Hiring in Singapore after the 2026 CPF changes: payroll, Employment Pass planning, and a fairness law that is not in force yet

October 3, 2026

Payroll in Singapore changed on 1 January 2026, and two more changes are already set for 1 January 2027: higher qualifying salaries for work passes and higher CPF rates for senior workers. So if you're writing an offer letter now, plan around next year's numbers too. The workplace fairness law, meanwhile, has been passed but isn't in force yet. Each of these runs on its own timeline, and mixing them up is how hiring plans go wrong.

This guide is for SME owners and HR leads who run payroll in-house or are about to, and for foreign companies relocating a first manager or a small team to Singapore.

What actually changed in payroll on 1 January 2026

CPF Board's contribution rate table from 1 January 2026 sets out the rates that matter under the CPF Act 1953. If your payroll file still has last year's ceiling or rates, start there.

• Ordinary Wage (OW) ceiling: $8,000 a month from 1 January 2026, the last of four steps since 1 September 2023.
• Annual wage ceiling: $102,000, unchanged.

These are the rates for Singapore citizens and for permanent residents in their third year onwards. Rates for earlier PR years and for lower wage bands differ; use the CPF Board table. New age-band rates apply from the first day of the month after the employee's birthday milestone.

The senior-worker increase is allocated to the Retirement Account up to the cohort Full Retirement Sum, and otherwise to the Ordinary Account, per CPF Board. Do not assume the extra contribution lands where it did last year without checking that rule.

Next step on 1 January 2027. For employees above 55 to 60, rates rise to 16.5% employer and 19% employee (35.5% total). For above 60 to 65, they rise to 13% employer and 13% employee (26% total). Other age bands are unchanged, and the increase again goes to the Retirement Account up to the Full Retirement Sum, otherwise to the Ordinary Account. Set this up in payroll before the January 2027 contribution month.

Platform-worker CPF rates sit in a separate table in the same release (operator share 7% in 2026, with the worker share varying by age and phased toward 17% and 20% by 2029). That table belongs to the platform-work regime under the Platform Workers Act 2024. Do not apply it to ordinary employees. If a payroll vendor has one "2026 CPF" toggle, ask which table it is using.

If your payroll file still caps ordinary wages at an older ceiling, fix the configuration before the next contribution month.

The one-year CPF Transition Offset is automatic

For 2026, employers get a CPF Transition Offset worth half of the 2026 increase in employer CPF contributions for the senior-worker step. It's automatic for one year, so there's nothing to apply for. IRAS also offers an eligibility search and a breakdown request for employers. If your finance team is looking for an application window, they won't find one.

Payroll still has to calculate and pay the full employer contribution. The offset is support against the increase; it is not permission to under-contribute.

CPF Board has confirmed a CPF Transition Offset for the 1 January 2027 increase as well. It again equals half of the increase in employer CPF rates for Singapore citizen and PR workers aged above 55 to 65.

Employment Pass is two tests, not one salary

Check MOM's Employment Pass eligibility page before you make an offer. Think of the pass as two tests: the qualifying salary first, then COMPASS. A strong case for the role won't get a candidate past either one.

Today's minimum qualifying salaries apply to new applications before 1 January 2027 and to renewals of passes expiring before 1 January 2028:

• All sectors except financial services: $5,600, rising with age from 23, up to $10,700 at 45 and above.
• Financial services: $6,200, up to $11,800 at 45 and above.

From 1 January 2027 for new applications, and for renewals of passes expiring from 1 January 2028:

• General: $6,000, up to $11,500.
• Financial services: $6,600, up to $12,700.

Do not apply the 1 January 2027 salary to an application filed before that date, or to a renewal of a pass that expires before 1 January 2028. If the pass you are renewing expires in 2027, read the expiry date again before you rewrite the package.

COMPASS is MOM's points-based framework for Employment Pass applications, and the pass mark is 40 points. Points can't rescue a candidate who is under the qualifying salary. If your firm has fewer than 25 PMETs (professionals, managers, executives and technicians), you get a default 10 points each on diversity and on support for local employment. MOM's page lists exemptions from COMPASS, including a fixed monthly salary of at least $22,500, an overseas intra-corporate transferee, and a role of one month or less.

Under the Fair Consideration Framework, employers must advertise the vacancy on MyCareersFuture before a new Employment Pass or S Pass application for at least 14 consecutive days, unless an exemption applies (for example, a firm with fewer than 10 employees, a fixed monthly salary of at least $22,500, or a role of one month or less). The advertising exemption for jobs paying a fixed monthly salary of $22,500 or more has applied since 1 September 2023, and the COMPASS salary exemption uses the same figure. The two exemption lists are not identical, so check MOM's current page before skipping the advertisement.

Use MOM's Self-Assessment Tool and Workforce Insights on the myMOM Portal. MOM's own worked examples are illustrations, not a promise that a candidate "will get the pass".

S Pass and the local qualifying salary move on different dates

S Pass salary steps follow the same timing as the Employment Pass, per MOM's foreign-workforce factsheet and the Committee of Supply speech on 3 March 2026 by Minister for Manpower Dr Tan See Leng:

• The minimum qualifying salary rises from $3,300 to $3,600, still increasing with age, with the level for age 45 and above rising from $4,800 to $5,100.
• Financial services: from $3,800 to $4,000, up to $5,650.
• Timing: new applications from 1 January 2027; renewals of passes expiring from 1 January 2028.

Dr Tan said in that speech that by around 2030, if the economy continues to grow, the S Pass minimum is expected to be around $4,000 to $4,500, depending on local wages and conditions. That is an expectation with an economic caveat, not a gazetted figure. Do not write it into a contract as a committed number.

Separately, firms that hire foreign workers (Work Permit, S Pass or EP) must pay Progressive Wage Model wages to covered local employees and pay other local employees at least the Local Qualifying Salary (LQS). Budget 2026 Annex D-1 raises the LQS from $1,600 to $1,800 a month for full-time local workers from 1 July 2026; for part-time local workers the floor is $10.50 an hour. The foreign-worker quota computation is adjusted with the new LQS. For quota ratios, open the current MOM table.

Progressive Wage Credit Scheme support was extended

The Progressive Wage Credit Scheme (PWCS), which co-funds wage increases for lower-wage workers, has been extended. Budget 2026 boosts support for 2026 and now also covers wage increases given in 2027 and 2028. For those two years, the minimum qualifying wage increase goes up to $200.

MOM's 3 March 2026 factsheet sets PWCS co-funding at 30% of qualifying wage increases given in 2026 (up from 20%), 30% for 2027 and 20% for 2028. It covers employees earning up to $3,000 a month before the increase and up to $4,000 after it. Before you plan a pay rise around these numbers, check Table 1 of Budget 2026 Annex D-1 and IRAS's PWCS page.

Fair hiring before the Act is switched on

Two tracks must not be confused.

• Apply now: the Fair Consideration Framework advertising requirement for new Employment Pass and S Pass applications, and the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices.
• Passed, not in force: the Workplace Fairness Act 2025, passed on 8 January 2025, and the Workplace Fairness (Dispute Resolution) Act 2025, passed as a Bill on 4 November 2025. MOM states that it aims for the Act to take effect in end-2027.

Passed is not the same as in force. Check Singapore Statutes Online and the Gazette before anyone in your company says the Act has started to apply.

As MOM and TAFEP have described it, the Act will protect against discrimination on grounds grouped as: age; nationality; sex, marital status, pregnancy status and caregiving responsibilities; race, religion and language ability; and disability and mental health conditions. The Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices will continue to address other characteristics. Employers will need grievance-handling processes. Mediation is required before a claim goes to the Employment Claims Tribunals or the High Court. The tribunals are to hear workplace discrimination claims up to and including $250,000, hearings are in private, and legal representation is not allowed at the Employment Claims Tribunals.

None of those claim routes is open for Workplace Fairness Act claims today. A training slide built from a 2025 press release should be re-checked against the commenced text before it is used.

Where HR software helps and where it does not

A payroll, onboarding and HR system can hold the CPF and headcount data that both COMPASS and the local-employee condition for the YA 2026 corporate income tax rebate cash grant rely on. That shared record is useful. It is also where arguments start when the tax file and the pass file disagree about who was employed.

Software does not obtain an Employment Pass or an S Pass, decide whether a role is on the Shortage Occupation List, replace MOM's Self-Assessment Tool, or turn a below-minimum salary into a pass. A green tick in an HR system is not an In-Principle Approval.

Three questions before your next offer letter

Ask three practical questions before you sign the next offer letter. Does the package still clear the qualifying salary on the renewal date that matters? Is COMPASS worth a Self-Assessment Tool run before the search starts? Does payroll reflect the $8,000 ordinary-wage ceiling and the 2026 senior-worker rates, and is it ready for the 1 January 2027 senior-worker step?

If you'd like someone to check an offer package against the pass salary rules and your payroll setup before you send it, HuOrgCology's People Partnering team can help, alongside payroll, CPF and day-to-day HR administration. We give general guidance on MOM requirements but do not prepare or submit work pass applications. Email solutions@huorgcology.com or call +65 9789 4150.

Legislation, regulators and sources

Legislation and agencies referred to: Central Provident Fund Act 1953; Employment Act 1968; Employment of Foreign Manpower Act 1990; Workplace Fairness Act 2025 and Workplace Fairness (Dispute Resolution) Act 2025 (passed, not yet commenced); Platform Workers Act 2024; agencies: MOM, CPF Board, IRAS, TAFEP.

• CPF Board, CPF-related changes taking place in 2026; CPF contribution rates (rates from 1 January 2026). CPF Board, changes to senior-worker contribution rates from 1 January 2027 and CPF Transition Offset for 2027. MOM, S Pass eligibility (updated 1 September 2026); MOM, Factsheet on Lower-Wage Workers, 3 March 2026.

• MOM, Eligibility for Employment Pass (updated 28 April 2026).

• MOM, factsheet on foreign workforce policies, 3 March 2026; Minister for Manpower Dr Tan See Leng, Committee of Supply speech, 3 March 2026.

• MOM, Workplace Fairness (Dispute Resolution) Bill press release, 4 November 2025; TAFEP, Workplace Fairness.

• Budget 2026 Annex D-1, Uplifting Lower-Wage Workers.

• IRAS, Progressive Wage Credit Scheme and CPF Transition Offset pages.

This article is general information for Singapore SMEs and foreign companies operating here. It is not immigration or employment-law advice.