Employer of Record (EOR) in Singapore

Hire in Singapore in days, without setting up your own entity or risking an Employment Act misstep. We place you with the right vetted EOR partner, at pricing you will not get going direct, and stay on your side for the life of the relationship.

  • Independent advice
  • Vetted partners
  • Operational in days

What an Employer of Record does for you in Singapore

An Employer of Record is a company that legally employs your Singapore staff on your behalf. You choose the person and direct their work day to day. The EOR is the legal employer on paper, which is what lets you build a team in Singapore without forming your own company.

In practice the EOR partner takes on everything that needs a Singapore legal entity and local expertise: written Key Employment Terms and a compliant contract under the Employment Act, monthly payroll with income tax reporting to IRAS and, where the hire is a Singapore Citizen or Permanent Resident, CPF contributions to the CPF Board, the Skills Development Levy on every hire regardless of nationality, statutory benefits and leave, and lawful onboarding and exits. You get a working team in days. The EOR carries the legal and compliance weight; you carry the commercial relationship. The only question worth spending time on is which partner is genuinely strong in Singapore, and that is the question we answer for you.

01

Legal employer, on paper

A compliant Singapore employment contract with written Key Employment Terms, issued within 14 days of the start date as the Employment Act requires.

02

Compliant from day one

Monthly payroll, IRAS income-tax reporting, CPF contributions where your hire is a citizen or PR, the Skills Development Levy on every hire, and itemised payslips from day one.

03

No entity required

Statutory benefits, annual leave, and lawful notice under the Employment Act, with onboarding and exits handled correctly. You get a working team in days; the EOR carries the legal weight.

How it works: four steps to a compliant hire

From first call to a compliant Singapore hire at work, usually in days.

01 — Scope & quote

We map the role, salary, and start date, and come back with a clear all-in monthly cost. No guesswork, no hidden extras.

02 — Compliant contract

Your employment contract is drafted to Singapore standards by the partner, with Key Employment Terms in place, and we sanity-check the terms and pricing before you sign. Compliant from day one.

03 — Onboard in days

A correct Singapore contract is issued under the Employment Act, with all statutory terms and Key Employment Terms in place. Your hire can start in days.

04 — Payroll & compliance run

Income tax reported to IRAS, CPF contributed where applicable, payslips issued, and the Skills Development Levy filed on every hire. You direct the work; the compliance just runs.

What EOR in Singapore costs

Two parts: what CPF may add, and the EOR partner fee. For most EOR hires in Singapore, foreign professionals on an Employment Pass, CPF simply does not apply, so there is no equivalent employer social-security charge to plan for at all. Where you place a Singapore Citizen or Permanent Resident, CPF is a real, age-banded cost, and we make it transparent before you commit, so there are no surprises.

Employer social security

CPF applies only to Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents, not to Employment Pass or S Pass hires. Where it applies, employer contributions on Ordinary Wages are age-banded: 17% under 55, 16% (above 55-60), 12.5% (above 60-65), 9% (above 65-70), 7.5% (above 70), on wages up to the $8,000/month Ordinary Wage Ceiling (2026), plus a 0.25% Skills Development Levy the employer pays on every employee, local or foreign.

Local Qualifying Salary (2026)

Singapore has no general statutory minimum wage. The Local Qualifying Salary of $1,800/month (35-44 hrs/week) or $10.50/hour part-time, effective 1 July 2026, sets the floor for a local hire to count toward foreign-worker quotas, not a universal pay floor. Certain sectors also carry mandatory Progressive Wage Model rates.

Income tax (employee)

Progressive resident rates run from 0% up to 24% at the top (YA2026). Singapore does not operate PAYE: IRAS collects directly from the employee after filing, rather than through payroll withholding. Non-residents pay a flat 15% or the resident-equivalent rate, whichever is higher. Borne by the employee, not added to your cost.

EOR partner fee

A transparent per-employee monthly fee. We benchmark across our vetted Singapore network, typically 15 to 25% below going direct, and renegotiate for you at renewal.

Why run it through Bradford Jacobs

We know which EOR partners are genuinely strong in Singapore, by sector and by complexity. We place you with the right one, at pricing you will not get going direct, and stay on your side for the life of the relationship.

Independent, not a single provider

We are independent: we assess what you actually need, place you with the right vetted partner, secure pricing you will not get going direct, and stay on your side to escalate or renegotiate. You get advice, not a product pitch.

  • Independent advice
  • Vetted partners only
  • On your side at renewal

Pricing you can’t get direct

Most Singapore EOR hires are on an Employment Pass, so there is no CPF or equivalent payroll tax to estimate at all, but partners can price as if there is, and it is easy to pay for coverage you do not need. We benchmark across our partner network for rates typically 15 to 25% below going direct, and renegotiate on your behalf at renewal. Most companies do not know how much room there is to negotiate. We do.

  • 15-25% below direct
  • Network benchmarking
  • Renegotiated for you

Straight to the top when it matters

When something needs resolving, and in global employment it sometimes does, you come to us. We escalate directly, past the helpdesk, to people who can actually move it.

  • Direct escalation
  • No support queues
  • Named account contact

Two decades across markets

Two decades placing and managing EOR arrangements across global markets, with the local knowledge of the Employment Act, CPF’s citizen/PR-only scope, and Singapore’s notice and retrenchment rules that keeps you compliant.

  • EOR specialists
  • Employment Act & CPF
  • Risk removed

Built for conversion to your own entity

Most companies use EOR for 12 to 24 months, then move to their own Singapore Private Limited Company (Pte Ltd). We plan that crossover and manage the transition when the economics justify it.

  • EOR to entity path
  • Transition managed
  • Crossover planning

Why an EOR is the fastest compliant way into Singapore

Two things slow foreign employers down in Singapore: appointing a local resident director and opening a corporate bank account before you can legally employ anyone, and the risk of getting Employment Act notice, retrenchment, and termination rules wrong. An EOR removes both.

Working time, leave & contracts

Compliance handled under the Employment Act (Cap. 91), regulated by MOM. Termination must follow one of three lawful routes, notice, pay in lieu, or dismissal for misconduct after due inquiry, rather than at-will exit, and disputes go to the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management. An EOR carries all of it correctly from day one, so a wrong assumption never becomes a liability.

Operational in days, not weeks

Incorporating in Singapore itself can be fast, ACRA’s BizFile+ portal can register a company in as little as one working day, but you still need a local resident director, a registered office, a corporate bank account, and, for foreign staff, an approved Employment Pass before anyone can legally start. An EOR removes that wait entirely: a compliant contract is issued and your hire starts in days. You prove the market first, then incorporate later only if the headcount justifies it. This is the real value of EOR in Singapore: speed past company setup, work-pass approval, and bank account opening, with the compliance carried by an expert.

Everything your Singapore EOR covers

One transparent monthly fee per employee covers all of this. No hidden extras.

Compliant Singapore contract

A compliant Singapore employment contract with written Key Employment Terms, issued and maintained for you.

Payroll, income tax & CPF

Monthly payroll run, with income tax reported to IRAS, CPF contributed where your hire is a citizen or PR, and the Skills Development Levy filed correctly each month.

Statutory benefits

All statutory benefits administered: annual leave rising from 7 to 14 days by year of service, 11 public holidays, paid sick and hospitalisation leave, maternity leave (up to 16 weeks, Government-Paid), paternity leave (4 weeks, Government-Paid), and lawful notice on exit. Where CPF applies, the employee’s own share, up to 20% of Ordinary Wages under 55, is deducted from salary, not billed to you.

Compliance & support

Ongoing HR compliance and a single point of contact, for the life of the engagement.

Your questions answered

Straight answers on how Employer of Record works in Singapore.

Is my hire employed by Bradford Jacobs or by me?

Legally, your hire is employed by the Singapore EOR partner we place you with, which is what keeps you compliant without an entity. Day to day they work for you: you set the work, the goals, the relationship. You get the team; the partner carries the legal employer obligations.

Usually within days once the role and salary are agreed, with a compliant Singapore contract from day one. Compare that to the resident director, corporate bank account, and, for foreign hires, Employment Pass approval you would otherwise need in place first.

For most EOR hires, foreign professionals on an Employment Pass, the answer is nothing extra: CPF does not apply, so there is no equivalent employer social-security charge to add. If your hire is a Singapore Citizen or PR, CPF is age-banded, from 17% down to 7.5% of Ordinary Wages, on pay up to the $8,000/month ceiling (2026), plus a small Skills Development Levy on every hire. Add the transparent EOR partner fee and you have your all-in cost.

Yes, when done properly. The EOR is a real Singapore legal employer meeting all Employment Act, CPF, and IRAS tax obligations. The risk is using an under-resourced partner, which is exactly why we place you with vetted partners and stay on your side.

The compliant contract with Key Employment Terms, monthly payroll (income tax reporting to IRAS and CPF where it applies), the Skills Development Levy, statutory benefits and leave administration, and ongoing HR compliance. We give you one all-in monthly figure up front, with no hidden extras.

Yes, and most companies do once the headcount and permanence justify it. We manage the transition from EOR to your own Singapore Private Limited Company (Pte Ltd), and can support the incorporation itself. Most use EOR for 12 to 24 months first.

Ready to hire in Singapore?

Tell us the role and we will come back with a compliant, all-in monthly cost and the right partner, usually within a day. No entity, no lock-in, no pitch, just the fastest compliant way to get your person working in Singapore.

Tax and labour data verified July 2026 (CPF Board, IRAS, MOM). Figures change; we confirm the current position when we scope your hire.