MOM Key Employment Terms (KET) Document (Singapore)

A MOM Key Employment Terms (KET) Document in Singapore sets out the rights and obligations the parties agree to be bound by.

Section 95A of the Employment Act 1968 (Cap. 91) mandates that every employer of an employee covered by the Employment Act must provide the employee with a written record of key employment terms in a form prescribed by MOM. The Employment (Key Employment Terms) Regulations 2016 specify 14 mandatory fields that must be included in the KET document, covering the identity of the employer and employee, job scope and title, salary components, fixed allowances, fixed deductions, overtime arrangements, working hours, rest days, leave entitlements, and other employment benefits. Failure to provide KETs within the prescribed 14-day timeframe constitutes a contravention of the Employment Act, and MOM enforcement officers conducting workplace inspections may issue corrective directives, composition fines, or refer repeat offenders for prosecution in the State Courts.

The KET requirement applies to all employees covered by the Employment Act, which since the Employment (Amendment) Act 2019 effective 1 April 2019 includes virtually all employees in Singapore except seafarers governed by the Merchant Shipping Act (Cap. 179), domestic workers governed by the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act (Cap. 91A), and public servants covered by separate public service regulations. Part-time employees covered by the Employment (Part-Time Employees) Regulations 1996 must also receive KETs specifying their pro-rata entitlements calculated relative to comparable full-time employees. Employees engaged on contracts of less than 14 days duration are the only category exempt from the KET requirement under the Regulations.

The Central Provident Fund Act (Cap. 36) imposes separate but related employer obligations that should be reflected in the KET document. Employers must make monthly CPF contributions for Singapore citizens and permanent residents at prescribed rates — currently 17% employer contribution and 20% employee contribution for employees below 55 years of age — payable to the CPF Board by the 14th of the following month. The KET document should accurately state the employee's CPF deduction rate and any other fixed deductions, as the Employment Act Sections 31-33 restrict the types and amounts of permissible salary deductions. MOM publishes a sample KET template on the MOM website that employers may adopt or adapt to their specific employment arrangements, and MOM inspectors use the official template as a compliance benchmark during workplace inspections.

Related documents include the Employment Contract providing thorough employment terms beyond the mandatory 14 KET fields, the IRAS IR8A Return of Employee's Remuneration for annual income reporting to the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS), and the CPF Board Voluntary Contribution Application for employers and employees wishing to make additional CPF contributions above the mandatory rates. Employers who provide a thorough Employment Contract covering all 14 mandatory KET fields within 14 days of employment commencement satisfy the KET obligation without needing a separate standalone KET document.

A MOM Key Employment Terms (KET) Document in Singapore is required whenever an employer hires a new employee covered by the Employment Act 1968 (Cap. 91) on a contract of at least 14 days duration, and must be provided within 14 days of the employment commencement date under the Employment (Key Employment Terms) Regulations 2016.

Every new hire — whether full-time, part-time, fixed-term, or probationary — triggers the KET obligation under Section 95A of the Employment Act. MOM enforcement officers conducting workplace inspections treat the absence of written KETs as a prima facie contravention of the Employment Act. Employers found to have failed to provide KETs may face escalating corrective action, including written advisory letters, composition fines of up to several thousand dollars per offence, and for repeat offenders or deliberate non-compliance, prosecution in the State Courts with potential criminal penalties. The Employment Claims Tribunals (ECT) and the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM) frequently encounter salary disputes, overtime disagreements, and leave entitlement conflicts that could have been prevented by clear, timely KET documentation establishing the agreed employment terms from the outset.

Employers varying existing employment terms — including salary adjustments, changes to working hours or shift patterns, modifications to leave entitlements, promotion or demotion affecting job scope, or restructuring of allowance and deduction arrangements — should issue updated KETs reflecting the new terms. While the Employment Act does not expressly mandate updated KETs for every variation, MOM's published Tripartite Advisory on KETs recommends that employers provide revised written terms whenever material changes to employment conditions take effect, maintaining an accurate record of the current employment arrangement throughout the employment relationship.

Employers of foreign workers holding Employment Passes (EP), S Passes, and Work Permits issued by MOM under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act (Cap. 91A) should provide KETs to document the employment conditions that form the basis of the work pass application submitted through MOM's online systems. MOM reviews declared employment conditions during work pass application processing and renewal assessments, and discrepancies between the declared terms (salary, job title, working hours) and actual employment conditions may trigger MOM investigations, work pass revocation, or debarment of the employer from hiring foreign workers.

Employers processing employee claims through the Employment Claims Tribunals (ECT) established under the Employment Claims Act 2016 (Cap. 91B) must produce the KET document as primary evidence of the agreed employment terms. TADM mediators conducting mandatory mediation sessions and ECT adjudicators presiding over contested claims rely on written KETs to determine the parties' obligations regarding salary, overtime rates, leave entitlements, notice periods, and other employment conditions. The absence of written KETs may result in adverse inferences drawn against the employer, weakening the employer's position in contested proceedings.

Employers applying for government employment-related grants and subsidies — including the Jobs Growth Incentive (JGI), the Progressive Wage Credit Scheme (PWCS), the SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit (SFEC), and the Wage Credit Scheme (WCS) administered by IRAS and the CPF Board — may need to produce KET documents as evidence of employment terms and salary levels to demonstrate eligibility for co-funding. Grant administrators cross-reference declared salary levels against KET documentation and CPF contribution records when verifying employer claims.

A MOM Key Employment Terms (KET) Document in Singapore prescribed by the Employment (Key Employment Terms) Regulations 2016 under Section 95A of the Employment Act 1968 (Cap. 91) must include the following 14 mandatory fields as specified by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), each of which serves a specific compliance and evidentiary purpose in Singapore's employment regulatory framework.

Employer and employee identification must include the full name of the employer (individual or company name as registered with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority, ACRA), the employer's Unique Entity Number (UEN), the employer's registered business address, and the full name of the employee along with the NRIC number (for Singapore citizens and permanent residents) or FIN number and work pass type (for foreign employees holding Employment Passes, S Passes, or Work Permits issued by MOM). MOM's official sample KET template requires these identification fields as the foundational elements linking the employment record to specific parties verifiable through ACRA and MOM databases.

Job title, main duties, and start date must specify the employee's job title as it appears on internal records and work pass applications, a description of main duties and responsibilities sufficient to identify the nature and scope of the role, the date of employment commencement (which triggers the 14-day KET provision deadline), and for fixed-term contracts the specified duration or end date. The job title and duties description must be consistent with the occupation listed in any work pass application submitted to MOM for foreign employees, as MOM's COMPASS (Complementarity Assessment Framework) scoring criteria assess the alignment between declared job scope and actual duties performed.

Working arrangements must specify the daily working hours (start and end time, total hours per day), the number of working days per week, and the rest day entitlement under the Employment Act. Employees covered by Part IV of the Employment Act — non-managers and non-executives earning a basic monthly salary of S$2,600 or below, and workmen earning S$4,500 or below — are entitled to at least one rest day per week under Section 36, with restrictions on overtime hours (maximum 72 hours per month) and mandatory overtime pay at 1.5 times the hourly basic rate under Section 38(1). Flexible work arrangements, including staggered hours, compressed workweeks, remote working, and hybrid arrangements, should be documented where applicable, consistent with MOM's Tripartite Guidelines on Flexible Work Arrangement Requests effective 1 December 2024.

Salary, allowances, and overtime rate must state the basic monthly salary in SGD, the salary period (monthly, weekly, or other), any fixed monthly allowances (transport, housing, meal allowances, shift allowances) listed separately from basic salary to distinguish between components subject to different CPF contribution calculations, and the payment date or payment cycle. The overtime rate for Part IV-covered employees must be stated at 1.5 times the hourly basic rate of pay under Section 38(1) of the Employment Act — calculated by dividing the basic monthly salary by 26 (working days) and then by the number of working hours in a day.

Fixed deductions must itemise any fixed monthly deductions from salary, such as employee CPF contributions (currently 20% of ordinary wages for employees below 55 years of age under the Central Provident Fund Act, Cap. 36), accommodation charges where the employer provides housing, meal deductions where the employer provides meals, and any other lawful deductions authorised under the Employment Act Sections 31-33. Deductions beyond those expressly permitted by the Employment Act are unlawful, and MOM enforcement officers review KET deduction disclosures during workplace compliance inspections.

Leave entitlements must specify annual leave (minimum 7 days for employees with at least 1 year of service, increasing by 1 day per additional year of service to a maximum of 14 days under Section 43 of the Employment Act), paid outpatient sick leave (5-14 days depending on length of service under Section 89), paid hospitalisation leave (up to 60 days including outpatient sick leave under Section 89), and any contractual leave entitlements beyond statutory minimums. Government-Paid Maternity Leave (16 weeks for mothers of Singapore citizen children under the Child Development Co-Savings Act 2001), Government-Paid Paternity Leave (2 weeks under the CDCSA), childcare leave (6 days per year for parents of Singapore citizen children under 7), and public holiday entitlements under the Holidays Act (Cap. 126) should be referenced or stated.

The forms-legal.com MOM Key Employment Terms template includes all 14 mandatory KET fields prescribed by MOM, formatted to match the structure of MOM's official sample KET template and verified against the Employment Act 1968 requirements, the Employment (Key Employment Terms) Regulations 2016 field specifications, and the CPF Act (Cap. 36) contribution obligations applicable to Singapore employers.

Notice period and other terms must state the notice period for termination of employment — at minimum the Employment Act statutory periods prescribed by Section 10 (1 day for employment under 26 weeks, 1 week for 26 weeks to 2 years, 2 weeks for 2 to 5 years, and 4 weeks for 5 years or more) — and any probation period terms, including the reduced notice period typically applicable during probation (commonly 1 week by contractual agreement). The declaration section should confirm that both the employer and the employee have received, read, and understood the KET document, and that the document accurately reflects the agreed employment terms.