A Guide for
TIPS
?
Employers are encouraged to
provide appointment letter
with leave entitlement such as
annual and sick leave clearly
stated to avoid any
misunderstanding
MORE QUESTIONS?
Answers to your questions
could be just a click away!
Business
Employer
I want to know more
about annual and
sick leave entitlements for my
employee.
http://www.mom.gov.sg
What should I do?
For other types of leave
entitlement such as maternity
and childcare leave, refer to
MOM website for more
information
This brochure is updated on 7 May 2014.
LR 13
WHAT YOU NEED TO DO...
Employees are entitled to annual leave and paid sick
leave if employee are covered under Part IV of the
Employment Act and have worked for least three
months…
What are my employee’s annual and sick leave entitlement?

Employer should state the annual leave entitlement in the employment contract. The number
of days of paid annual leave depends on what is
stated in employment contract but should not
be less than the following :
Years of Continuous Service
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th and above

Days of leave
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
Employer should state the sick leave entitlement in the employment contract. The number
of days of paid sick leave depends on what is
stated in employment contract but should not
be less than the following :
Years of service
completed
Days of sick/
outpatient
leave
Days of hospitalisation
leave
3 months
5
15
4 months
8
30
5 months
11
45
6 months and
above
14
60
An employee is given paid sick leave if:
1. Employee has informed or attempted to inform the employer of
absence within 48 hours. If not, the employee is seen as absent
from work without permission or reasonable excuse.
2. Sick leave is certified by the company’s doctor or by a government doctor (including doctors from approved public medical
institutions and the list of approved public medical institutions
which can be found in MOM website).
Take note: Employees should go to the appointed company doctors unless the clinics are inconveniently located or in emergency
situations.
 Employers are not required to grant paid sick leave or bear the
medical consultation fees for employees seeking or undergoing
medical treatment which, in the opinion of the doctor performing the examination, is for cosmetic purposes.
WHAT’S NEXT...
If an employer does not provide any leave or deduct salary for
annual or sick leave, the employee can make a claim with
MOM. The employee must meet the following criteria...

The person is working for the company under a contract
of service.

Workman earning not more $4,500 basic monthly salary. Generally, a workman is an employee whose work
involves manual labour. Some examples of workman are
lorry drivers, construction workers, kitchen helpers, machine operators

Employee not earning more than $2,500 basic monthly
salary.

Managers and executives earning up to $4500 basic
monthly salary (eligible for sick leave claim only).
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Will my employee be entitled to paid sick leave during annual leave/no pay leave/rest day/public holiday/non-working
day?
A: Employee will not be entitled to paid sick leave on these days
as he/she is not required to work on these days.
Q: My employee has been working for more than 3
months but less than a year. How to calculate paid annual
leave?
A: You may use the following formula:
No of months in service divided by 12 X annual
leave entitlement in the current year.
Example for 5 months of work and 7 days leave
entitlement:
Leave entitled = 3 days
If amount is less than 0.5,
5
—— x 7 = 2.91
round down and if 0.5 or
12
more, round up the leave.
Q: My doctor certified my employee’s medical certificate
(MC) as hospitalization leave but he/she is not warded in
hospital. Is this considered as hospitalization leave?
A: Yes, employees do not necessarily have to be warded in
a hospital.
Q: Am I required to pay for my employee’s medical expenses?
A: If your employee has worked with your company for at
least 3 months, you are required to pay your employee’s
medical consultation fee. You can refer to the medical
benefits in employment contract or the collective agreement signed between your company and union to check if
you are liable for other medical costs such as medications,
treatment or ward charges. Employers are not required to
grant paid sick leave or bear the medical consultation fees
for employees seeking or undergoing medical treatment
which, in the opinion of the doctor performing the examination, is for cosmetic purposes.
Q: Is there a limit to the total number of paid sick leave?
A: The amount of paid outpatient and hospitalisation sick
leave that an employee can take is capped at his sick leave
entitlement.
For example, if an employee has already taken 14 days of
outpatient sick leave in that year, the number of days of
hospitalisation sick leave that he can take is 46 days (60 –
14 = 46). Likewise, for those in their 3rd, 4th and 5th month
of service, the total number of days of sick leave is also
capped at the respective hospitalisation leave entitlements