Singapore | Salary benchmark update released

Singaporean officials released the upcoming salary benchmarking table as part of the first round of annual updates to its Complementarity Assessment Framework (COMPASS) criteria.

Key Points:

• As BAL previously reported, the updates were postponed in May. The Ministry of Manpower has now released the upcoming salary benchmarking table for the points-based COMPASS evaluation system.
• The COMPASS system is applicable for all Employment Pass (EP) applications. The upcoming table applies to initial EP applications filed after Jan. 1, 2025, and renewal applications filed after July 1, 2025.
• The last salary benchmark update occurred in May 2023, when the current benchmarks table was set. The current table applies to initial EP applications filed before Dec. 31, 2024, and renewal applications filed after Sept. 1, 2024, but before June 30, 2025.

Additional Information: Candidates need to pass the points-based COMPASS system in addition to meeting the qualifying salary to obtain an EP. Further details on how EP applications are evaluated can be found here. A candidate’s fixed monthly salary is compared to salary benchmarks by sector. To earn points under the COMPASS salary criterion (category C1), employers must ensure that their foreign employees meet the minimum salary requirements specified in the COMPASS benchmarking table. The system rewards zero, 10 or 20 points for each category. The required fixed monthly salary for candidates increases progressively with age, and the full list of organization sector classifications can be found here.

This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice Group.

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