Annual Leave

Not all employees are statutorily entitled to annual leave under the Employment Act (the EA). An employee is entitled to annual leave if they meet two requirements:

  1. They are covered by Part IV of the EA*; and
  2. They have served the employer for at least three months.

*Part IV of the EA only applies to:

  1. Workmen earning no more than $4,500 basic monthly salary; and
  2. Other employees, covered under the EA, earning not more than $2,600 basic monthly salary

An employee’s entitlement to annual leave under Part IV is dependent on the duration of their employment, increasing by 1 day per year from 7 days in the first year to a maximum of 14 days from the eighth year onwards. An employee who has been in service for less than 12 months but more than three is entitled to pro-rated leave calculated based on the number of months worked.

As leave cycles and entitlements on the system are based on employees’ appointment dates, please ensure that these are entered correctly. For more information about how to enter / change an employee’s date of appointment, please go to:

For more information about annual leave, please see the MOM website.

Please note: The above discussion relates to the statutorily mandated minimum annual leave conditions. Employers are free to agree to more favourable leave terms when negotiating employment contracts as well as to extend annual leave to those employees who fall outside the ambit of Part IV.