April 2024 / Singapore

Increase in CPF Ordinary Wage ceiling

The CPF Ordinary Wage (OW) ceiling will be raised to $8,000 by 2026. The increase took four steps since 1 September 2023 to allow employers and employees to adjust.

Please refer to the table below for the CPF OW and annual salary ceilings from 2023 to 2026:

Increase in CPF Contribution Rates

From 1 January 2025, the CPF contribution rates for employees aged above 55 to 65 will be increased to strengthen their retirement adequacy. The changes apply to wages earned from 1 January 2025:

  Source: cpf.gov.sg

The Government has adopted all 10 recommendations from the Tripartite Workgroup, establishing mandatory Tripartite Guidelines (TG) on Flexible Work Arrangement (FWA) Requests. The mandatory Guidelines will shape the right norms and expectations around FWAs, by setting out how employees should request for FWAs and use them, and how employers and supervisors should handle FWA requests.

Effective Date: The Tripartite Guidelines on Flexible Work Arrangement Requests (TG-FWAR) should cover all employees who have completed probation starting December 1, 2024.

Employee Rights: The guidelines aim to simplify the process for employees to formally request FWAs.

Employer Discretion: Employers retain the final decision on work arrangements but are expected to follow the guidelines when considering requests.

Public Service Commitment: The Public Service Division will continue to promote FWAs and follow the guidelines.

Here follows a brief overview of the 10 recommendations:

1. The TG-FWAR should establish a clear set of workplace norms around requesting FWAs and considering FWA requests. This will better manage employees’ and employers’ expectations on the process and their respective obligations. These guidelines set out the minimum requirements, and do not preclude employers from adopting more progressive practices.
2. The TG-FWAR should guide the process of requesting and considering FWAs, and not the outcome of FWA requests.
3. The TG-FWAR should require employers to properly consider FWA requests based on business grounds, and employees to request and use FWAs responsibly.
4. The TG-FWAR should only apply to formal FWA requests. Formal requests may be defined as requests that are documented and that contain the information needed for the employer make an informed decision.
5. The TG-FWAR should cover all employees who have completed probation, the duration of which may be determined by employers.
6. The TG-FWAR should not require employers to consider FWA requests from jobseekers. However, employers could still state their FWA approach or policy in job advertisements and interviews, to manage jobseekers’ expectations on the FWAs they can provide.
7. The TG-FWAR should cover all employers, including Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Guides and templates should be provided to help all employers comply.
8. Adopt an educational and enabling approach to implementing the TG-FWAR, with a focus on equipping employees and employers with the resources and skills to make and properly consider FWA requests respectively.
9. Strengthen communications and engagement to help employers understand how FWAs can help their businesses and raise awareness of the types of FWAs available. This builds on the progressive practices that were promoted under the Tripartite Advisory and Tripartite Standard on FWAs, which will be replaced by the TG-FWAR and its accompanying resource package.
10. Provide greater support for employers to build and invest in critical FWA implementation capabilities. Resources and training to build capabilities on FWAs should be scaled up in partnership with key business and employee associations and unions. Resources should be customised to cater for different firm sizes, sectors, and nature of work.

Should you need further information, do not hesitate to contact us at info@diacrongroup.com

Source: mom.gov