Shared Parental Leave

1. Child’s profile 

• Your child’s date of birth / estimated delivery date is on or after 1 Apr 2025. 
• Your child is a Singapore Citizen (SC) at birth or becomes a SC within 12 months from your child’s date of birth (inclusive of date of birth) - Shared Parental Leave (SPL) can only be consumed after the child obtains SC and within 12 months of your child’s date of birth (inclusive of date of birth). 

 

2. Marital status 

• For mothers, you are eligible regardless of marital status. 
• For fathers, you are / were married to your child’s mother: 
  • At some point between conception and before your child’s birth (regardless of whether such marriage remains subsisting at the time of your child’s birth); or 
  • Within 12 months from your child’s date of birth (inclusive of date of birth) - SPL can only be consumed after you are married and within 12 months of your child’s date of birth (inclusive of date of birth). 

 

3. Employment status 

• For employees: You have served your employer for a continuous period of at least 3 months right before your child’s date of birth. 
• If you have worked for less than 3 months, you may still qualify for SPL if your employer is agreeable to grant you leave. The Government will reimburse your employer your SPL if: 
  • you have served your employer at the point of your child’s date of birth,  
  • you have not claimed Shared Parental Leave Benefit for the same child, and  
  • provided that the information declared in the claim is complete and accurate, and it does not contain any error or any false or misleading statement, document, or information. 
• For self-employed parents: You have been engaged in a particular trade, business, profession or vocation for a continuous period of at least 3 months right before your child’s date of birth, and have lost income from ceasing to be actively engaged during your SPL period. 

1. Plan and notify 

• Please discuss and agree on your leave plans with your employer as early as possible. Details of the leave plan to agree on include: 
  • Whether leave will be taken in one continuous block or non-continuously in separate smaller blocks. 
  • Start and end date of leave period(s). 
• If agreement between employer and employee cannot be reached, Shared Parental Leave (SPL) should be taken in one continuous block (i.e. within 26 weeks of the child’s date of birth or adoptive child’s Formal Intent to Adopt (FIA) date, immediately after your Maternity Leave (ML) / Paternity Leave (PL) / Adoption Leave (AL), with 4 weeks’ notice to the employer. The employer can choose to waive or shorten the notice period. 

 

2. Important notes 

• Parents should respectively consume ML / PL / AL before consuming SPL. 
• When you leave your employment, SPL can be used to serve your notice period for termination of employment, but you cannot bring forward your official last day (e.g. if your official last working day is 30 June and you are serving 1 month’s notice from 1 June, you are allowed to take SPL during this period, but your official end date will still remain as 30 June). 
• If it was agreed for SPL to be taken non-continuously, and you did not consume your SPL (wholly or partially) before the termination of your employment, you will not be eligible for payment from your employer in lieu of leave taking, and unconsumed SPL cannot be brought forward to your next employment. You may however be eligible for Shared Parental Leave Benefit from the Government if your employment is terminated due to contract expiry or retrenchment, and you meet the criteria. 

 

* For child born / Formal Intent to Adopt (FIA) date from 1 April 2026 onwards: 10 weeks of SPL 

For child born / Formal Intent to Adopt (FIA) date from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026: 6 weeks of SPL 

1. Record your SPL dates 

2. Important notes 

• Parents should respectively consume Maternity Leave (ML) / Paternity Leave (PL) / Adoption Leave (AL) before consuming Shared Parental Leave (SPL).  
• If you do not qualify for SPL due to your employment arrangements, you may still be eligible for Shared Parental Leave Benefit. 

* For child born / Formal Intent to Adopt (FIA) date from 1 April 2026 onwards: 10 weeks of SPL 

For child born / Formal Intent to Adopt (FIA) date from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026: 6 weeks of SPL 

Before his child was born, a male employee discussed with his spouse and both their employers to take 4 weeks of Government-Paid Paternity leave (GPPL), followed by 2 weeks of Shared Parental Leave (SPL), in a continuous block starting from the child's birth. 

In the 3rd week after his child's birth, he updated his SPL sharing arrangement via LifeSG to take 6 weeks of SPL instead. In this scenario: 

• Since the change was made within 4 weeks of the child's birth, respective employers' agreements are not needed to change the sharing arrangement. 
• The employee should still discuss with his employer on how he plans to take the extended 6-week SPL. 
• If both parties agree on the new leave taking arrangement, there is no formal notice period requirement. 
• However, if the employer does not agree, he is still entitled to take the 6 weeks of SPL, in a continuous block within 26 weeks of the child's birth (i.e. immediately after his GPPL), after he has given 4 weeks' notice. The employer can choose to waive or shorten the notice period. 

1. Plan with your spouse 

• Discuss your sharing arrangement (i.e. number of weeks of SPL allocated to each parent) with your spouse. 

 

2. Submit your sharing arrangement 

• Submit your sharing arrangement via LifeSG after your child’s birth or adoptive child’s Formal Intent to Adopt (FIA) date using the Birth Registration service or Manage SPL Sharing Arrangement service. 
• By default, each parent will be allocated half the SPL entitlement in LifeSG. If you decide to change your sharing arrangement in LifeSG: 
  • Within 4 weeks of your child’s date of birth / adoptive child’s FIA date – no documentation of employer agreement is required. 
  • After 4 weeks – written agreement from employer must be submitted. 

 

3. Plan and notify 

• Notify your employer on your leave arrangements early so that they can verify your eligibility and make alternative work arrangements. 

 

4. Apply for SPL 

• Your employer may require you to submit your required supporting documents and for you to apply for SPL according to your employer’s leave application procedures. 
• Should you be applicable for SPL under your employer, no submission of claim is required – your employer will submit any claims for reimbursement*, as applicable. 

* For child born / Formal Intent to Adopt (FIA) date from 1 April 2026 onwards: 10 weeks of SPL 

For child born / Formal Intent to Adopt (FIA) date from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026: 6 weeks of SPL 

1. Plan with your spouse 

• Discuss your sharing arrangement (i.e. number of weeks of SPL allocated to each parent) with your spouse. 

 

2. Submit your sharing arrangement 

• Submit your sharing arrangement via LifeSG after your child’s birth / adoptive child’s Formal Intent to Adopt (FIA) date using the Birth Registration service or Manage SPL Sharing Arrangement service. 
• By default, each parent will be allocated half the SPL entitlement in LifeSG. You can change your sharing arrangement in LifeSG freely before submitting a claim for reimbursement. 
  • However, if your spouse is an employee, written agreement from their employer must be submitted if changes are made after 4 weeks of your child’s date of birth / adoptive child’s FIA date (see For Employees above). 

 

3. Record your SPL dates 

• SPL can be taken for 6 or 10* weeks (either continuously or non-continuously) starting after Maternity Leave (ML) / Paternity Leave (PL) / Adoption Leave (AL) has been fully consumed, and within 12 months of your child’s date of birth (inclusive of date of birth). 

 

4. Submit your claim 

• Submit your claims online via the Government-Paid Leave (GPL) Portal after you have commenced your SPL. 
• You may submit a claim for reimbursement for any part of the SPL that has been taken. There is no need to fully complete your SPL before you submit a claim, and multiple claims are allowed. 
• Submission should be made no later than 3 months after the last date of your SPL. 

 

5. Check application status 

• You may check your application status on the Government-Paid Leave (GPL) Portal. 
• If additional information is required, an officer will follow up with you after your submission. 

 

* For child born / Formal Intent to Adopt (FIA) date from 1 April 2026 onwards: 10 weeks of SPL 

For child born / Formal Intent to Adopt (FIA) date from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026: 6 weeks of SPL 

1. Verify employee’s eligibility 

• Confirm your employee qualifies for Government-Paid Leave schemes before their leave starts. 
• You may use MSF’s declaration form (for mothers and for fathers), or your own form / system to capture your employee’s declaration. 
  • This declaration form is to guide you in verifying the employee’s eligibility. You are not required to submit this form when submitting the claim for reimbursement. 

 

2. Verify sharing arrangement  

• Check your employee’s SPL sharing arrangement via the Government-Paid Leave (GPL) Portal  after your employee has successfully registered the birth of their child, or from the Formal Intent to Adopt (FIA) date.   
• Employees can freely change their sharing arrangement within the first 4 weeks after their child’s date of birth / adoptive child’s FIA date. 
• If your employee wishes to change sharing arrangement after 4 weeks, you will need to: 
  • Discuss and agree with your employee. 
  • Provide documentation that you have agreed to the change. 
  • Verify the updated sharing arrangement on the Government-Paid Leave (GPL) Portal after your employee’s submission on LifeSG. 

 

3. Submit reimbursement claim 

• Submit your claim for reimbursement online via the Government-Paid Leave (GPL) Portal after your employee has taken SPL*. 
• You may submit a claim for reimbursement for any part of the SPL that has been taken. Your employee does not need to fully complete their SPL before you submit a claim, and multiple claims for the same employee are allowed.  
• Submission should be made no later than 3 months after the last date of your employee’s SPL. 

 

4. Check application status 

• You may check your application status on the Government-Paid Leave (GPL) Portal. 
• Please refer to our service standards for the processing time. 
• A notification will be sent to you and your employee once your application is approved.

 

* For child born / Formal Intent to Adopt (FIA) date from 1 April 2026 onwards: 10 weeks of SPL 

For child born / Formal Intent to Adopt (FIA) date from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026: 6 weeks of SPL