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The HR's Guide to Maternity Leave in Singapore 2023

Posted on 08 February 2023 in Business | Anna Beatrice

Navigating the path to motherhood is a formidable journey, especially for working mothers. Therefore, HR leaders must ensure that pregnant and parenting women are provided with the necessary resources and support to aid them in this transition.

Fortunately, the government provides comprehensive policies for maternity leave in Singapore, that help facilitate this transition for both employers and employees.

Employed Working Mothers 

For employed working mothers, they will be eligible for 16 weeks of paid maternity leave if they have served their employer for a continuous period of at least 3 months before the birth of their child.

Self-employed Working Mothers

Self-employed working mothers will be eligible of 16 weeks for paid maternity leave if they have been engaged in their work for at least 3 continuous months and have lost income during the maternity leave period.

Employee on Probation

They are eligible for maternity leave if they meet the eligibility criteria and have served their employer for at least 3 months before the birth of their child.

Contract, Temporary or Part-Time Employees

They will also be eligible for maternity leave if they meet the eligibility criteria. They will be paid at the gross rate for each day that they would normally have been required to work under their contract.

To find out the eligibility and entitlement for 12 weeks of maternity leave, click here.

Note: Employees are required to give their employer at least 1 week’s notice before going on maternity leave and informed them of the delivery as soon as possible. Otherwise, they are only entitled to half the payment during maternity leave, unless they have a good enough reason for not giving the notice.

The Employer's Obligations

The employer has the following obligations to employees who are on maternity leave: ^[2]

• The employer will pay the employee’s usual monthly salary during the leave period. Employees can then claim reimbursement from the Government under the GPML scheme:

  Births	Paid by employer	Reimbursed by Government
  First and second	First 8 weeks	Last 8 weeks
  Third and subsequent	-	All 16 weeks

• The employer is required to notify MOM if your migrant worker is pregnant.
• The employer is not allowed to ask an employee to work during the first 4 weeks of her confinement.
• It is an offence for an employer to dismiss an employee while she is on maternity leave.

Check out our blog article on What Employers Should Know About the Family Care Leave to discover more about the HR’s obligations for other types of leave.

Maternity Leave in Special Situations

As mentioned earlier, maternity leave entitlements may be affected by different criteria or situations, such as the birth of twins, the birth to a single mother or premature birth. ^[3]

Here is the list of maternity leave entitlement under specific scenarios.

Child is Not a Singapore Citizen

If the child is not a Singapore citizen, the employee is entitled to 12 weeks of maternity leave if they are covered by the Employment Act and meet the eligibility criteria.

Employee Is Not Eligible for Government-Paid Maternity Leave (GPML) at the Time of Delivery

If they are not married to the child’s father or the child is not a Singapore citizen at the time of delivery, they can still qualify for maternity leave if they meet the eligibility criteria within 12 months of the child’s birth.

They also need to have served their employer for at least 3 months to be eligible for maternity leave.

In this case:

• They will be eligible for the remaining maternity leave from the date they meet all the criteria.
• They must take the remaining maternity leave entitlement before the child turns 12 months old.
• They will not be eligible for the maternity leave that has lapsed.

Foreigner or Permanent Resident Working in Singapore

Regardless of nationality, they are entitled to 12 weeks of maternity leave if they are covered by the Employment Act and have served the employer for at least 3 months.

They may qualify for 16 weeks of maternity leave if their child is a Singapore citizen, and meet the eligibility criteria.

Single or Unmarried Mother

They are entitled to up to 16 weeks of maternity leave if they meet the eligibility criteria.

Birth of Twins

If an employee gives birth to twins or triplets, it will be treated as a single delivery. They will not receive double maternity benefits.

Premature Birth 

For premature births, if they meet the eligibility criteria, their maternity leave should start on the birth date of their child, or earlier if they have a mutual agreement with their employer.

Stillbirth

For stillbirths, an employee will be eligible for full maternity leave if the child is stillborn or dies shortly after birth.

If they meet the eligibility criteria under GMPL, the stillbirth will be counted for maternity leave benefits for the next delivery. Otherwise, stillbirth will not be counted in determining their eligibility for maternity leave benefits for the next delivery.

Abortion or Miscarriage

If an employee is still working, they can take sick leave to recover. However, they are not eligible for maternity leave.

Falling Sick during Maternity Leave

An employee will not be entitled to paid sick leave while on maternity leave.

Change Jobs While on Maternity Leave

If an employee switches jobs before completing their maternity leave, they will not be able to transfer any unused leave to their new company.

For more maternity leave-related questions, click here.

How to Apply or Claim Maternity Leave

For instructions on leave applications or reimbursement claims, visit the Government-Paid Leave (GPL) Portal.

Here are some important reminders about maternity leave in Singapore:

• Working mothers who qualify for the GPML scheme can share part of their leave benefits with their husbands under the Shared Parental Leave (SPL) scheme.
• Employees may start their maternity leave 4 weeks before the delivery date and no later than the delivery date. All maternity leave must be taken within 12 months from the child's inclusive date of birth.
• The first 8 weeks of maternity leave must be taken in one continuous block (including weekends and public holidays). The last 8 weeks can be taken flexibly if there is a mutual agreement between the employer and the employee.
• Employees are not allowed to use their maternity leave to offset the notice period when they leave their job.
• There are also restrictions on using the leave. For instance, employees are not allowed to transfer their leave to their spouse or encash their unused leave. [4]

Streamline Your Maternity Leave Management Process

With QuickHR’s all-inclusive Leave Management System, you can easily manage your employees’ maternity leave requests in real-time with a paperless and fuss-free process!

QuickHR’s leave management system is interconnected with multiple HR modules such as payroll, attendance and timesheets, expense claims, and performance evaluation, helping you build solid HR strategy with automated, simplified, and accurate HR processes.

• Easy application and tracking of maternity leave status
• Real-time notifications of maternity leave requests
• Multi-tiered approval system to reflect your company policies
• Approve maternity leave requests while on-the-go via Mobile App
• Delivers complete annual or monthly review of your employees’ maternity leave status
• Generates maternity leave reports in an analytical graph or on spreadsheets
• Include additional holidays or off days that are unique to your company
• Regularly updated to the latest changes on public holidays and other regulations