Fatherhood in Singapore now comes with a firmer promise from employers. Since 1 April 2025, eligible fathers are entitled to four weeks of Government-Paid Paternity Leave as a mandatory entitlement, doubling what was guaranteed before. This change came through the same Child Development Co-Savings (Amendment) Act 2024 that introduced the new Shared Parental Leave scheme, and together the two changes represent one of the biggest shifts in Singapore’s approach to working fathers in recent memory.
From Two Weeks to Four
Before this change, fathers in Singapore were entitled to two weeks of Government-Paid Paternity Leave as a matter of right, with an additional two weeks available only if their employer chose to offer it voluntarily. In practice, this meant paternity leave varied significantly depending on where a father worked, with some companies offering the full four weeks and others sticking to the statutory minimum of two.
From 1 April 2025, that voluntary extra two weeks became mandatory, meaning every eligible father is now legally entitled to four weeks of Government-Paid Paternity Leave, regardless of what their specific employer’s policy might otherwise have been. This removes the inconsistency that previously existed and puts fathers across different industries and company sizes on a more even footing when it comes to bonding with a new child.
Who Qualifies
To qualify for the mandatory four weeks, a father generally needs to be the parent of a Singaporean child born on or after 1 April 2025. The leave is government-paid, meaning the cost is reimbursed to employers rather than being an ongoing expense purely borne by the company, which was part of the policy design intended to make the mandatory extension more palatable for businesses, particularly smaller employers who might otherwise worry about the cost or operational impact of a longer mandatory leave period.
As with other government-paid leave schemes in Singapore, there are specific eligibility conditions relating to the father’s employment status and the child’s citizenship that need to be met, so not every father automatically qualifies simply because a child has been born, though the scheme is designed to cover the vast majority of working fathers in typical employment situations.
Employment Protection During Leave
Alongside the extended leave itself, the law strengthened job security protections for fathers taking paternity leave. From 1 April 2025, it became illegal for an employer to dismiss an employee, or give them notice of dismissal, while they are on Government-Paid Paternity Leave or related adoption leave. This protection had previously applied mainly to mothers on maternity leave, and extending it to fathers and adoptive parents closes a gap that treated the two situations inconsistently.
This protection matters because it removes a source of anxiety that some fathers may have previously felt about taking their full leave entitlement, particularly the additional voluntary weeks that were not guaranteed before. Knowing that taking the full four weeks cannot itself be used as grounds for dismissal gives fathers more confidence to actually use the leave they are entitled to, rather than cutting it short out of concern about how it might be perceived at work.
How Paternity Leave and Shared Parental Leave Work Together
It helps to see mandatory paternity leave as one part of a broader package rather than an isolated change. Fathers now have their own four-week entitlement, which sits separately from the Shared Parental Leave pool that both parents can divide between them, currently up to ten weeks for children born from 1 April 2026 onwards. This means a father whose child qualifies for the full scheme could potentially take his four weeks of paternity leave, plus a share of the Shared Parental Leave pool on top, giving many new fathers considerably more time at home than was available even a few years ago.
This layered structure reflects a broader policy goal behind Singapore’s Marriage and Parenthood Package, which is not just to give parents more leave in total, but specifically to encourage fathers to take a more active, hands-on role in the earliest months of a child’s life, rather than leave being seen as something mainly for mothers to use.
Changing Workplace Attitudes Towards Fathers Taking Leave
For years, take-up of the voluntary additional two weeks of paternity leave in Singapore lagged behind what policymakers hoped to see, with some fathers reluctant to take the full entitlement out of concern about how it might be viewed by managers or colleagues, particularly in more traditional or fast paced industries. Making the full four weeks mandatory removes that individual pressure, since a father is no longer choosing to take something extra that his employer merely tolerates, he is exercising a right that applies to him regardless of the specific company he works for.
This shift is expected to gradually normalise fathers being away from work for a full month around the birth of a child, in the same way that mothers taking maternity leave has long been an accepted and unremarkable part of workplace life. Human resource professionals have noted that once an entitlement becomes standard and mandatory across an entire industry rather than varying company to company, the social and professional hesitation around actually using it tends to fade over time.
What Employers Are Expected to Do
Employers are expected to update their leave policies and payroll systems to reflect the mandatory four week entitlement, ensure managers are aware they cannot pressure fathers to cut short their leave or treat taking it as a mark against them, and plan work coverage in advance for team members expecting a new child. Because the leave is government reimbursed up to a cap, the direct financial burden on employers is intended to be manageable, though businesses still need to handle the practical matter of covering a father’s responsibilities while he is away.
Larger companies with dedicated HR teams have generally found this transition straightforward, since many were already offering the full four weeks voluntarily before it became mandatory. Smaller businesses without a formal HR function may need more guidance, and resources from the Ministry of Manpower and Tripartite Alliance are available to help employers of any size understand exactly what the mandatory entitlement requires of them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a father split his four weeks of paternity leave into individual days rather than taking it all at once?
Government-paid paternity leave in Singapore has generally allowed some flexibility in scheduling, subject to agreement with the employer, though whether it can be split into single days or must be taken in a continuous block depends on the specific scheme rules and employer arrangement in place.
Does mandatory paternity leave apply to fathers who are not married to the child’s mother?
Eligibility for Government-Paid Paternity Leave generally depends on specific criteria set out in the scheme rather than marital status alone, so unmarried fathers should check the current eligibility conditions rather than assuming they are automatically excluded or included.
What can a father do if his employer refuses to grant the full four weeks of paternity leave?
Since the four weeks are now a mandatory legal entitlement rather than a voluntary benefit, a father facing this issue can raise the matter with the Ministry of Manpower, since an employer’s refusal to grant a legally mandated entitlement would generally be a breach of the law rather than a matter of company discretion.
Is paternity leave paid entirely by the employer, or does the government contribute?
Government-Paid Paternity Leave works on a reimbursement basis, meaning the employer generally continues to pay the employee’s salary during the leave period, and can then claim reimbursement from the government up to the applicable cap, rather than the government paying the employee directly.
Does mandatory paternity leave apply if the child is not a Singapore citizen?
Government-Paid Paternity Leave has historically required the child to be a Singapore citizen, or in some cases to meet specific related criteria, so fathers of children who do not hold Singapore citizenship should check whether their situation meets the scheme’s eligibility requirements before assuming the entitlement applies.
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