Eligibility
An employee covered under the Employment Act who has worked for at least 3 months is entitled to paid annual leave.
An employee can apply for annual leave after working for 3 months with their employer.
Entitlement
Annual leave entitlement depends on the number of years of service an employee has worked with their employer. You can refer to more resources from MOM's website on Annual Leave for better clarity.
An employee's year of service begins from the day they start work with their employer:
Length of Service | Days of Leave |
3 months | 2 (rounded up) |
1st year | 7 |
2nd year | 8 |
3rd year | 9 |
4th year | 10 |
5th year | 11 |
6th year | 12 |
7th year | 13 |
8th year and thereafter | 14 |
Pro-rated Leave
Past the 3rd month of work, annual leave entitlement is pro-rated based on the number of full months completed regardless of probation.
The formula for pro-ration calculations can be found below:
(No. of completed months of service / 12 months) x No. of days of annual leave entitlement
Round up to 1 day if the fraction is half or more; Round down otherwise.
Exclude periods of unpaid leave taken.
Include any resignation notice periods.
Use Talenox's Singapore salary for incomplete month of work calculator to quickly obtain accurate prorated salary.
Annual Leave in Special Situations
1) Taking Leave on Half Days of Work
Any leave taken is counted as a full day of leave, even when taken on a half working day, unless the company allows taking half a day of leave.
2) Annual Leave Entitlement is Used Up: Unpaid Leave
If an employee is not eligible for paid annual leave or has insufficient balance, unpaid leave (aka no pay leave) can be applied instead, subject to approval, and salary can be deducted accordingly.
A monthly-rated full-time employee is deemed to have worked an incomplete month if unpaid leave is taken. Salary for an incomplete month of work is calculated as:
Monthly gross rate of pay x (No. of days worked in the month / No. of working days the month)
3) Treatment of Unused Annual Leave
An employer can choose to encash any unused annual leave at the gross rate of pay per the employee's last drawn salary, instead of forfeiture. However, an employer must encash any unused leave for termination of work for reasons other than misconduct.
An employee's annual leave entitlement can be forfeited if the person:
Is absent from work in excess of 20% of the work days in a work period of up to a year, without valid reasons or permission.
Is dismissed for misconduct.