various leave schemes and child support initiatives through policies, tax incentives, and cash benefits.
Their goal is to create a more conducive environment and remove barriers for young couples thinking of starting a family.
Eligibility Criteria for Maternity Leave in Singapore
For employees to qualify for the 16 weeks of paid maternity leave in Singapore in 2024, the main criteria are:
For Employee
- Be a Singapore Citizen, Permanent Resident (PR), or Foreigner married to a Singapore Citizen/PR
- Have served her employer for at least 3 continuous months before childbirth
For Child
- A child born needs to be a Singapore Citizen or
- The child's parents must be lawfully married or
- Other applicable dependency criteria
Self-employed persons, contract workers, and part-time employees may also qualify if they meet eligibility and contribution criteria set by their insurer or government agencies.
The rules aim to ensure fairness by avoiding abuse while also not denying benefits to those facing genuine hardships. Check the websites of the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board, or insurance providers for updates.
Number of Maternity Leave Weeks Working Mothers are Entitled
As shared earlier, the total maternity leave duration that eligible working mothers are entitled to in Singapore is legislated to be 16 weeks.
This quantum doubled from 8 weeks of employer-paid leave until recently. The enhanced 16 weeks maternity leave regulations from 2024 mandate:
- 8-weeks - Employer paid leave
- Plus 8-weeks - Government paid leave
Out of 16 weeks, at least 8-weeks have to be counted after the date of childbirth for post-natal care and bonding between mother and child.
The additional 8 weeks allows expectant mothers further flexibility to take more leave before delivery should a medical need arise towards the 36th week of pregnancy.
Do note that to supplement wages during maternity leave, the Government will reimburse/pay for the 9th to 16th week of your GPML, capped at $10,000 per 4 weeks or a total of $20,000 per child order while company payment depends on existing salary terms.
Company Paid Maternity Leave
The mother's employer pays for the first 8 weeks of maternity leave, and she must have worked 3 months before applying for leave. Salary during this company-paid portion is according to the woman's employment terms - e.g., full or basic monthly salary, average variable pay over the past year, etc.
Some employers offer more than the legal minimum of 8 weeks' leave. So do check your company's employee handbook or consult your HR department on specific maternity benefits policy. The leave payments can be managed through the regular payroll cycles. Companies plan ahead by factoring such sporadic leaves into their budget forecasts.
Government Paid Maternity Leave
Eligible working mothers can further apply for another 8 weeks of maternity leave under the government's paid scheme. The Singapore government co-funds this to enable mothers to provide exclusive care for their newborns in the first few months without worrying about income loss.
Under this scheme, the mother is paid her gross monthly salary for the 8-week duration, capped at $2,500 per week. It aims to replace most of the regular wages lost during the leave period.
The government handles Payment disbursement directly on submitting receipts of childbirth and other dependency documents after the event. Employees should apply to their company HR for assistance with paperwork. Governmental support recognizes that a new child results in major financial obligations for parents.
Shared Parental Leave for Fathers
To promote greater gender equality in parenting and strengthen family ties, Singapore also has paternity and shared parental leave legislation.
As of 2024, working fathers whose child is a Singapore citizen biological or legally adopted son/daughter are entitled to 1 or 2 weeks of paid paternity leave:
- 1 week - If a child is a 3rd or subsequent newborn
- 2 weeks - If a child is 1st or 2nd newborn
The leave has to be consumed within 16 weeks of the child's date of birth. The payment quantum is set at $2,500 per week - the same as for the government-paid maternity leave. To receive this, Necessary documentation must be submitted to the company HR and government agencies.
To further allow both parents to share early infant care duties, couples can opt for up to 4 weeks of unpaid infant care leave out of a total of 16 weeks of entitlement allocated to them. The portion beyond the paid paternity quota can be split flexibly between the father and mother within the couple.
Check with your company's HR to see if enhanced paternity leave benefits are provided beyond the government-mandated terms.
How to Apply for Maternity and Paternity Leave
We outline the typical application process for employees to apply for maternity or paternity leaves in Singapore:
1. Inform the Manager and HR
Employees looking to take maternity/paternity leave should first inform their direct supervisor and the HR department. HR needs this intimation for planning how to cover duties through temporary staffing arrangements in one's absence. Most companies have online leave management portals to submit such requests easily.
Employees should indicate potential start and end dates for the leave being planned. It is recommended to have at least 4 weeks advance notice for adequate preparations.
2. Receive and Fill Application Forms
HR will have standard operating procedures along with application forms to apply for government-paid leave schemes.
Employees need to provide necessary personal details, child's information, and spouse/family declarations and take signatures and approvals as needed.
3. Get Approval and Confirm Leave Dates
HR and management will evaluate applications per eligibility criteria, and the company leaves policies before granting approval.
They will confirm start and end dates for approved maternity/paternity leaves based on indications the employee provided and the needs of the business. Both parties mutually agree on the duration of the leave, serving all interests.
4. Serve Leave and Get Salary Support
Once maternity/paternity leave is sanctioned and dated, the employee can proceed on the break as planned. HR will assist with documentation for government-paid schemes for salary support during the leave period.
Using leave management software helps optimize such applications, approvals, alerts, and documentation processes for orderly tracking of employee leaves.
Other Related Leave Schemes
Apart from expanded maternity and paternity leave benefits, Singapore also provides working parents additional leave support through:
Childcare Leave
Parents with children aged below 7 years are entitled to 6 days of paid childcare leave per year to attend to their elder children. The employer will pay for the 1st to 3rd day of your GPCL, at your gross rate of pay and The Government will reimburse/pay for the 4th to 6th day of your GPCL, capped at $500 per day or a total of $1,500 in any calendar year.
Extended Child Care Leave
For each parent who has any Singapore citizen child between 7 and 12 years old (both inclusive), the Government will reimburse/pay for all 2 days of your ECL, capped at $500 per day or a total of $1,000 in any calendar year.
Unpaid Infant Care Leave
Eligible working parents who have any Singapore citizen child below 2 years old can enjoy 12 days of unpaid leave per relevant period.
Adoption Leave
Eligible working adoptive mothers can enjoy the equivalent of the Government-paid portion of AL (up to 8 weeks for the 1st and 2nd child order and up to 12 weeks for the 3rd and subsequent child order).
Check the latest eligibility and durations regulations as the government regularly enhances support schemes.
Company Responsibilities Around Maternity Leave
Companies in Singapore need to ensure they have the right policies, processes, and systems to seamlessly manage sporadic leaves like expanded maternity leaves. This helps minimize organizational headaches when someone from a critical project team proceeds on long leave. Some ways HR can prepare for employees' maternity needs:
- Update Leave Policies: Frame appropriate, compliant, competitive maternity, paternity, and related leave policies.
- Communicate to Employees: Inform employees of leave policy details through staff handbooks, emails, meetings etc.
- Train Line Managers: Educate managers to anticipate leaves and cross-train the team for contingencies through job rotation, shadowing etc.
- Build Leave Application Process: Create standard protocols for applying, reviewing, and approving leaves leveraging digital systems.
- Track Leave Schedules: Use leave management software to view real-time visibility into planned and unplanned leaves across the organization.
- Plan Temporary Cover: For long leaves, have a roster of part-time contractors to fill in through interim staffing arrangements.
- Pay and Claim Support: Help employees file and claim benefits from company and government paid leave schemes on time.
- Stay Compliant: Regularly review policies and processes to adhere to frequent changes in labor regulations.
Equipping supervisors and systems to properly handle leave management processes allows companies to readily accommodate employee needs when the situation arises.
Using Leave Management Systems
Tracking employee leaves, substitutes, documentation, and salary payments can be challenging for HR teams without adequate infrastructure support.
Leave management software helps organizations manage such intermittent absences more systematically for both short and long terms. Such tools provide:
- Self-service leave applications - Employees apply for leaves, and managers approve requests online easily
- Configurable leave policies - Admins define different leave types - maternity, sick leaves, etc and applicable conditions
- Quota and allowance setting - The system can be configured with the number of leave days allowed for each leave category annually.
- Calendaring and Visibility - Planned leaves get marked on shared calendars with managers having visibility into team availability.
- Alerts and notifications - The system sends alerts to admins, employees, and managers at every step of the leave application and approval process.
- Reporting and analytics - HR has access to consolidated reports on historical and planned leaves for manpower planning.
- Process automation - The platform has inbuilt workflows that automatically update statuses and send notifications as the leave application moves through the approval chain.
- Integration with Payroll - Seamlessly share employee leave data with payroll software to process accurate salary and benefits.
Digitizing leave management via human capital management systems makes the entire process more efficient - minimizing manual efforts while enhancing compliance.
Supervisors gain visibility to plan around absences appropriately. At the same time, employees feel empowered by availing their entitled leaves without hassles.
Conclusion
Singapore's declining birth rates have led to policies promoting greater work-life balance to attract talent and enable parenthood. Expanding the number of paid leave weeks for mothers and fathers is a step in that direction. Companies now need to gear up internal leave policies, payroll processes, staffing contingency plans, and culture to align with the national vision. Equipping with leave management software helps automate approvals, notifications, compliance checks, and reports for transparent tracking of employee leaves.
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