Shared Parental Leave Singapore: What Employers Must Do

Shared parental leave in Singapore gives eligible working parents of a Singapore citizen child born on or after 1 April 2026 a pool of 10 weeks to share, on top of maternity and paternity leave (6 weeks for births from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026). The employer keeps paying the employee as usual, agrees how and when the weeks are taken, and claims back the weeks allocated to that employee, capped at S$2,500 a week, no later than three months after the leave ends.

Small firms slip on the details: who decides the split, what happens without agreement on dates, and why unused weeks vanish.

Who qualifies for shared parental leave?

MOM sets three conditions for an employee:

1. The child is a Singapore citizen. MSF adds that a child who becomes a citizen within 12 months of birth counts, but SPL starts only after citizenship.
2. Three months' continuous service with you before the birth.
3. Parental status. All mothers qualify. A father qualifies if he is or was lawfully married to the mother at some point between conception and birth, or within 12 months of the birth.

The parent's own nationality is not among MOM's conditions; its paternity leave FAQ confirms a permanent resident or foreign father qualifies for Government-Paid Paternity Leave if the child is a citizen. MOM's SPL FAQs we opened have no equivalent answer.

A new hire with under three months' service? MOM's service FAQ says you may still be reimbursed if they worked for you on the date of birth, you agree to the leave, and SPL has not been claimed for the child.

To check eligibility, MOM's verification FAQ lets you use MSF's declaration form or your own form. MSF says it is not submitted with the claim, so keep it on file.

How is the 10 weeks split between parents?

The parents decide, not the employer. MSF says LifeSG allocates half to each parent by default, so 5 weeks each under the 10-week scheme. They can reallocate it:

• Within 4 weeks of the birth: freely, with no employer documents.
• After 4 weeks: only with the employer's written agreement; you then verify the new split on the Government-Paid Leave portal.

In MSF's example, a father switched from 2 weeks of SPL to 6 in the third week after the birth, and neither employer had to agree to the new split. Check the portal rather than the original plan.

When must it be taken, and what if you cannot agree?

Each parent uses maternity, paternity or adoption leave first, then SPL, says MOM's order FAQ. Both parents may be on leave at once: MOM's FAQ on overlapping leave says a father can take SPL during the mother's maternity leave.

Two routes:

• By agreement with you: one block or several smaller ones, even a few days at a time (MOM's FAQ on days), any time within 12 months of the birth.
• Without agreement: one continuous block immediately after maternity or paternity leave, within 26 weeks of the birth, after 4 weeks' notice. You can waive or shorten the notice.

Refusing a flexible plan does not cancel the leave; it only fixes the timing.

What does the employer pay, and what comes back?

MOM's pay FAQ is direct: keep paying salary as though the employee were at work, then claim through the Government-Paid Leave portal. You need not pay above the S$2,500 weekly cap, though you may.

MSF sets the cap per working day as S$2,500 divided by the working days in the employee's week. You may claim for leave already taken without waiting for the rest, and make several claims, but each within 3 months of the last date of the employee's SPL.

Paternity leave works alike. MOM's paternity leave page (updated 5 February 2026) reimburses all 4 weeks for a child born on or after 1 April 2025, capped at S$2,500 a week or S$10,000 in total, counted as 4 weeks times the working days in the employee's week (up to 6). Dismissing an employee during paternity leave is an offence; MOM's SPL page states no equivalent rule, and we did not verify one.

For maternity leave you still pay the first 8 of 16 weeks for a first or second child. Our childcare leave guide covers the leave changes announced at the 2026 National Day Rally.

A worked timeline for a small firm (illustrative)

A fictional 22-person interior design firm in Kallang employs Hafiz, a project coordinator on a five-day week earning S$4,800 a month. His wife Nurul works elsewhere. Their baby is due on 11 January 2027, so the 10-week scheme applies.

• By 14 December 2026: Hafiz gives 4 weeks' notice of paternity leave; the firm records his declaration.
• 11 January 2027: the baby is born; once the birth is registered on LifeSG, each parent is allocated 5 weeks of SPL by default.
• Within 4 weeks: Nurul moves a week to Hafiz, giving him 6. The office manager checks the portal.
• After the birth: 4 weeks of paternity leave (20 working days), then 4 weeks of SPL.
• The last 2 weeks: by agreement, single Fridays in a quieter project phase. Our reading of MSF's per-day cap is that this is 10 days; confirm on the portal.
• Claims: filed after each block, each inside 3 months.
• 10 January 2028: the last day any SPL can be used, the day before the first birthday.

On our arithmetic a week of Hafiz's salary is about S$1,108 (S$4,800 × 12 ÷ 52), well under the cap. A senior designer on S$13,000 a month earns about S$3,000 a week, so paying in full would leave about S$500 a week unreimbursed. The top-up is optional; check the employment contract first. These sums set salary alone against the cap; we have not verified how employer CPF contributions are treated in the reimbursement, so estimate it with MSF's reimbursement calculator for employers on the portal before budgeting.

What happens to unused leave or on resignation?

Unused SPL cannot be encashed, says MOM's encashment FAQ, and an employee who leaves loses any remaining weeks with no payment in lieu (FAQ on leaving). SPL taken during a resignation notice counts towards the notice but cannot shorten it (notice FAQ; see our notice period guide). A new employer who lets a hire use leftover weeks is not reimbursed (FAQ on new employers).

A year-end check: staff with children born in late 2025 are on the 6-week scheme, and by MSF's rule a child born on 10 December 2025 gives a last day of 9 December 2026. Ask before December's roster closes.

An HR checklist for each expected birth

1. Diarise the due date and the notice date 4 weeks before leave starts.
2. Record the eligibility declaration.
3. After the birth, check the sharing arrangement on the portal, and again if anything changes.
4. Agree in writing one block or several, with dates, or note that the default applies.
5. Claim after each block, inside 3 months of its last day.
6. Record the day before the first birthday as the last SPL date in your payroll or HR software, and remind the employee before it.

More guides on staff matters are under operations.

Common questions