Sun Xueling on Child Development Co-Savings (Amendment) Bill
A Bill was put up for debate in Parliament on Wednesday (Nov 13), to give effect to enhancements to Government-paid paternity leave and shared parental leave schemes. From April 2025, an additional two weeks of paternity leave, which is currently voluntary, will be mandated. The current shared parental leave will be replaced with a new scheme giving couples 10 weeks of paid parental leave to be shared between them. To give employers more time to adjust, the new shared parental leave will be implemented in two phases, starting with six weeks from 1 April 2025 and increasing to 10 weeks a year later. Each parent will be allocated half of the entitlement as a default, though this can be varied to give parents flexibility, with provisions for obtaining employers’ agreement. The Government will pay for all 10 weeks of the shared parental leave, up to a reimbursement cap of S$2,500 per week. Employers can use the wage savings to hire temporary staff or make other operational adjustments while their employee is away. There will also be new notice period requirements and employment protections which seek to balance the needs of employers and employees. Employees will have to inform employers at least four weeks before taking continuous maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave. It will be unlawful for an employer to dismiss or give notice of dismissal to employees on paternity or adoption leave - the same protection given to women on maternity leave. However, this will not apply to parents on shared parental leave. Meanwhile, the reimbursement limit of S$2,500 a week for employers will be implemented on a per-parent basis. This is to ensure parity on the amount of Government-paid leave granted to all parents, regardless of how many employers they have or whether they are both employed and self-employed. Speaking in the House, Minister of State for Social and Family Development Sun Xueling described the enhancements as significant steps that the Government is taking to normalise paternal involvement in child-raising and provide both parents with greater support in caring for their infants together.
A Bill was put up for debate in Parliament on Wednesday (Nov 13), to give effect to enhancements to Government-paid paternity leave and shared parental leave schemes. From April 2025, an additional two weeks of paternity leave, which is currently voluntary, will be mandated. The current shared parental leave will be replaced with a new scheme giving couples 10 weeks of paid parental leave to be shared between them. To give employers more time to adjust, the new shared parental leave will be implemented in two phases, starting with six weeks from 1 April 2025 and increasing to 10 weeks a year later. Each parent will be allocated half of the entitlement as a default, though this can be varied to give parents flexibility, with provisions for obtaining employers’ agreement. The Government will pay for all 10 weeks of the shared parental leave, up to a reimbursement cap of S$2,500 per week. Employers can use the wage savings to hire temporary staff or make other operational adjustments while their employee is away. There will also be new notice period requirements and employment protections which seek to balance the needs of employers and employees. Employees will have to inform employers at least four weeks before taking continuous maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave. It will be unlawful for an employer to dismiss or give notice of dismissal to employees on paternity or adoption leave - the same protection given to women on maternity leave. However, this will not apply to parents on shared parental leave. Meanwhile, the reimbursement limit of S$2,500 a week for employers will be implemented on a per-parent basis. This is to ensure parity on the amount of Government-paid leave granted to all parents, regardless of how many employers they have or whether they are both employed and self-employed. Speaking in the House, Minister of State for Social and Family Development Sun Xueling described the enhancements as significant steps that the Government is taking to normalise paternal involvement in child-raising and provide both parents with greater support in caring for their infants together.
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