Employers in Singapore pay a monthly foreign worker levy of between $200 and $900 for every Work Permit or S Pass holder on the payroll, with the exact figure set by sector, the worker’s skill classification, and how heavily the company relies on foreign labor. The charge starts the day the Temporary Work Permit or Work Permit is issued (whichever comes first) and runs until the permit is cancelled or expires.1Ministry of Manpower. Foreign Worker Quota and Levy Requirements The levy is a pricing tool: the more foreign workers you employ relative to locals, the more each one costs.
What Sets Your Rate
Three things decide the number on your monthly bill: your sector, your worker’s skill tier, and where you sit within your foreign worker quota.
The Ministry of Manpower groups employers into five sectors: Construction, Manufacturing, Marine Shipyard, Process, and Services. Each has its own schedule. Within every sector, Higher-Skilled (R1) workers attract a lower levy than Basic-Skilled (R2) workers, and the gap is significant. A higher-skilled construction worker from a traditional source country costs $300 a month; a basic-skilled worker from the same country costs $700.2Ministry of Manpower. Construction Sector Requirements Workers approved without recognized certification default to the basic-skilled rate.
The dependency ratio ceiling caps foreign headcount relative to your total workforce. In services, Work Permit and S Pass holders combined cannot exceed 35% of staff.3Ministry of Manpower. Services Sector – Work Permit Requirements Construction and process employers can hire up to five Work Permit holders per one qualifying local employee.2Ministry of Manpower. Construction Sector Requirements In services and manufacturing, the levy rises in tiers as your foreign share climbs, so your first hires are the cheapest and each additional tier costs more.
Whether a local employee counts toward your quota depends on their pay. A Singaporean or Permanent Resident earning at least $1,600 a month counts as one; between $800 and $1,599 counts as half. From 1 July 2026, the full-count threshold rises to $1,800.4Ministry of Manpower. Local Qualifying Salary If your locals earn between $1,600 and $1,799, your quota entitlement will shrink next year.
Monthly Rates by Sector
Services
- Tier 1 (up to 10% of workforce): $300 higher-skilled, $450 basic-skilled
- Tier 2 (above 10% to 25%): $400 higher-skilled, $600 basic-skilled
- Tier 3 (above 25% to 35%): $600 higher-skilled, $800 basic-skilled
Firms hiring non-traditional source (NTS) Work Permit holders on the NTS Occupation List face an additional 8% sub-DRC and must pay those workers at least $2,000 per month.5Ministry of Manpower. Factsheet on Foreign Workforce Policy Announcements at COS 2026
Manufacturing
- Tier 1 (up to 25%): $250 higher-skilled, $370 basic-skilled
- Tier 2 (above 25% to 50%): $350 higher-skilled, $470 basic-skilled
- Tier 3 (above 50% to 60%): $550 higher-skilled, $650 basic-skilled
Construction
Flat rates, differentiated by source country:
- NTS higher-skilled: $500; NTS basic-skilled: $900
- Malaysia, NAS, PRC higher-skilled: $300; basic-skilled: $700
Workers approved without the required certification are charged $900 regardless of source.2Ministry of Manpower. Construction Sector Requirements
Marine Shipyard
- Higher-skilled: $350
- Basic-skilled: $500
Process
- NTS higher-skilled: $300; NTS basic-skilled: $650
- Malaysia, NAS, PRC higher-skilled: $200; basic-skilled: $450
Basic-skilled rates in process are scheduled to rise in 2028: $600 for Malaysia/NAS/PRC and $800 for NTS.6Ministry of Manpower. Process Sector – Work Permit Requirements
S Pass Holders
Since 1 September 2025, the S Pass levy has been a flat $650 a month across all sectors. The S Pass sub-quota caps these workers at 10% of the workforce in services and 15% in construction, manufacturing, marine shipyard, and process. S Pass holders also count toward the overall dependency ratio ceiling.7Ministry of Manpower. S Pass Quota and Levy Requirements
Partial Months and the Daily Rate
When a worker doesn’t complete a full calendar month, you pay a daily rate. The formula annualizes the monthly figure and divides by 365:
(Monthly levy × 12) ÷ 365 = daily rate, rounded up to the nearest cent.
Multiply that by the days the permit was in force. A higher-skilled Malaysian construction worker on the $300 monthly rate has a daily rate of $9.87; a permit issued on the 20th of a 30-day month produces $9.87 × 11 = $108.57.2Ministry of Manpower. Construction Sector Requirements The daily rate for S Pass holders works out to $21.37.7Ministry of Manpower. S Pass Quota and Levy Requirements
How and When to Pay
Payment is due by the 17th of the month following the employment period. If the 17th lands on a weekend or public holiday, the deadline moves to the next working day. Your levy bill on the MOM portal shows the exact due date.8Ministry of Manpower. Paying the Foreign Worker Levy
MOM’s preferred method is GIRO, which pulls the levy from your bank account automatically each month. You can set it up online through eGIRO if your bank participates, or by mailing a paper application to MOM’s Levy GIRO Team.9Ministry of Manpower. How Do I Apply for GIRO for My Levy Payment Without a GIRO arrangement, you can pay by PayNow QR.8Ministry of Manpower. Paying the Foreign Worker Levy
What Happens If You Pay Late
Miss the deadline and a penalty is charged automatically. The formula is 2% × (1 ÷ days in the month) × unpaid levy × days overdue. If that comes to less than $20, the penalty becomes $20 or 30% of the unpaid levy, whichever is lower.10Ministry of Manpower. How Are Levy Penalty Charges Calculated The charge compounds each month the balance sits unpaid.
The money is only part of it. Miss payments for two consecutive months and MOM revokes your existing Work Permits and S Passes the month after. You’ll also be blocked from applying for or renewing any work pass, and serious cases can lead to legal action to recover the debt.8Ministry of Manpower. Paying the Foreign Worker Levy
When You Can Claim a Waiver
You can apply for a levy waiver when a worker isn’t actually working during a billing period. Each category has its own proof:
- Overseas leave of at least seven consecutive days: no documents needed, capped at 60 calendar days per year.
- Hospitalization leave: a medical certificate from a Singapore-registered doctor showing the worker’s name, FIN, leave period, and doctor’s registration number. Also capped at 60 days per year.
- Police or embassy custody: a letter from the authority confirming the custody period.
- Death: a copy of the death certificate.
- Malaysian worker on National Service: a letter from the Malaysian authority stating the service period, plus the completion certificate.
- Onboard programme attendance: no documents needed; MOM processes this automatically.
Applications must be filed within a year of the relevant levy bill, not a year from the underlying event.11Ministry of Manpower. Apply for Levy Waiver for Migrant Worker Approved waivers become a credit against future bills rather than a refund.
Other Per-Worker Costs
The levy isn’t the whole cost of employing a Work Permit holder. Two separate obligations sit alongside it, and missing either can cost you the permit.
You must post a $5,000 security bond for every non-Malaysian Work Permit holder before they arrive. It takes the form of a banker’s or insurer’s guarantee, and you cannot pass the cost to the worker. The bond is discharged about a week after the permit is cancelled and the worker has left Singapore, provided no conditions were breached. MOM can forfeit the full $5,000 if you fail to pay wages on time, fail to send the worker home when the permit ends, or if the worker goes missing.12Ministry of Manpower. Security Bond Requirements for Migrant Worker
Every Work Permit holder must also carry medical insurance with at least $60,000 in annual coverage, including inpatient care and day surgery. Enhanced requirements took effect in July 2025, standardizing exclusion clauses and setting age-differentiated premiums for workers above and below 50. As with the bond, the cost stays with you.13Ministry of Manpower. Medical Insurance Requirements for Migrant Workers
What’s Changing in 2026 and 2028
Two shifts are already scheduled. On 1 July 2026, the Local Qualifying Salary threshold for a full-count local employee rises from $1,600 to $1,800, which will tighten quota entitlements for firms whose locals earn in that band.4Ministry of Manpower. Local Qualifying Salary In 2028, basic-skilled levy rates rise in several sectors, and the services sector’s three-tier structure collapses to two.5Ministry of Manpower. Factsheet on Foreign Workforce Policy Announcements at COS 2026 If your workforce planning runs past this year, build both changes into your projections now.