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Details on who qualifies for the enhancements, how working parents can change their shared parental leave arrangements, and more.
In his National Day Rally 2024 speech, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced a series of measures aimed at benefitting working parents in Singapore — Enhancements to the existing Government-Paid Paternity Leave (GPPL), and a new Shared Parental Leave (SPL) scheme.
This will apply to eligible working parents with Singapore Citizen children born on or after 1 April 2025.
According to a news release by the National Population and Talent Division (NPTD), details on both schemes are as follow:
Mandatory four weeks of Government-Paid Paternity Leave (GPPL)
Current scheme:
Eligible working fathers are currently entitled to two weeks of GPPL. They may take an additional two weeks of GPPL if their employers allow it.
Employers who voluntarily grant this additional leave are reimbursed by the Government.
Improved scheme:
Starting 1 April 2025, the additional two weeks of GPPL will become mandatory. Fathers of Singaporean children born on or after this date will be entitled to a total of four weeks of GPPL.
Fathers are encouraged to fully utilise this leave to care for their newborns and support their wives.
New Shared Parental Leave (SPL) scheme
Current scheme:
Under the existing SPL scheme, a working mother can transfer up to four weeks of her 16 weeks of Government-Paid Maternity Leave (GPML) to her husband. This current SPL scheme will be discontinued from 1 April 2025.
Improved scheme:
The new SPL scheme, effective from 1 April 2025, will offer 10 weeks of paid parental leave that can be shared between both parents. It will be rolled out in two phases to help employers adjust:
- Phase one: From 1 April 2025, eligible parents of Singaporean children will be entitled to 6 weeks of SPL.
- Phase two: From 1 April 2026, the entitlement will increase to 10 weeks of SPL.
This new SPL scheme is in addition to the existing GPML and GPPL entitlements, encouraging both parents to take an active role in their infant's care.
Here are some of the key features of the new SPL scheme:
- Leave consumption:
- The SPL must be used within the first 12 months of the child’s birth.
- Parents should agree with their employers on the leave arrangement. If no agreement is reached, SPL can be taken in a continuous block (after GPML or GPPL) within the first 26 weeks of the child’s birth.
- Leave distribution:
- By default, SPL will be equally divided between both parents: three weeks each for babies born between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026, and five weeks each for babies born from 1 April 2026 onwards.
- Parents may reallocate SPL based on what best suits their family's needs. Any changes to the leave sharing arrangement must be made within four weeks after the child’s birth. Changes after this period require mutual agreement between parents and employers.
- Government payment:
- All 10 weeks of SPL will be government-paid, capped at S$2,500 per week (approximately S$10,000 per month).
Working parents with irregular employment arrangements, such as short-term contract workers, are still eligible for parental leave benefits, under the new Shared Parental Leave Benefit (SPB) scheme.
As part of this scheme, eligible parents can claim reimbursement from the government for time taken off work to care for their infants. With effect from 1 April 2025, parents will have six weeks of leave to share between them, increasing to 10 weeks from 1 April 2026.
This flexible arrangement will allow both parents to participate in caregiving, regardless of their work situation.
Balancing employers' needs in the process
Since parents may be away from work for extended periods, the government is introducing a minimum four-week notice period that employees must give to their employers before taking leave under any parental leave scheme. However, parents are encouraged to inform their employers as early as possible when expecting a child to allow time for necessary operational adjustments.
Specifically for the new SPL scheme, any changes to how the leave is shared between parents must be decided within four weeks of the child’s birth. After which, changes will require employer approval, giving businesses early notice to plan accordingly.
Employers can use existing grants and resources to improve HR and manpower planning, helping them adapt to these changes, and the government will continue working with Tripartite Partners to support employers during this transition.
Once the new SPL scheme is fully implemented on 1 April 2026, parents will have a total of 30 weeks of paid leave to spend with their infants.
In addition, the government will be piloting infant childminding services and increasing centre-based infant care places to support caregiving.
Finally, effective 1 December 2024, the Tripartite Guidelines on Flexible Work Arrangement (FWA) Requests will take effect, allowing working parents to request flexible work arrangements to better manage their caregiving duties.
These initiatives are part of a broader effort to support marriage and parenthood, aiming to create a more family-friendly Singapore, it was highlighted.
Following the announcement, Senior Minister of State for Manpower Zaqy Mohamad, shared in a Facebook post: "PM Wong called for a "major reset"—not just in policies but also in our attitudes, encouraging a Singapore where people can thrive on their own terms while supporting one another,
"He pledged to care for various groups, including the elderly, families, and lower-income households, and asked for the people's support in navigating a new path amid an uncertain global landscape."
As Singapore embarks on the next chapter of its story, he added, Singaporeans must confront new challenges together, including geopolitical tensions, rapid technological advancements, and climate change.
Alongside the above, the NPTD has shared a set of frequently asked questions for employers to note:
Q. Will parents qualify for the enhancements if their baby’s estimated date of delivery (EDD) is on or after 1 April 2025, but the baby is born before 1 April 2025?
Yes. Parents of babies with EDDs on or after 1 April 2025, but who were born before 1 April 2025, will also qualify for the enhancements.
Q. There is a minimum notice period of four weeks that employees will be required to serve before consuming their parental leave entitlements. What happens if parents do not give sufficient notice?
Employers have the discretion to not grant leave requested without sufficient notice, if they are unable to make the necessary covering arrangements in time. For GPPL, Adoption Leave, and the new SPL, they may request for parents to defer or adjust their leave plans.
As GPML must commence latest by the child’s date of birth, mothers who do not give sufficient notice cannot defer their maternity leave.
However, these mothers will be entitled to receive only half of their gross rate of pay during maternity leave, unless there is sufficient reason for why notice could not be given (e.g., premature birth).
Q. How can parents change their SPL sharing arrangement? Is there a deadline to decide the sharing arrangement?
Eligible working parents will be able to view their SPL allocation on the LifeSG website or app. Parents have the flexibility to reallocate the SPL and submit changes to their sharing arrangement within the first four weeks of their child’s birth via LifeSG.
After the first four weeks of their child’s birth, parents who wish to change their sharing arrangement can only do so if they have obtained their employers’ agreement.
Q. How will employers be able to verify their employee’s leave entitlement? Will there be a system for employers to check leave sharing arrangements? If so, when will the system be ready?
Employers will be able to check their employees’ leave sharing arrangement via the Ministry of Social and Family Development's (MSF) Government-Paid Leave Schemes (GPLS) portal from 1 April 2025, similar to how employers currently do so for the current SPL scheme.
The system will be designed such that each couple can only submit leave sharing arrangements that add up to 6 weeks (from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026) or 10 weeks (from 1 April 2026 onwards).
Employers are encouraged to discuss with their employees and verify the leave arrangements in MSF’s GPLS portal, to ensure that the leave is taken in accordance with the leave sharing arrangement indicated by their employees.
ALSO READ: NDR 2024: 3 new initiatives for employers & HR leaders in Singapore to note
Lead image / SMS for Manpower Zaqy Mohamad's Facebook
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