Maternity Leave Self-assessment tool

Under the Child Development Co-Savings Act (CDCA), working mothers who meet the qualifying criteria are entitled to 16 weeks of maternity leave benefits.

As part of the enhanced Marriage and Parenthood package, from 1 May 2013, working fathers will also be entitled to share 1 week of the 16 weeks of maternity leave as Government-Paid Shared Parental Leave, to encourage shared parental responsibility and give working couples additional flexibility for care-giving arrangements. The entitlement is subject to the agreement of the mother, if the mother qualifies for Government-Paid Maternity Leave. If the mother agrees to share 1 week of her maternity leave as shared parental leave, her maternity leave entitlement will be correspondingly reduced to 15 weeks. To check your entitlement for Maternity Leave and options for consumption, tick the boxes which apply to you:

child is a Singapore Citizen.

child's parents are lawfully married.

you have worked for your employer for a continuous duration of at least 3 months before birth of your child OR
you are self-employed and have been engaged in your trade, business, profession or vocation for a continuous period of at least 3 months immediately preceding the delivery of the child, and have lost income as a result of not engaging in trade, business, profession or vocation during the maternity leave.

If you do not fulfill the criteria above but you are covered under the Employment Act, you may be entitled to 12 weeks of Maternity Leave. Please visit http://www.mom.gov.sg/employment-practices/leave-and-holidays/Pages/maternity-leave.aspx for more details. There is no provision for mothers to share maternity leave with the father of the child under the EA (the Government-Paid Shared Parental Leave is legislated under the CDCA).

Maternity Leave benefits do not apply to cases of abortion or miscarriage. However, you may be entitled to paid sick leave if you satisfy the qualifying conditions for paid sick leave.