Nowadays, more and more young children are being brought up in households where both parents work, and would have less time and energy to spend with their offspring. Hence, child care leave is important to have and designed to increase the ability of families to balance the needs of the workplace and home and is given to parents so that they will be able to spend more time with their children. This is a crucial period, especially during the children’s early years, for them to grow and develop well in order to become capable and productive members of society for the future.
So in order to help working parents based in Singapore spend more quality time with their young children, the Singapore government has entitled working parents of children to Government Paid Child Care Leave per year, in accordance with the Child Development Co-Savings Act, depending on certain criteria. This Child Care Leave should be used by parents for child-related needs, for example, when the need arises to look after their children when they get sick and bring them to see a doctor, or to undergo health check ups, or perhaps, bringing their children to their first day of school and much more. Without further ado, here are 9 things you should know about Child Care Leave Entitlement in Singapore.
1. What are the criteria for working parents to be entitled for Government Paid Child Care Leave?
The Child Development Co-Savings Act covers all parents of Singapore citizens including managerial and executive staff if these conditions are met:
a) The child’s parents are lawfully married. This would include parents who are divorced or widowed.
b) The employee has worked for the employer for at least three months
c) If the person is self-employed, the person must be engaged in their work for no less than a continuous period of 3 months and have lost income during their child care leave period.
2. How would you, as a working parent in Singapore, be entitled to Government Paid Child Care Leave?
Your Child Care Leave entitlement will vary depending on the nationality of your child:
a) If your child is a Singapore Citizen, you will be entitled to six days of paid Child Care Leave under the Government Paid Child Care leave.
b) If your child is not a Singapore Citizen, you are entitled to 2 days of paid Child Care Leave if you meet the following requirements:
Your child is below 7 years old.
You must have worked for your employer for at least 3 months.
3. What happens if I do not use my Child Care Leave?
Child care leave which is not used up will be considered forfeited, once the 12 month period is over and unfortunately, it cannot be converted to cash unlike normal annual leave.
Child care leave also cannot be transferred when an employee moves from one job to another job or even be transferred between spouses.
4. Is the Paid-Child Care Leave Applicable for Both Spouses?
Yes, both you and your spouse are entitled to paid Child Care Leave, if you meet the requirements as mentioned previously.
5. How Can You Take the Leave?
You and your spouse are entitled 42 days of Child Care Leave over a period of 7 years until your child turns 7 years old. You will get 6 days each year and any unutilised leaves cannot be carried forward to the following year. For parents with children above the age of 7, there is the Extended Child Care Leave entitlement.
6. The Extended Child Care Leave
The Extended Child Care leave in Singapore is for parents whose youngest child is between the ages of 7 to 12 years old (inclusive of 12 years old). The entitlement is 2 days per year. If your children fall in both age groups (e.g. below 7 years and between 7 and 12 years), the maximum number of paid Child Care Leave for each parent is 6 days per year.
7. What about part-time employees?
However, the calculation will be different for part-time employees. If you are a part-time employee, your 2 days of Extended Child Care Leave will be adjusted based on your work schedule. For example, if you work for 3 hours per day, hence your Child Care Leave entitlement will be calculated as follows: 3 hours X 2 days = 6 hours
8. Regarding the Payment
The first 3 days of your Child Care Leave will be borne by the employer, and the remaining 3 days will be paid by the government. The payment will be capped at $500 per day and is inclusive of Central Provident Fund (CPF) contribution. This applies regardless of how many children the employee has.
9.How to Apply for Child Care Leave and Extended Child Care Leave in Singapore?
To apply for the leave, you can download the application form from the Government-Paid Leave Portal, and fill in the application form before submitting it to your employer along with the required supporting documents. For the individuals who are self-employed, you may submit your claim directly via the Government-Paid Leave Portal.
However, why go through all the hassle when JustLogin has made it convenient for you by implementing a new pre-filled Government Paid Child Care Leave (GPCL) form feature into JustLeave. Employees can apply for child care leave via their personal employee mobile app, and when they exhaust their Child Care Leave or Enhanced Child Care Leave entitlements, leave administrators will receive an email notification with a pre-filled GPCL form that can be directly submitted into the Government-Paid Leave Portal. This will certainly save time and effort for all users of JustLogin.
Want to streamline your Government Child Care Leave and Leave Management?
Our JustLogin team can provide an educational session and live demo to showcase what a smooth leave management system is like.
About JustLogin
For happy HR, bosses and employees, you want a platform that can help your team remain productive and focused, while providing excellent employee experiences that impresses and retains talent. JustLogin is the HR employee experience platform that delivers both through a comprehensive suite of HR applications.
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