Singapore Newsletter – June
Mid Year HR & Employment Compliance Check In
As we move into the middle of 2026, June is an ideal time for employers operating in Singapore to pause and review their HR and employment practices with a compliance check. For international organisations, local compliance risks often arise not from major legislative changes, but from out of date policies, inconsistent processes or misalignment between global and local practices.
A structured mid-year review helps ensure your Singapore operations remain compliant, efficient and well prepared for the second half of the year.
Key areas employers should review mid-year
Mid-year is a useful checkpoint to review core areas of your HR and employment practices, ensuring they remain aligned with both statutory requirements and daily operational reality.
Employment contracts and HR policies
- Are employment contracts aligned with the latest Employment Act requirements?
- Have policies been updated to reflect recent changes to leave entitlements, flexible working arrangements and parental leave?
- Are global policies properly localised for Singapore?
Ministry of Manpower Singapore – Employment Act
Leave Management and employee records
- Are statutory leave entitlements being applied correctly?
- Is leave tracking accurate and consistently managed across teams?
- Are employee records complete, up to date and securely maintained?
- Are records handled in line with data protection requirements under the Personal Data Protection Act 2012 (PDPA)?
Manager capability and consistency
- Do managers understand their responsibilities under Singapore employment law and emerging frameworks such as the Workplace Fairness Act?
- Are performance assessments documented and aligned with fair employment expectations under the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP)?
- Are managers trained to recognise and reduce bias in performance reviews, promotions and disciplinary decisions?
- Are performance conversations and people decisions being handled consistently across teams?
- Is there clarity between global HR guidance and local legal requirements?
Payroll and compliance alignment
- Are payroll processes aligned with current statutory requirements?
- Are allowances, bonuses and variable pay structured correctly?
- Are Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions and reporting accurate for all eligible employees?
- Is there a clear audit trail supporting payroll and employee data?
Mid-year performance reviews are more than a process checkpoint
Alongside the compliance check, mid-year is also an important point to assess how effectively performance is being managed across the organisation.
For businesses with a structured review cycle, this should be one of several meaningful check-ins throughout the year. It is a chance to review progress, revisit objectives and have open conversations about development, rather than simply completing a process.
A well-structured mid-year review helps ensure that:
Objectives remain relevant and aligned to business priorities and strategy
Business conditions can shift quickly, particularly in regional or growth markets. Mid-year reviews provide an opportunity to reset goals where needed.
Employee capability is actively developed, not just assessed
Effective reviews should identify development areas, not just measure past performance, supporting both technical and leadership capability.
Feedback is timely and actionable
Waiting until year-end to address performance gaps can create risk and disengagement. Mid-year conversations allow for earlier course correction.
Performance decisions are fair and well supported
Consistent documentation supports fair outcomes for promotions, bonuses and performance management actions.
Managers are equipped to lead effectively
Mid-year reviews highlight whether managers are confident and consistent in handling performance conversations, which is often a key risk area.
In practice, a well-designed performance review process strengthens both compliance and capability, ensuring that people decisions are fair, transparent and aligned to business needs.
Black Mountain’s HR Advisory team can support you in designing or refining your approach, helping managers and employees move beyond a form-filling exercise and have more meaningful performance conversations. This can include process design, policy development and manager training.
Retirement and re-employment age changes from 1 July 2026
In addition to ongoing mid-year compliance check and performance reviews, employers in Singapore should be aware of upcoming statutory changes taking effect from 1 July 2026.
From this date:
- The statutory retirement age will increase from 63 to 64
- The statutory re-employment age will increase from 68 to 69
These changes apply to Singapore citizens and permanent residents covered under the Retirement and Re-Employment Act and form part of the Government’s longer-term plan to progressively raise the retirement age to 65 and the re-employment age to 70 to 2030.
What does this mean for employers and what should they now consider?
- Employment contracts and re-employment policies should be reviewed to ensure they reflect the updated age thresholds
- Workforce planning and succession discussions may need revisiting where senior employees are approaching retirement or re-employment milestones.
- Payroll processes should be checked to ensure age-related rules and CPF contributions requirements continue to be applied accurately.
While these retirement age changes do not impact CPF withdrawal or payout ages, they may extend periods during which CPF contributions continue to apply, making payroll alignment especially important for compliance.
Why this matters for international employers
Many organisations manage Singapore as part of a wider regional or global structure. Without regular local check-ins, this can lead to:
- Increased compliance risk
- Inconsistent employee experience
- Last-minute issues during audits, disputes or regulatory changes
- Pressure on HR teams later in the year
A proactive mid-year review helps identify and address issues early, before they escalate.
Black Mountain perspective
We often see international employers focus on compliance at the point of entry into Singapore, but less attention is given to ongoing alignment as the business evolves.
Mid-year is an effective checkpoint to ensure that HR, payroll and people practices are still fit for purpose, particularly as statutory requirements and business needs continue to shift.
Black Mountain supports international clients in Singapore by:
- Reviewing HR documentation and policies
- Providing practical guidance on local employment law expectations
- Supporting manager capability and HR processes
- Ensuring HR, payroll and employee benefits are aligned and compliant
How Black Mountain can help
If you would like support reviewing your Singapore HR practices or preparing for the second half of 2026, our locally based team can help you identify gaps, reduce risk and ensure your approach remains compliant, consistent and scalable.
🖥️ – blackmountainhr.com
📞 – +65 6050 2595