Job ad salary ranges must not be too wide

IMPACT – HIGH

What is the change? The Ministry of Manpower has released more details on new job advertising rules beginning Oct. 1 requiring employers to publish salary ranges for job vacancies.

What does the change mean? The published maximum salary must not be more than 1.5 to 2 times the minimum salary.

• Implementation time frame: Oct. 1.
• Visas/permits affected:Employment passes.
• Who is affected:Employers sponsoring foreign workers for employment passes.
• Business impact: If an employment pass application is rejected, the employer must re-advertise the job vacancy for another 14 days before they can resubmit the employment pass application.
• Next steps:Companies must make sure they meet the salary range limitations in publishing  job advertisements to avoid rejection of employment pass applications.

Background: The ministry has announced that the published salary must not have a wide range and that the maximum salary should not exceed 1.5 to 2 times the minimum salary. Employment pass applications will be rejected if the supporting job advertisements do not satisfy the requirements under the Fair Consideration Framework.

Companies with fewer than 25 employees continue to be exempt from the advertising requirements.

BAL Analysis: The ministry is further tightening the application process for foreign nationals. Companies may find these boundaries more challenging, as the ministry has now made clear that salary ranges that are too wide will lead to rejection of employment pass applications.

This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice group in Singapore. For additional information, please contact singapore@bal.com.

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