At a glance
- The Ministry of Manpower has announced two upcoming changes to salary criteria for Employment Pass (EP) applications.
- The minimum qualifying monthly salary for an EP will be increase to SGD5,600 (non-financial services sector) and SGD6,200 (financial services sector) respectively for applicants aged 23 years old. There are corresponding increases for applicants aged 45 years old and above – increasing to SGD10,700 (non-financial services sector) and SGD11,800 (financial services sector) respectively. This will take effect from 1 January 2025 for new applications, and from 1 January 2026 for renewal applications.
- The Ministry of Manpower has also updated the salary benchmarking table for the Complementary Assessment Framework (COMPASS). This will take effect from 1 January 2025 for new applications, and from 1 July 2025 for renewal applications.
- Employers must ensure that salaries offered to EP holders (both new and existing) meet the new minimum requirements.
The Ministry of Manpower has announced upcoming changes to salary benchmarks for Employment Pass (EP) applications. As the changes will impact both new applications and renewals, employers should consider carrying out an audit of the salaries currently being offered to existing EP holders to determine whether any steps need to be taken to ensure there will be no impact on renewal applications eg salary increments.
Increased EP minimum qualifying salary
The minimum qualifying monthly salary for an EP will be raised from the current salary threshold of SGD5,000 (for the non-financial services sector) and SGD5,500 (for the financial services sector) to SGD5,600 (non-financial services sector) and SGD6,200 (financial services sector) respectively for applicants aged 23 years old.
The minimum qualifying monthly salary increases progressively with age, and will be raised from the current salary threshold of SGD10,500 (non-financial services sector) and SGD11,500 (financial services sector) to SGD10,700 (non-financial services sector) and SGD11,800 (financial services sector) respectively for applicants aged 45 years old and above.
The revised EP qualifying salary will take effect from 1 January 2025 for new EP applications, and from 1 January 2026 for EP renewal applications.
New salary benchmarks set for EP applications
The latest salary benchmarking table for the Complementary Assessment Framework (COMPASS) has been released by the Ministry of Manpower. COMPASS is a points-based system which is used for all EP applications. The updated table will apply to all new EP applications from 1 January 2025 and all renewals from 1 July 2025. However, any applications made until 31 December 2024, and renewals until 30 June 2025, will continue to use the current benchmarks table set in May 2023.
Under COMPASS, an EP applicant can obtain between 10-20 points depending on their salary level. However, if a salary does not meet the requirements set under COMPASS, then an applicant would have to earn points through other criteria to either apply for an EP or renew an EP. It is the employer's responsibility to ensure that a foreign employee's salary meets the minimum salary requirements outlined in the COMPASS benchmarking table, which can be found here: c1-salary-benchmarks-upcoming.pdf (mom.gov.sg).
Updates to the salary benchmarking table take place annually, and consequently, employers should be aware of the changes as they come into effect.
