Plans to Revise Minimum Annual Leave Entitlement in Section 88A of Employment Act

23 Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis asked the Minister for Manpower (a) whether there are any plans to revise section 88A of the Employment Act, which provides for a minimum annual leave entitlement of seven days; and (b) if not, why.

Dr Tan See Leng: Under the Employment Act, employees are entitled to a minimum of seven days of annual leave in their first year of service. This increases by one day per year of service with the employer up to a minimum entitlement of 14 days. Employers may provide more annual leave days to their employees than statutorily required. In 2024, over 90% of full-time resident employees aged 25 to 64 had more than seven days of annual leave, and 68.2% had 15 days or more of annual leave.

Annual leave entitlements must be seen alongside other entitlements that similarly support employees in balancing their work and personal needs. These include paid public holidays, sick leave and parental leave. Besides employees' needs, reviews of leave entitlements must also take into account the impact on business costs.

As part of the ongoing review of the Employment Act, tripartite partners will consider the statutory employment provisions holistically to strike the right balance between protections for workers and costs for businesses.