Singapore Fair Hiring Laws: Secure exclusive guide for Regional HQs

Written by: Destiny Goh

Key takeaways

The Workplace Fairness Act is being implemented in phases and reinforces the merit-based principles already in place under TGFEP — clear interview documentation and selection records become more important, not less.
COMPASS is a complementarity assessment, not a hiring quota. Scoring well rewards employers who maintain a strong local PMET base and hire foreign professionals into roles that genuinely complement it.
The Fair Consideration Framework requires fair consideration of Singaporean candidates before foreign hires, including for roles with language requirements — which must be paired with documented business reasoning.
From 1 January 2027, EP minimum qualifying salaries rise to SGD 6,000 (most sectors) and SGD 6,600 (Financial Services). Renewals follow on 1 January 2028.

Why Singapore's compliance landscape matters now

Singapore’s hiring environment is being reshaped by four overlapping changes: the phased rollout of the Workplace Fairness Act, ongoing adjustments to the Complementarity Assessment Framework (COMPASS), continued enforcement of the Fair Consideration Framework (FCF), and confirmed Employment Pass salary increases taking effect across 2027–2028. For Japanese regional headquarters operating in Singapore, the operational impact of these changes runs across job description drafting, interview documentation, Employment Pass planning, and workforce composition. The pressure is real: JETRO reports that 91.3% of Japanese companies in Singapore cite rising labour costs as a top investment risk, while 71% of Singapore businesses failed to meet key business objectives over the past year due to talent shortages. At the same time, Singapore was ranked first globally on the Global Talent Competitiveness Index 2025; the labour market is competitive at every level, but the underlying talent quality is high. Good Job Creations, operating in Singapore since 2006, works with Japanese regional HQs to navigate this landscape compliantly. We would like to walk through what each framework requires, what’s changing in 2026–2027, and where the practical pressure points sit.

1. The Workplace Fairness Act

The Workplace Fairness Act introduces Singapore’s first dedicated anti-discrimination legislation for the workplace. It is being implemented in phases, with specific procedural requirements expected to be confirmed progressively as the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and TAFEP issue further guidance.

What the Act covers

The Act addresses workplace discrimination across protected characteristics and formalises expectations that have, until now, sat under the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices (TGFEP). For employers, this means the move is less a step-change in obligations and more a formalisation and elevation of practices that the tripartite framework has long encouraged.

What it reinforces from TGFEP

TGFEP has, for years, expected employers to make recruitment, retention, and promotion decisions based on merit. The Workplace Fairness Act builds on the same principle but adds legislative weight. In practice, this elevates the importance of: Documented selection criteria for every open role Records of how candidates were evaluated against those criteria Consistency between what was advertised and what was used to assess candidates

A signal from the wider workforce

A meaningful share of Singapore’s professional workforce already views fair-hiring infrastructure as central to a healthy workplace: 81% of Singapore business leaders believe greater pay transparency improves fairness and workplace culture. The conditions employees expect from a fair workplace are themselves shifting, and the Workplace Fairness Act is part of that direction of travel.

2. COMPASS — what it actually assesses

COMPASS is a points-based system that assesses Employment Pass applications on how well a foreign hire complements the local workforce. It is not a quota, and it is not designed as a hiring optimisation tool — it rewards employers who maintain a strong local PMET base, hire into roles MOM has identified as in genuine shortage, and contribute to Singapore’s strategic economic priorities.

The six criteria

COMPASS evaluates applications across four foundational and two bonus criteria.

Foundational criteria C1 — Fixed monthly salary (relative to local PMET benchmarks for the candidate’s age and sector)

≥90th percentile: 20 points
65th to <90th percentile: 10 points
<65th percentile: 0 points

C2 — Qualifications

Top-tier institution: 20 points
Degree-equivalent qualification: 10 points
No degree-equivalent qualification: 0 points

Candidates without degree-equivalent qualifications can still pass COMPASS by reaching at least 40 total points. Institution lists are reviewed and updated annually. C3 — Diversity (share of the candidate’s nationality among the firm’s PMETs)

<5%: 20 points
5% to <25%: 10 points
≥25%: 0 points

C4 — Support for Local Employment (firm’s local PMET share relative to its sector)

≥50th percentile: 20 points
20th to <50th percentile: 10 points
<20th percentile: 0 points

Firms with fewer than 25 PMETs score 10 points by default on both C3 and C4. MOM updates the PMET salary benchmark periodically; refer to the MOM COMPASS FAQ for the current threshold. Bonus criteria C5 — Skills Bonus (for filling roles on the Shortage Occupation List)

+20 points if the role is on the SOL and the share of the candidate’s nationality among the firm’s PMETs is less than one-third
+10 points if the role is on the SOL and that share is one-third or more

C6 — Strategic Economic Priorities Bonus (for firms meeting criteria on investment, innovation, internationalisation, or workforce transformation)

+10 points

What scoring well actually requires

COMPASS scoring rewards three things, in roughly this order:

A strong local PMET base relative to your sector
Filling roles MOM has identified as in genuine shortage (the Shortage Occupation List)
Contributing to Singapore’s strategic economic priorities

For employers navigating COMPASS, the most reliable approach is the structural one: build the local PMET base, design roles around genuine business need, and refer to the current SOL when planning EP applications, since the list is reviewed periodically and changes over time.

Longer EP duration for SOL roles

Where a role on the SOL is filled by a candidate whose profile justifies it, the Employment Pass issued can be of longer duration — up to five years, supporting workforce planning continuity. Longer-duration EPs are subject to candidate profile and are not automatic on SOL status alone.

3. The Fair Consideration Framework

The Fair Consideration Framework sits underneath all of the above. FCF requires employers to give fair consideration to Singaporean candidates before hiring foreign professionals, and it shapes how job descriptions are drafted, how candidates are advertised to, and how hiring decisions are documented. For Japanese regional HQs, three FCF expectations are most operationally relevant:

Job description drafting

Job descriptions must evaluate candidates on merit and experience. Where a role genuinely requires a specialised skill — including language fluency — the requirement should be paired with the business reason. For example: “Proficient in Japanese to liaise with Japanese-speaking clients and Japan HQ stakeholders.” This both satisfies FCF expectations and improves the quality of applications received from candidates who genuinely meet the requirement, whether they are Singaporean professionals with Japanese fluency, returning overseas Singaporeans, or — where the local pool cannot meet the requirement — foreign hires. GJC publishes a bilingual job description template that is structured around FCF-compliant phrasing.

Job advertising

Roles should be advertised in line with MOM’s prevailing rules on local advertising before any foreign-hire application is made. The advertised role specification should match the eventual selection criteria — discrepancies are exactly what FCF documentation reviews look for.

4. Employment Pass salary changes — 2027 and 2028

The Ministry of Manpower has confirmed phased increases to the Employment Pass minimum qualifying salary, taking effect across 2027 and 2028.

Sector	Current (2026)	From 1 Jan 2027 (new applications) / 1 Jan 2028 (renewals)
Most sectors	SGD 5,600	SGD 6,000
Financial Services	SGD 6,200	SGD 6,600

For more experienced candidates, the age-adjusted salary bands also rise in tandem. Roles budgeted close to today’s EP thresholds may need to be re-priced upwards if the start date or renewal falls in 2027 or later. Longer-term workforce and compensation planning should assume these higher salary floors.

5. What this means operationally for Japanese regional HQs

The four frameworks above interact more than they sit in isolation. A practical compliance posture for a Japanese regional HQ in Singapore has five components.

Strong documentation as a default. With the Workplace Fairness Act formalising expectations that previously sat under TGFEP guidance, written interview records, documented selection criteria, and consistency between advertised and actual role specifications all become more important. This is operational hygiene, not legal exposure management.

FCF-aligned job description drafting. Where a role has specialised requirements — a Japanese-language requirement is the most common one for Japanese regional HQs — pair the requirement with the business reason in the job description itself. This protects the employer in any subsequent FCF documentation review and improves applicant quality.

COMPASS scenario planning. For roles where an EP application is likely, think through the COMPASS score in advance: where does the firm sit on C3 and C4 relative to sector benchmarks, is the role on the current SOL, and does the candidate profile support C1 and C2 scoring. Surprises at application stage are usually structural, not individual.

EP salary forward-planning. Roles starting in 2027 or with renewals in 2028 should be priced against the new EP floors, not the 2026 ones. Financial Services HQs should plan against the SGD 6,600 threshold.

A bilateral context worth noting. On 18 March 2026, Singapore and Japan elevated their bilateral ties to a Strategic Partnership, with cooperation extending into technology and artificial intelligence. The rising bilateral activity raises the operational stakes of getting compliance right — not because it changes any of the rules above, but because it increases the volume of cross-border hiring decisions that will be made under them.

Where a specialist EA partner reduces compliance risk

A licensed Employment Agency working specifically in the Japan-Singapore corridor can absorb a meaningful share of the compliance load: documented merit-based selection, FCF-aligned job description drafting, COMPASS scenario planning, and bilingual screening processes that hold up to MOM documentation expectations.

6. FAQs: Singapore fair hiring laws and Japanese regional HQs

What is the Workplace Fairness Act and is it in force?

The Workplace Fairness Act introduces Singapore’s first dedicated anti-discrimination legislation for the workplace. It is being implemented in phases. Specific procedural requirements will be confirmed progressively as MOM and TAFEP issue further guidance. In the meantime, employers should align with TGFEP, which the Act reinforces.

What does COMPASS measure?

COMPASS assesses Employment Pass applications across four foundational criteria (salary, qualifications, diversity, support for local employment) and two bonus criteria (Shortage Occupation List roles and strategic economic priorities). It is a complementarity assessment, and it rewards employers whose foreign hires complement a strong local PMET base.

What is the Fair Consideration Framework?

FCF requires employers to give fair consideration to Singaporean candidates before hiring foreign professionals. It shapes how roles are advertised, how job descriptions are drafted, and how selection decisions are documented.

When do the new EP salary minimums take effect?

From 1 January 2027 for new applications, and 1 January 2028 for renewals. The threshold rises to SGD 6,000 in most sectors and SGD 6,600 in the Financial Services sector.

Can a language requirement be included in a job description under FCF?

Yes, where the requirement is paired with documented business reasoning. Language requirements without a business reason — or with a generic justification — are exactly what FCF documentation reviews scrutinise. State the operational reason explicitly in the job description itself.

Are roles requiring Japanese-language fluency on the Shortage Occupation List?

The SOL is reviewed and updated by MOM. Refer to the current Shortage Occupation List for eligible occupations rather than rely on illustrative examples — the list changes over time.

Navigate Singapore's fair hiring laws with confidence

Singapore’s compliance landscape is more demanding than it was five years ago, and the next two years will tighten it further. A licensed Employment Agency working specifically in the Japan-Singapore corridor can reduce the compliance load on your in-house team and improve the quality of documentation supporting every hire.

Navigate Singapore’s fair hiring laws safely. to our specialists today.

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Singapore Fair Hiring Laws: Secure exclusive guide for Regional HQs

Key takeaways

Why Singapore's compliance landscape matters now