How many days off are you owed by law?
Pick your year of service to see the paid annual leave and sick leave the Employment Act guarantees, and how much more than that people really get (MOM data).
Which year of service are you in?
Pick it and the annual leave, sick leave and part-year sections below change with it. The rules for 3 months or more of service, and the figures on what people really get, are the same for everyone.
What does the Employment Act give you in your 1st year of service?
Paid annual leave the Employment Act guarantees if it covers you and you have worked at least 3 months (MOM). Hover or tap a bar to see the rule behind it.
At least 7 days of annual leave, and up to 14 days of sick leave once you have worked 6 months
a year in your 1st year of service. Until you have worked a full year it is worked out month by month, from your 3rd month (see below).
of outpatient sick leave a year with a medical certificate, and up to 60 days if you are in hospital. The 60 includes the 14.
In your 1st year of service the law gives you at least 7 days of paid annual leave. The minimum rises by 1 day for each year of service, to 14 days from your 8th year.
How much paid sick leave do you get?
Two kinds, paid at your gross rate of pay. Hospitalisation leave is not on top of outpatient leave: the 60 days include the 14.
If you use all 14 outpatient days in a year, 46 days of hospitalisation leave are left (60 minus 14).
In your first 6 months it builds up: nothing before your 3rd month, then 5 outpatient days after 3 months, 8 after 4 and 11 after 5. The full 14 days, and 60 in hospital, start at 6 months.
In your 1st year of service you get up to 14 days of paid outpatient sick leave and up to 60 days of hospitalisation leave once you have worked 6 months, and the most is 60 days, not 74.
How many days do you get if you have worked less than a year?
Annual leave is worked out by completed months of service, starting from your 3rd month, even while you are on probation. Our sums, using MOM's formula.
After 3 months you have 2 days of annual leave and 5 days of outpatient sick leave; after 6 months you have 4 days of annual leave and the full 14 sick days; after a full year you have the full 7 days of annual leave.
What catches people out?
Six rules from MOM that are the same whatever your year of service.
Fall sick on annual leave?
MOM says you are not eligible for paid sick leave on annual leave days, public holidays, rest days or other non-working days, and you cannot claim the consultation fee for them.
Tell your employer within 48 hours.
If you cannot come in to work, the Employment Act expects you to inform your employer, or try to, within 48 hours, and to hand in your medical certificate when you are back.
A half day can cost a whole day.
By default MOM counts leave on a half working day as a full day of leave. Your employer may choose to count it as half a day, so check your company policy.
Unused annual leave.
For employees covered by Part 4 of the Act (workmen on a basic salary of $4,500 a month or less, non-workmen on $2,600 or less), unused leave carries forward for 12 months. For everyone else the contract decides, and so does cashing it in.
Skip work without a reason.
MOM says statutory annual leave can be forfeited if you are absent without permission or a reasonable excuse for more than 20% of working days in the month or year, or if you are dismissed for misconduct.
Who pays the doctor.
Your employer must pay the consultation fee when the visit gives you at least one day of paid sick leave and the certificate comes from a public institution or a doctor your company appointed.
Do people get more than the law gives?
Share of full-time employees by paid annual leave from their employer, 2024 (MOM Conditions of Employment Survey: private firms with 25 or more employees, and the public sector). "14 days or fewer" includes people with no fixed number of days, so it is not the same as "the legal minimum".
In 2024, 79 in every 100 rank-and-file employees had 14 days of annual leave or fewer, against 28 in every 100 managers and executives.
Does it depend on your industry?
The same survey, 2024, for 18 industry groups. Listed by group and A to Z, not ranked. Hover or tap a bar for the exact share.
Across the 18 industry groups, the share of full-time employees with 14 days or fewer ran from 8 in every 100 to 91 in every 100 in 2024, so the leave you get depends a lot on where you work.
More finds
The short version
Singapore's Employment Act guarantees at least 7 days of paid annual leave in your first year of service, rising by 1 day a year to 14 from your 8th, plus up to 14 days of paid outpatient sick leave and up to 60 days of hospitalisation leave (the 60 includes the 14); in 2024, 79 in every 100 rank-and-file employees had 14 days of annual leave or fewer, against 28 in every 100 managers and executives (MOM).
The law sets a floor, not a typical figure. If the Employment Act covers you and you have worked 3 months, you get paid annual leave: 7 days in your 1st year of service, 8 in your 2nd, 9 in your 3rd, and so on to 14 days from your 8th year. Before a full year, or part-way through a later year, it is worked out as completed months ÷ 12 × your days, with a half or more rounded up (for example, 4 months at 10 days a year is 3.33, so 3 days). Probation does not change that.
Sick leave is separate from annual leave. After 6 months you get up to 14 days of paid outpatient sick leave a year, with a medical certificate, and up to 60 days of paid hospitalisation leave. The 60 includes the 14, so if you use all 14 you have 46 left, and the most is 60, not 74. In your first 6 months it builds up from your 3rd month (5 outpatient days at 3 months). You tell your employer within 48 hours. You cannot claim paid sick leave on days that are already annual leave, public holidays or rest days.
What people actually get depends on the job. MOM's 2024 survey of private firms with 25 or more employees and the public sector found 79 in every 100 full-time rank-and-file employees on 14 days of annual leave or fewer, against 28 in every 100 managers and executives, and 14 days or fewer across industry groups ran from 8 to 91 in every 100. That group includes people with no fixed number of days, so it is not the same as "at the legal minimum". MOM also told Parliament that in 2024 over 90 in every 100 full-time resident employees aged 25 to 64 had more than 7 days and 68.2% had 15 or more. That is a different group, so the two sets of figures do not add up.
Your contract can give you more than the law, and it decides things the law leaves open, such as cashing in unused leave. This page is not legal advice. The rules are as MOM lists them on 14 Oct 2026, and MOM is reviewing the Employment Act, so check MOM before you rely on a number.
By Ben (opens in a new tab). Updated . Data: MOM and data.gov.sg.
Questions people ask
How many days of annual leave am I entitled to in Singapore?
If the Employment Act covers you and you have worked at least 3 months, the law gives you at least 7 days of paid annual leave in your 1st year of service, 8 in your 2nd, 9 in your 3rd, 10 in your 4th, 11 in your 5th, 12 in your 6th, 13 in your 7th and 14 from your 8th year (MOM). Your employer can give more, and the figures below show that many do.
How many days of paid sick leave do I get in Singapore?
After 6 months of service, up to 14 days of paid outpatient sick leave a year and up to 60 days of paid hospitalisation leave, and the 60 includes the 14 (MOM). For outpatient sick leave a registered medical or dental practitioner must certify you unfit for work. In your first 6 months it builds up from your 3rd month: 5 outpatient days (15 in hospital) at 3 months, 8 (30) at 4 and 11 (45) at 5.
Is hospitalisation leave on top of outpatient sick leave?
No. MOM says paid hospitalisation leave is not an extension of outpatient sick leave: the 60 days include the 14. If you have already taken 14 days of outpatient sick leave in a year, you can take up to 46 more days of hospitalisation leave.
When can I start taking annual leave?
After you have worked 3 months. MOM says you can only apply for annual leave after 3 months with your employer.
How is annual leave worked out if I have worked less than a year?
Completed months of service ÷ 12 × your days of annual leave. A fraction below one half rounds down and one half or more rounds up. MOM's own example is 4 completed months at 10 days a year, which is 3.33 days, so 3 days. In your 1st year (7 days) that gives 2 days at 3 months, 4 days at 6 months and 7 days at 12 months (our sums). MOM says this applies even during probation, and periods of approved unpaid leave are left out.
Do I need a medical certificate for paid sick leave?
For outpatient sick leave, yes: a registered medical or dental practitioner must certify you unfit for work. You must also tell your employer within 48 hours, or try to, and hand in the certificate when you return (MOM).
Can I take paid sick leave when I am on annual leave?
No. MOM says you are not eligible for paid sick leave on annual leave days, public holidays, rest days or non-working days, and you cannot claim the consultation fee for them.
Does a half-day off count as a full day of annual leave?
By default, yes. MOM says leave on a half working day counts as a full day of leave, but your employer can choose to count it as half a day, so check your company policy. A Saturday counts as a full day.
What happens to my unused annual leave?
For employees covered by Part 4 of the Employment Act (workmen with a basic salary of $4,500 a month or less and non-workmen on $2,600 or less), unused leave carries forward for 12 months. For everyone else, and for leave above the legal minimum, your contract decides whether it can be carried forward, cashed in or lost. MOM says there is no statutory right to cash it in.
Who does the Employment Act cover?
Employees working under a contract of service, local or foreign, including full-time, part-time, temporary and contract staff. MOM says it does not cover seafarers, domestic workers, and statutory board employees or civil servants, whose terms are set in their contracts. Managers and executives are generally covered as employees, although Part 4 of the Act does not cover all of them.
Do most people get more than the minimum annual leave?
It depends on the job. In MOM's 2024 survey, 79 in every 100 full-time rank-and-file employees had 14 days or fewer, against 28 in every 100 managers and executives. That group includes people with no fixed number of days, so we cannot say how many get exactly the minimum. MOM also told Parliament that in 2024 over 90 in every 100 full-time resident employees aged 25 to 64 had more than 7 days and 68.2% had 15 or more. That counts a different group, and we do not know why the two differ.
Will the minimum annual leave go up?
MOM told Parliament in 2025 that the unions, employers and government are reviewing the Employment Act's statutory provisions together, and it gave no new figure. We found no announced change to the 7-to-14-day minimum.
Which year does this page cover?
The rules are as MOM lists them on 14 Oct 2026. The survey figures are for 2024 (June 2024), the latest in a survey that runs every two years from 2008. The first-year sums are ours.
The numbers behind it
| Year of service | Days of paid annual leave a year |
|---|---|
| 1st year | 7 |
| 2nd year | 8 |
| 3rd year | 9 |
| 4th year | 10 |
| 5th year | 11 |
| 6th year | 12 |
| 7th year | 13 |
| 8th year and after | 14 |
| Completed months | 1st year | 2nd year | 3rd year | 4th year | 5th year | 6th year | 7th year | 8th year and after |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 months | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 months | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 3 months | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| 4 months | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| 5 months | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 |
| 6 months | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
| 7 months | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 |
| 8 months | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 |
| 9 months | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 10 months | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 11 months | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| 12 months | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| Months of service completed | Paid outpatient sick leave (days) | Paid hospitalisation leave (days) |
|---|---|---|
| Under 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | 5 | 15 |
| 4 | 8 | 30 |
| 5 | 11 | 45 |
| 6 and after | 14 | 60 |
| Year | Rank-and-file: 14 days or fewer | Rank-and-file: 15 to 21 days | Rank-and-file: over 21 days | Managers and executives: 14 days or fewer | Managers and executives: 15 to 21 days | Managers and executives: over 21 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 75.4% | 21.3% | 3.3% | 29.9% | 50.3% | 19.8% |
| 2010 | 76.2% | 20.0% | 3.8% | 29.9% | 48.5% | 21.6% |
| 2012 | 77.7% | 19.5% | 2.8% | 28.7% | 49.6% | 21.7% |
| 2014 | 77.3% | 19.2% | 3.5% | 27.4% | 50.9% | 21.7% |
| 2016 | 76.8% | 19.8% | 3.4% | 25.3% | 52.3% | 22.4% |
| 2018 | 70.8% | 24.8% | 4.4% | 24.0% | 51.5% | 24.5% |
| 2020 | 75.0% | 22.1% | 2.9% | 25.1% | 49.3% | 25.6% |
| 2022 | 75.2% | 21.3% | 3.5% | 27.8% | 49.6% | 22.6% |
| 2024 | 79.0% | 18.3% | 2.7% | 28.4% | 49.8% | 21.7% |
| Industry | 14 days or fewer | 15 to 21 days | Over 21 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing: Electronic, computer and optical products | 35.2% | 54.3% | 10.4% |
| Manufacturing: Fabricated metal products, machinery and equipment | 67.3% | 29.6% | 3.1% |
| Manufacturing: Food, beverages and tobacco | 84.9% | 13.7% | 1.4% |
| Manufacturing: Other manufacturing industries | 68.2% | 28.8% | 3.0% |
| Manufacturing: Paper/rubber/plastic products and printing | 59.4% | 21.5% | 19.1% |
| Manufacturing: Petroleum, chemical and pharmaceutical products | 35.8% | 53.5% | 10.7% |
| Manufacturing: Transport equipment | 66.8% | 31.7% | 1.5% |
| Construction (all) | 90.7% | 7.4% | 1.9% |
| Services: Accommodation and food services | 84.2% | 15.2% | 0.6% |
| Services: Administrative and support services | 81.6% | 15.8% | 2.6% |
| Services: Community, social and personal services | 44.4% | 40.1% | 15.5% |
| Services: Financial and insurance services | 8.2% | 30.8% | 61.0% |
| Services: Information and communications | 23.5% | 67.2% | 9.3% |
| Services: Professional services | 47.7% | 43.5% | 8.8% |
| Services: Real estate services | 70.4% | 26.7% | 2.9% |
| Services: Transportation and storage | 57.2% | 34.1% | 8.7% |
| Services: Wholesale and retail trade | 49.3% | 41.8% | 8.8% |
| Others (all) | 68.2% | 24.5% | 7.4% |
| Item | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Who gets annual leave | Covered by the Employment Act and worked at least 3 months | MOM, annual leave eligibility and entitlement |
| Pro-rating | Completed months ÷ 12 × days; below one half rounds down, one half or more rounds up; unpaid leave left out | MOM, annual leave eligibility and entitlement |
| Sick leave | Up to 14 days outpatient, up to 60 days hospitalisation (includes the 14), from 6 months of service | MOM, sick leave eligibility and entitlement |
| Telling your employer | Within 48 hours | MOM, sick leave eligibility and entitlement |
| Sick on annual leave | No paid sick leave on annual leave, public holidays, rest days or non-working days | MOM, medical reimbursements and salary |
| Half-day leave | A full day of leave by default | MOM, annual leave special situations |
| Part 4 coverage | Workmen on a basic salary of $4,500 a month or less; non-workmen on $2,600 or less | MOM, who is covered by the Employment Act |
| Resident employees, 2024 | Over 90 in every 100 had more than 7 days; 68.2% had 15 or more (full-time resident employees aged 25 to 64) | MOM written reply to Parliament, 2025 |
The boring bit
Where the information comes from
The rules come from MOM's pages on annual leave eligibility and entitlement (opens in a new tab), annual leave in special situations (opens in a new tab), sick leave eligibility and entitlement (opens in a new tab), medical reimbursements and salary during sick leave (opens in a new tab) and who is covered by the Employment Act (opens in a new tab), all read on 14 Oct 2026. The figures for residents aged 25 to 64 are from MOM's written reply to a parliamentary question on the minimum annual leave (opens in a new tab) (2025).
The survey figures are from MOM's Distribution of Full-Time Employees By Annual Leave Entitlement - Type of Employee (opens in a new tab) and Distribution of Full-Time Employees By Annual Leave Entitlement - Industry (Level 2) (opens in a new tab) on data.gov.sg (Conditions of Employment Survey, June 2008 to June 2024, every two years, downloaded 14 Oct 2026). The survey covers private-sector establishments with at least 25 employees and the public sector. Contains information from these datasets accessed on 14 Oct 2026 from data.gov.sg, made available under the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0.
What is not claimed
- This is not legal advice. Whether the Employment Act covers you, and how a rule applies to you, depends on your contract and your job, and MOM decides.
- "14 days or fewer" in the survey includes employees with no fixed number of paid days. It is not a count of people at the legal minimum, and we do not claim how many get exactly 7 or 14 days.
- The survey leaves out firms with fewer than 25 employees. The figures for residents aged 25 to 64 come from a different MOM source and group, so we do not add them to the survey or say why they differ.
- The survey says what employers give, not what staff take. MOM's data.gov.sg sick leave datasets (days taken) were not available when we looked, so the page has no figures on sick days taken.
- The first-year and part-year day counts are our sums from MOM's formula. MOM's page gives one worked example (4 months at 10 days a year gives 3 days), which our formula reproduces.
- We did not read MOM's pages on notice periods, leave when you resign or are dismissed, or parental and childcare leave, so the page says nothing about them.
- We make no claim about whether any employer gives too little or too much leave. Industries are listed by group and A to Z, never ranked.
- Rules can change after the date above. MOM said in 2025 that the Employment Act is under review.
- Nothing here says anything about any person or company.
Coverage
The picker covers all 8 years of service in the law's ladder. The survey files have 54 rows by type of employee (9 survey years, 2 types, 3 groups of days) and 486 rows by industry (9 years, 18 industry groups, 3 groups of days). We use 2024 for the industry chart and all 9 years in the table by type. The "Others" industry group has no figures in 2012, 2014 and 2022 (marked "s" in the file) and we do not use those years for it.
Report an error. Corrections are logged publicly with a date.
How we did it
- Typed the rules. We copied the year-of-service ladder, the new-hire sick leave table and the pro-rating formula from MOM's pages into a small script.
- Downloaded the survey. We saved MOM's two annual leave files from data.gov.sg and kept every row.
- Worked out the shares. We read the 3 groups of days for each type of employee and industry, and added the two upper groups to get "15 days or more" where the page says it.
- Checked the sums. A script re-reads the files with its own loops, checks each group of days adds to 100 (within rounding), and confirms every figure the text states.
- Tested the page. A browser test runs every year-of-service choice at several screen widths.
Show the code
"""Checks for the 'Annual and sick leave in Singapore' insight page. Own loops, nothing imported from the page's build.
(1) Re-works the leave sums the page states (year-of-service ladder, completed-month sums, sick leave) from MOM's rules.
(2) Re-reads MOM's two survey files and checks every survey figure the text states.
Usage: python3 -I check_figures.py leave_by_type.csv leave_by_industry.csv page.html"""
import csv, html, re, sys
page = open(sys.argv[3], encoding='utf-8').read()
text = re.sub(r'<script.*?</script>|<style.*?</style>', ' ', page, flags=re.S)
text = re.sub(r'\s+', ' ', html.unescape(re.sub(r'<[^>]+>', ' ', text)))
def half_up(x): return int(x + 0.5 + 1e-9)
# 1. the rules
ladder = [7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14]
assert ladder == [7 + i for i in range(7)] + [14]
assert half_up(10 * 4 / 12) == 3 # MOM's own worked example: 4 months at 10 days a year = 3.33 -> 3
first_year = {m: half_up(7 * m / 12) for m in range(3, 13)}
assert first_year[3] == 2 and first_year[6] == 4 and first_year[12] == 7
assert 60 - 14 == 46 and 14 + 60 == 74
for s in ('2 days at 3 months', '4 days at 6 months', '7 days at 12 months', '46 more days', 'not 74', '48 hours'):
assert s in text, f'page does not say: {s}'
for d in ladder:
assert f'{d} days' in text
# 2. the survey
def pct_rows(path, keys):
rows = {}
for r in csv.DictReader(open(path, encoding='utf-8')):
v = r['distribution']
if v == 's': continue
rows.setdefault(tuple(r[k] for k in keys), {})[r['annual_leave_entitlement']] = float(v)
return rows
bytype = pct_rows(sys.argv[1], ['year', 'type_of_employee'])
byind = pct_rows(sys.argv[2], ['year', 'industry1', 'industry2'])
for grp, rows in ((bytype, 'type'), (byind, 'industry')):
for k, d in grp.items():
assert len(d) == 3 and abs(sum(d.values()) - 100) <= 0.31, (rows, k, d) # each group adds to 100 within rounding
rf, me = bytype[('2024', 'rank-and-file')], bytype[('2024', 'management and executives')]
lo14, hi14 = '14 days & below', None
for d in (rf, me):
assert lo14 in d
rf14, me14 = round(rf['14 days & below']), round(me['14 days & below'])
assert (rf14, me14) == (79, 28)
assert f'{rf14} in every 100' in text and f'{me14} in every 100' in text
by_year = {y: bytype[(y, 'rank-and-file')]['14 days & below'] for y in sorted({k[0] for k in bytype})}
low = min(by_year, key=by_year.get); rest = [v for y, v in by_year.items() if y != low]
assert low == '2018' and round(by_year[low]) == 71 and (round(min(rest)), round(max(rest))) == (75, 79)
assert 'fewest rank-and-file employees on 14 days or fewer?' in text and '71 in every 100, the lowest of the 9 surveys since 2008. The other 8 ran from 75 to 79' in text
assert '7 + 8 + 9 + 10 + 11 + 12 + 13 + 14 = 84 days' in text and sum(ladder) == 84
ind24 = {k: d for k, d in byind.items() if k[0] == '2024'}
assert len(ind24) == 18, len(ind24)
vals = [d['14 days & below'] for d in ind24.values()]
assert round(min(vals)) == 8 and round(max(vals)) == 91
n_maj = sum(1 for v in vals if v > 50)
assert n_maj == 11 and 'in 11 of the 18 industry groups more than half' in text and '11 of 18' in text
assert 'from 8 in every 100 to 91 in every 100' in text
assert len({k[0] for k in bytype}) == 9
print(f'leave sums agree; survey 2024: {rf14} in 100 rank-and-file and {me14} in 100 managers on 14 days or fewer; '
f'{len(ind24)} industry groups range {round(min(vals))} to {round(max(vals))}. All checks pass.')
What could make this wrong: MOM may change a rule after 14 Oct 2026; the survey is every two years and counts firms with 25 or more employees; and the page is only as current as MOM's pages when we read them.
Source: MOM (Ministry of Manpower) and data.gov.sg, read on 14 Oct 2026.