Skip to the main content.
Talk to an expert
Talk to an expert
Featured Offer
Ambitious 50 →
6 months of Hire and Engage free for businesses under 50 people.

Hey Compono!

A coach that actually gets you.

Get 10 minutes free, then $15 a month. Cancel anytime.

Get Started ≫
HR Glossary

Employment
Pass and S Pass

Singapore · Singapore employment
What are the Employment Pass and S Pass?

The Employment Pass (EP) and S Pass are Singapore's main work passes for foreign professionals and mid-skilled workers. As at 2026 the EP requires a minimum qualifying salary of S$5,600 a month (S$6,200 in financial services), rising with age, plus a pass mark on the COMPASS points framework; the S Pass minimum is S$3,300.

How EP qualification works now

Two gates since 2023: salary and points. The qualifying salary starts at S$5,600 for the youngest applicants and scales with age to S$10,700 at 45 and above (financial services: S$6,200 to S$11,800), and the candidate must also clear COMPASS, the points framework scoring salary against local benchmarks, qualifications, workforce diversity and local employment share, with 40 points to pass. High earners on a fixed monthly salary of at least S$22,500 are exempt from COMPASS. Already announced: the qualifying salary rises to S$6,000 (S$6,600 for financial services) for new applications from 1 January 2027.

The S Pass and the levy layer

The S Pass covers mid-skilled roles at a minimum S$3,300 (also age-scaled, also rising in 2027), subject to quotas and the Foreign Worker Levy. Neither EP nor S Pass holders receive CPF; the levy and quota system is the cost-and-control mechanism instead, which changes the total-cost arithmetic of a foreign hire in ways a simple salary comparison misses.

What it means for workforce planning

Pass policy is Singapore's workforce-shaping tool and it moves annually, so any plan that hard-codes today's thresholds has a built-in expiry date. The practical disciplines: benchmark offered salaries against the age-scaled minimums early in the funnel, check COMPASS exposure before shortlisting rather than at offer, and keep the local-workforce metrics COMPASS scores (diversity, local share) visible in hiring strategy, because they are now inputs to whether you can hire internationally at all.

Next step

Calculator

True Cost of an Employee Calculator (Singapore)

Put a number on it. Free, no sign-up, every benchmark sourced.

Open the calculator →Related term

CPF contributions

CPF (Central Provident Fund) contributions are the mandatory retirement, housing and healthcare savings payments for Singapore citizens and permanent residents: employers pay 17% and employees 20% of wages for those aged 55 and below, on ordinary wages up to S$8,000 a month since 1 January 2026.

Read the definition →Related term

Employment Act (Singapore)

The Employment Act is Singapore's main employment statute, covering every employee under a contract of service regardless of salary (with narrow exceptions such as seafarers, domestic workers and public servants).

Read the definition →Related term

Cost per hire

Cost per hire is the average amount spent to fill a role, calculated as total internal and external recruiting costs divided by the number of hires in the period.

Read the definition →HR Glossary

All terms

Every definition, with the local rules, rates and thresholds attached.

Browse the glossary →

Where
Compono Hire fits.

Compono Hire is an applicant tracking system (ATS) that measures fit before you make the offer, alongside the process every ATS runs.

Cross-border hiring has its own funnel economics. Measure yours.

See how it works
Compono Hire
400+
stores on one standard process

Common questions

Do EP and S Pass holders receive CPF?

No. CPF applies only to citizens and permanent residents. S Pass (and Work Permit) holders attract the Foreign Worker Levy instead; EP holders carry neither CPF nor levy.

What is COMPASS?

The Complementarity Assessment Framework: a points test applied at EP application and renewal, scoring salary competitiveness, qualifications, and the employer's workforce diversity and local employment share. Forty points passes; a fixed monthly salary of S$22,500 or more exempts the application.

This page is general information, not legal advice. We check figures annually and update them on a best-efforts basis, but employment rules change and we cannot promise everything here is current or complete. Before you act on it, confirm the detail with the Ministry of Manpower (mom.gov.sg) or your own adviser. Last reviewed July 2026.