How to Manage Singapore Employee Payroll Statutory Requirements

Modified on Mon, 27 Jul at 9:42 AM

Overview:

This article covers the statutory setup for Singapore employees in Omni HR platform including enrolling the employee into your Singapore entity, then completing the Immigration Status and Self-Help Group (SHG) fields.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Overview:
Create the Employee Profile
Enroll the Employee into the Singapore Entity
Complete Identification & Statutory Details

Create the Employee Profile

Statutory setup can only be done once the employee exists in Omni HR.

If the employee hasn't been added yet, follow How to Add a New Employee first, then return to this article.
If the profile already exists, skip ahead to the steps below.

Enroll the Employee into the Singapore Entity

Enrolling the employee into your Singapore entity is what triggers the country-specific statutory fields to appear on their profile.

Select the Payroll tab from the left-hand side panel.
Under the relevant country, select the Singapore entity you want to enroll the employee into.
Click Enroll Employee, select the employee, then click Save.
The employee's name will now appear in the list of employees under that entity.

Complete Identification & Statutory Details

Once enrolled, Omni HR displays country-specific fields in the payroll tab of the employee's profile, for identification and statutory information.

These fields are what our payroll system uses to calculate CPF, SDL, and SHG contributions, so they need to be filled in accurately.

Step 1: Immigration Status

Select the Immigration Status that reflects the employee's actual status in Singapore. This is the key field for statutory accuracy — it's what tells our payroll system which contributions apply (for example, CPF is not calculated for work pass holders).

Immigration Status	Typically used for	CPF	SDL
Singapore Citizen	Employees holding Singapore citizenship	Yes	Yes
Singapore PR	Employees holding Singapore PR status	Yes — graduated rates may apply, see note below	Yes
E Pass / S Pass / Work Pass	Foreign employees on a valid MOM work pass	No	Yes
Intern	Student interns	No	No
Contract (No CPF, No SDL)	Contract arrangement excluded from both	No	No
Contract With SDL (No CPF, W/SDL)	Contract arrangement excluded from CPF only	No	Yes

Note: If you select Singapore PR, also fill in the PR Effective Date and Expiry Date. Our payroll system uses these dates to apply the correct CPF contribution rate for the employee's PR tenure.

Step 2: Identification Number

After selecting the Immigration Status, fill in the employee's corresponding identification number (e.g., NRIC for Singapore Citizens/PRs, or FIN for pass holders). This should match the employee's identification document exactly, as it feeds into CPF submissions and other statutory filings.

Step 3: Self-Help Group (SHG) Contributions

Next, complete the SHG contribution field. Singapore has four Self-Help Group (SHG) funds, each supporting lower-income households within a specific community:

Fund	Community	Who contributes
CDAC — Chinese Development Assistance Council Fund	Chinese	Singapore Citizens and PRs from the Chinese community
ECF — Eurasian Community Fund	Eurasian	Singapore Citizens and PRs from the Eurasian community
MBMF — Mosque Building and Mendaki Fund	Muslim	Singapore Citizens, PRs, and foreign employees who are Muslim
SINDA — Singapore Indian Development Association Fund	Indian	Singapore Citizens, PRs, and Employment Pass holders from the Indian community

SHG contributions are opt-out rather than opt-in, eligible employees contribute by default based on their declared community and can choose to opt out or change their contribution tier. Make sure the appropriate SHG contribution amount is selected on the employee’s profile, either the statutory default or a custom amount to ensure payroll deducts the correct contribution each cycle.

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