Skip to main content
About Us

Employment records

From 1 April 2016, all employers must maintain detailed employment records of employees covered by the Employment Act. Here are the detailed requirements such as what items to include and how long to keep them.

Requirements

Employers must maintain records for all employees covered by the Employment Act.

Format Soft or hard copy, including handwritten.
For how long?
  • For current employees: Latest two years.
  • For ex-employees: Last two years, to be kept for one year after the employee leaves employment.

What to record

The records are in two categories:

  • Employee records
  • Salary records

Employee records

Number Item description
1 Address.
2

NRIC number.

For non-citizens, work pass number and expiry date.
3 Date of birth.
4 Gender.
5 Date of starting employment.
6 Date of leaving employment.
7 Working hours, including duration of meals and tea breaks.
8 Dates and other details of public holidays and leave taken.

Salary records

The items are the same as for itemised pay slips.

Number Item description
1 Full name of employer.
2 Full name of employee.
3 Date of payment (or dates, if the pay slips consolidates multiple payments).
4

Basic salary

For hourly, daily or piece-rated workers, indicate all of the following:

  • Basic rate of pay, e.g. $X per hour.
  • Total number of hours or days worked or pieces produced.
5 Start and end date of salary period.
6

Allowances paid for salary period, such as:

  • All fixed allowances, e.g. transport.
  • All ad-hoc allowances, e.g. one-off uniform allowance.
7

Any other additional payment for each salary period, such as:

  • Bonuses
  • Rest day pay
  • Public holiday pay
8

Deductions made for each salary period, such as:

  • All fixed deductions, e.g. employee’s CPF contribution.
  • All ad-hoc deductions, e.g. deductions for no-pay leave, absence from work.
9 Overtime hours worked.
10 Overtime pay.
11 Start and end date of overtime payment period (if different from item 5 start and end date of salary period).
12 Net salary paid in total.

Help for employers

For help complying with these requirements, you can tap on the assistance package for employers. Find templates, tools, workshops and advisory services.

Related