Any foreign national employee on an EP whose salary falls below SGD 5,600/month is now at renewal risk. That’s the number you need to check today — not when their renewal comes up.
What Changed
The EP qualifying salary stands at SGD 5,600/mo for most sectors and SGD 6,200/mo for financial services, up from SGD 5,000 and SGD 5,500 respectively. MOM reviews these thresholds periodically as part of the Fair Consideration Framework — the direction of travel is consistently upward.
For candidates with more experience, MOM applies an age-based adjustment via COMPASS — older candidates are expected to earn salaries commensurate with their experience, not just clear the base threshold.
The COMPASS Framework
Since September 2023, all new EP applications are scored under the Complementarity Assessment Framework (COMPASS). A minimum of 40 points is required, across:
- Salary relative to local PMET norms for the sector
- Qualifications from recognised institutions
- Diversity of the employer’s workforce by nationality
- Support for local employment at the firm
Two companies can both clear the salary threshold and have very different COMPASS scores — a company where 70% of PMETs are from the same country will score poorly on diversity regardless of what it pays.
Impact on EOR Users
Your EOR provider sponsors the EP application as the local employer of record. The salary must meet MOM’s threshold at the time of application and at every renewal.
What this means in practice:
- A foreign national offered below SGD 5,600/mo will have their EP rejected
- An existing EP holder whose salary hasn’t kept pace with threshold increases faces renewal denial
- Companies with a heavy concentration of one nationality are scoring lower on COMPASS — ask your EOR which of your employees are at risk
- COMPASS scoring complexity separates providers that handle Singapore properly from those that don’t
Checking Eligibility
MOM’s Self-Assessment Tool (SAT) and COMPASS calculator let you check likely approval before submitting a formal application. Your EOR should run both before submitting — not after the rejection comes back.
Practical Recommendations
For new hires: Clear SGD 5,600/mo before making an offer. Budget above the minimum to score well on COMPASS — a salary that just clears the threshold often generates a weak salary score relative to sector norms.
For existing EP holders: Pull up every EP renewal date now. Employees with salaries close to the old threshold need a salary review before renewal. An EP rejection costs you the employee.
For budget planning: The EP threshold trend is upward. Build in headroom. A SGD 5,000 hire you made two years ago may cost SGD 6,000+ to retain if they’re in financial services.
How EOR Providers Handle This
The best Singapore EOR providers monitor MOM threshold changes and flag affected employees proactively — not at the time of renewal. Based on our research, the providers with the strongest Singapore EP coverage:
- Deel ($599/mo) — owned entity in Singapore, dedicated local compliance team, proactive threshold monitoring
- Multiplier ($400/mo) — headquartered in Singapore, deepest local expertise, handles COMPASS scoring assessments
- Remote ($599/mo) — owned entity, strong EP application support, transparent process
- Oyster HR ($699/mo) — covers Singapore with compliance automation
- G-P (from $699/mo) — longest track record in Singapore, enterprise-grade compliance
Four questions to ask your EOR provider specifically:
- How do you handle EP threshold changes for existing employees mid-contract?
- Do you run COMPASS pre-assessments before submitting applications?
- What is your EP application approval rate in Singapore?
- How do you handle EP rejections or renewals that fall below threshold?
If your provider can’t answer questions 1 and 2 clearly, that’s a problem.
