2025 saw a series of developments take place in the Singapore employment law landscape. This article provides a summary of the key developments over the past year.
For the full version of this article, please click here.
- 1 January: The Platform Workers Act came into effect, enabling, amongst other things, platform workers to obtain financial compensation should they get injured in the course of work. Click here to read more.
- 1 January: The minimum qualifying monthly salary for the application and/or renewal of an Employment Pass increased. Click here to read more.
- 8 January: The Workplace Fairness Bill was passed in Parliament. Click here to read more.
- 14 March: In the case of Hayate Partners Pte Ltd v Rajan Sunil Kumar [2025] SGHC 41, the Singapore High Court considered the appropriate inquiry in respect of claims in relation to breach of contractual obligations of confidentiality and breach of confidence in equity. Click here to read more.
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1 April: Eligible employees have six weeks of shared parental leave to share between them and their spouse and from 1 April 2026, this increased to ten weeks. Click here to read more.
- 1 June: Businesses are permitted to hire non-Professionals, Managers, Executives, and Technicians workers from more countries. Click here to read more.
- 1 July: In the case of Goh Hui En Rebecca v IG Asia Pte Ltd [2025] SGHCR 20, the Singapore High Court clarified that the fact an employee chooses to bring a claim before the Employment Claims Tribunal (“ECT”) does not bar the employee from bringing a subsequent claim before the Singapore High Court, where the claims are of a different nature. Click here to read more.
- 1 July: The maximum employment age for existing Work Permit holders increased from 60 years old to 63 years old. Click here to read more.
- 4 August: The Ministry of Manpower, the National Trades Union Congress and the Singapore National Employers Federation (together, the “Tripartite Partners”) announced that they had formed a Tripartite Working Group (“TWG”) to develop recommendations in relation to a review of Singapore’s key employment legislation, the Employment Act (“EA”). Click here to read more.
- 1 September: The minimum qualifying salary requirement for applying for a S Pass increased. Click here to read more.
- 11 September: The Platform Workers Trilateral Group comprising the Ministry of Manpower, Ministry of Transport, National Trades Union Congress and Grab Singapore provided recommendations to safeguard the livelihoods, safety and well-being of platform workers. Click here to read more.
- 28 October: The Personal Data Protection Commission (“PDPC”) imposed THE highest financial penalty ever imposed on a company for breach of personal data protection obligations. Click here to read more.
- 4 November: The Workplace Fairness (Dispute Resolution) Bill was passed in Parliament. Click here to read more.
- 1 December: The list of Occupational Diseases (“ODs”) in the Second Schedule of the Workplace Safety and Health Act 2006 and Work Injury Compensation Act 2019 was updated to enhance occupational health surveillance and strengthen employee protection. Click here to read more.
2026 Outlook
- Transition to more employee-friendly employment landscape;
- Employers will be expected to be familiar with the legal requirements of the WFA and to implement fair employment practices in time for WFA taking effect (anticipated in 2027);
- Likely that restrictive covenants will become even more difficult to enforce, requiring more consideration by employers on how to draft and when to impose and enforce them.
2025 Year in Review – Singapore Employment Law (Full Version)
2025 saw a series of developments take place in the Singapore employment law landscape. This article provides a summary of the key developments over the past year.
January
With effect from 1 January 2025, the Platform Workers Act came into effect, allowing platform workers to obtain financial compensation should they get injured in the course of work, and also providing platform workers with strengthened protections in the form of increased Central Provident Fund contributions, where applicable.
From 1 January 2025, the minimum qualifying monthly salary for the application and/or renewal of an Employment Pass (for employees apart from those in the financial services sector) increased from S$5,000 to S$5,600. The minimum qualifying monthly salary for employees in the financial services sector increased from S$5,500 to S$6,200.
On 8 January 2025, the Workplace Fairness Bill was passed in Parliament, and the Workplace Fairness Act 2025 (“WFA”) was assented to by the President on 3 February 2025. The WFA was established to protect against workplace discrimination and to establish fair employment practices. The WFA will complement the existing Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices.
Significantly, under the WFA, an employer is prohibited from making an employment decision that adversely affects an individual on the ground of a protected characteristic of the individual, unless certain exceptions apply. Protected characteristics have been defined under the WFA to be age, nationality, sex, marital status, pregnancy, caregiving responsibilities, race, religion, language ability, disability, and mental health condition.
March
On 14 March 2025, in the case of Hayate Partners Pte Ltd v Rajan Sunil Kumar [2025] SGHC 41, an employer commenced a claim against its former employee for breach of obligations of confidentiality and breach of confidence in equity as the former employee had allegedly downloaded documents belonging to the employer at or around the time during which he tendered his resignation and retained copies of such documents upon the termination of employment.
The Singapore High Court took the view that a two-step inquiry shall apply when there are express contractual obligations of confidentiality and the question of whether additional or more extensive obligations of confidentiality in equity should be imposed arises. This would involve considering the following:
(a) First, does the contract specify the information to be treated as confidential and/or the extent and/or duration of the obligations in respect of the information?
If the answer is yes, then the starting point is that equity would not ordinarily impose additional or more extensive obligations than those specified in the contract. For example, if the contract specifies the information to be treated as confidential, the starting point is that equity would not treat a larger scope of information as being confidential.
(b) Second, even if the answer to (a) is yes, would it plainly offend a reasonable man’s conscience that additional or more extensive obligations in equity are not so imposed?
If the answer is yes, then the starting point may be departed from, and equity may step in to impose such additional or more extensive obligations.
April
With effect from 1 April 2025, eligible employees have six weeks of shared parental leave (“SPL”) to share between them and their spouse and from 1 April 2026, this increased to ten weeks. Employees are eligible for SPL if their child is a Singapore citizen (or, in the case of adoption, where the child is not Singaporean, one of the adoptive parents must be a Singapore citizen) and they have worked for a continuous period of at least three months before the birth of the child/date of formal intent to adopt the child. All mothers are eligible for SPL if they meet these criteria. Fathers will be eligible for SPL if they meet these criteria and are lawfully married to the child’s mother (or were lawfully married to the child’s mother between conception and birth, or within twelve months from the child’s date of birth).
June
With effect from 1 June 2025, to allow businesses to hire skilled non-Professionals, Managers, Executives, and Technicians (“non-PMET”) workers from more countries, businesses are now permitted to hire non-PMET workers from Bhutan, Cambodia and Laos, in addition to Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
July
On 1 July 2025, in the case of Goh Hui En Rebecca v IG Asia Pte Ltd [2025] SGHCR 20, the Singapore High Court clarified that the fact an employee chooses to bring a claim before the Employment Claims Tribunal (“ECT”) does not bar the employee from bringing a subsequent claim before the Singapore High Court, where the claims are of a different nature. As the ECT has a jurisdictional limit, employees may first file smaller and more urgent claims (e.g. salary in lieu of notice) before the ECT, and may subsequently pursue larger or more complex claims separately in the High Court.
From 1 July 2025, the maximum employment age for existing Work Permit holders increased from 60 years old to 63 years old to enable employers to retain experienced workers.
August
On 4 August 2025, the Ministry of Manpower, the National Trades Union Congress and the Singapore National Employers Federation (together, the “Tripartite Partners”) announced that they had formed a Tripartite Working Group (“TWG”) to develop recommendations in relation to a review of Singapore’s key employment legislation, the Employment Act (“EA”). The TWG will consult and engage stakeholders, including employers and employees, to make recommendations on updates to be made to the EA to ensure that there are adequate protections for different groups of employees. In particular, the National Trades Union Congress’ Deputy Secretary-General has expressed that “This review of the EA is necessary to update and strengthen protections for our workforce especially for Professionals, Managers and Executives (PMEs), given that the nature of work has changed over time…”. It is anticipated that the TWG would submit its recommendations to the Government by the second half of 2026.
September
From 1 September 2025, the minimum qualifying salary requirement for applying for a S Pass increased from S$3,150 to S$3,300. The qualifying salary will continue to increase progressively with age, up to S$4,800 for a candidate in their mid-40s. The S Pass minimum qualifying salary for employees in the financial services sector increased from S$3,650 to S$3,800. The qualifying salary will increase progressively to S$5,650 for a candidate in their mid-40s.
On 11 September 2025, the Platform Workers Trilateral Group comprising the Ministry of Manpower, Ministry of Transport, National Trades Union Congress and Grab Singapore provided recommendations to safeguard the livelihoods, safety and well-being of platform workers. A total of 10 recommendations were made and these recommendations include, amongst others, that:
- The Government and platform operators should work together to strengthen enforcement and set stringent punishments for abetting illegal platform work across all platform sectors.
- Platform Operators, Platform Work Associations and the Government should encourage Platform Workers and members of the public to report suspected illegal activities to the Government.
- Platform Work Associations will continue to encourage Platform Workers to prioritise and take care of their health and safety.
The full list of recommendations may be accessed here.
October
On 28 October 2025, the Personal Data Protection Commission (“PDPC”) imposed a financial penalty of S$315,000 on a company in Singapore. This is the highest financial penalty imposed since the 2021 amendments to the Personal Data Protection Act 2012 (“PDPA”) came into force, which increased the cap on financial penalties from S$1 million to 10% of the annual turnover of the organisation in Singapore (subject to a minimum cap of S$1 million). The PDPC found that the company had breached its data protection obligations which required it to protect personal data in its possession or under its control by making reasonable security arrangements to prevent unauthorised access, collection, use, disclosure, copying, modification, disposal or similar risks.
November
On 4 November 2025, the Workplace Fairness (Dispute Resolution) Bill was passed in Parliament. The Workplace Fairness (Dispute Resolution) Bill provides the statutory framework for the resolution of claims relating to discrimination in the workplace. The ECT will hear workplace discrimination claims up to and including S$250,000 – and the High Court will hear claims above this limit. Significantly and regardless of the quantum of claim or the judicial forum which the claim is to be heard in, the following set of rules will apply:
- Claimants are required to attempt mediation before filing a claim at the ECT or the High Court.
- Requests for mediation must be submitted within prescribed time bars.
- Claims will be heard in private, and parties have a duty to consider amicable resolution during adjudication.
- The ECT and the High Court will adopt a judge-led approach where judges take a proactive role in managing the case.
- The ECT and the High Court will be empowered to strike out frivolous claims, and to award costs against claimants who file such claims on a case-by-case basis.
December
With effect from 1 December 2025, the list of Occupational Diseases (“ODs”) in the Second Schedule of the Workplace Safety and Health Act 2006 and Work Injury Compensation Act 2019 was updated to enhance occupational health surveillance and strengthen employee protection.
In particular, in the realm of musculoskeletal disorders, “Musculoskeletal disorders of the upper limb” were replaced with and expanded to “Work-related musculoskeletal disorder”, which includes work-related musculoskeletal disorders involving the back, spine and lower limbs. This means that employees who suffer any work-related musculoskeletal disorders due to workplace ergonomic risk factors may be covered.
In addition, “Occupational infectious disease” will be broadened beyond Tuberculosis. Reporting will be required for infectious diseases acquired from work related exposure to infectious biological material by clinical and non-clinical support staff in healthcare, laboratories or research settings.
2026 Outlook
With the introduction of the WFA in 2025 and with a review committee being established to review the EA, it is anticipated that more employee-friendly steps may be taken to shift the employment landscape in Singapore. Employers should note that:
- Further to the introduction of the WFA, employers are expected to be familiar with the legal requirements and to implement fair employment practices to ensure alignment with the requirements of the WFA once it takes effect.
- In light of recent case development, it is anticipated that restrictive covenants would be even more difficult to enforce and while the Ministry of Manpower has yet to issue guidelines on the use and imposition of restrictive covenants in employment contracts, employers should remain prudent and seek to impose and enforce restrictive covenants only where there is a legitimate interest to protect and where the restrictive covenants are reasonable in scope, duration and geography.
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