Childcare leave gives working parents in Singapore paid days off to care for young children, in addition to annual leave. Entitlement depends on the child's age and citizenship and on the parent's length of service with the employer.
Two tiers
Parents of Singapore citizen children receive a higher entitlement, with the government funding a portion of the days beyond an employer-funded initial allocation. Parents of non-citizen children receive a smaller entitlement funded entirely by the employer. A separate extended entitlement covers parents of children with particular needs, and unpaid infant care leave exists alongside it.
- Requires a minimum period of continuous service to qualify
- Entitlement is per parent per year, not per child
- Employer-funded and government-funded portions are claimed differently
Why it matters when hiring internationally
This is a distinct statutory leave type that companies applying a global leave policy tend not to have. Because the entitlement and funding split turn on the child's citizenship, two employees in the same office can have different entitlements, and the reimbursement process for government-funded days is an employer administrative task rather than an automatic offset.