Paternity, Shared Parental & Childcare Leave in Singapore

A father of a Singapore-citizen child born on or after 1 April 2025 gets 4 weeks of mandatory Government-Paid Paternity Leave, the couple shares a further 6 to 10 weeks of Shared Parental Leave, and each parent gets 6 days of childcare leave a year — all government-reimbursed within caps. The schemes are administered by MOM under the Child Development Co-Savings Act.

Last reviewed 10 June 2026 · Source: Ministry of Manpower / MSF.

Paternity leave: 4 weeks, now all mandatory

For births on or after 1 April 2025, Government-Paid Paternity Leave (GPPL) is 4 weeks, all mandatory — the old structure of 2 mandatory weeks plus 2 at employer discretion is gone for new births. Eligibility mirrors the other schemes: the child is a Singapore citizen, the father is lawfully married to the mother (between conception and birth, or within 12 months after), and he has at least 3 months' service — the same gate as annual leave.

You pay the salary and claim reimbursement at up to $2,500 per week including CPF — $10,000 across the 4 weeks. The leave is taken within 12 months of the birth, as one block by default or flexibly by agreement.

Shared Parental Leave: 6 weeks now, 10 from April 2026

The standalone Shared Parental Leave (SPL) scheme gives the couple a joint pool on top of maternity and paternity leave:

Child born	SPL pool
1 April 2025 – 31 March 2026	6 weeks
On or after 1 April 2026	10 weeks

Reimbursement runs at the same $2,500 per week including CPF, and the employee must give 4 weeks' notice. How the pool splits between the parents is declared by the couple; if an employee cannot agree timing with the employer, the fallback is one continuous block within 26 weeks of the birth.

One lineage point for older HR templates: SPL used to mean transferring part of the mother's maternity leave to the father. That transfer-based scheme still governs births up to 31 March 2025 — the standalone pool above replaces it for births from 1 April 2025.

Childcare leave: 6 days each, per parent

Government-Paid Childcare Leave (GPCL) gives each working parent 6 days a year while a Singapore-citizen child is under 7, with a lifetime cap of 42 days per child. You pay the first 3 days at the gross rate; the government reimburses the last 3 at up to $500 a day including CPF — so the state's share is at most $1,500 per parent per year.

Per parent, not per child. Three kids under 7 still means 6 days a year, not 18.

The days do not carry forward — unused childcare leave lapses at the end of the leave year, unlike the carry-forward rules that protect annual leave.

Where the $500 cap bites: a parent on $4,000 gross a month costs about $184 a day (annualised daily rate), so all 3 government days come back in full. At $12,000 a month the daily rate is roughly $551 plus employer CPF — the reimbursement caps at $500 and you absorb the difference. For typical micro-SME salaries the split is effectively 3 days yours, 3 days the government's, at cost.

Payroll treatment is the same either way: the employee is paid normally for all 6 days at the gross rate, CPF included; the funding split only affects your reimbursement claim, never the payslip.

Two days: older children and non-citizen children

Two smaller entitlements catch the cases GPCL misses:

Scheme	Days/year	Child	Who pays
Extended Childcare Leave (ECCL)	2	youngest SC child aged 7–12	government-reimbursed
EA childcare leave	2	non-citizen child under 7	employer

Both still require 3 months' service. The EA version (lifetime cap 14 days per child) is the one bosses most often miss: a work-pass holder's child does not qualify for GPCL, but the parent is still entitled to 2 employer-paid days.

Unpaid infant care leave: 12 days while the child is under 2

Each parent of a Singapore-citizen child under 2 can take 12 days a year of unpaid infant care leave — doubled from 6 days with effect from 1 January 2024, with a lifetime cap of 24 days per child. Unpaid means exactly that: the payroll treatment is a no-pay-leave deduction under the incomplete-month formula.

Adoption leave: 12 weeks for the adoptive mother

Government-Paid Adoption Leave gives the adoptive mother 12 weeks where the child is a Singapore citizen and under 12 months at the formal intent to adopt. Funding follows the maternity pattern: first or second child — you pay the first 4 weeks, the government reimburses the last 8 (up to $20,000); third child onwards — the government funds all 12 weeks (up to $30,000).

What to set up in practice

• Record child birth dates, citizenship and child order at notification — every cap and quantum above keys off them.
• Track childcare leave per parent per leave year, with the 3-day/3-day funding split visible in payroll.
• Claim reimbursements via the GPL portal — you front the salary in every scheme.
• Update any pre-2025 HR handbook: 2-week paternity and transfer-based SPL are stale for new births.

The pattern across all of these is the same: you pay first, the government pays you back within a cap. Budget the cash-flow gap, not just the headcount cover.