Minimum Wage Singapore: What Employers Actually Pay in 2026

If you search “minimum wage Singapore,” you will find a dozen articles that open with “Singapore does not have a minimum wage” and then spend 2,000 words explaining why that statement is both technically correct and practically misleading. Here is the reality: Singapore does not have a single national minimum wage that applies to every worker in every industry. What it has instead is a system of sector-specific mandatory wages, a qualifying salary threshold for companies that hire foreigners, and minimum salary requirements for work pass holders. Between these three mechanisms, Singapore effectively has multiple minimum wages, none of which are called a minimum wage.

The Progressive Wage Model (PWM) sets mandatory minimum pay for workers in cleaning, security, landscaping, lift maintenance, waste management, food services, retail, and administrative roles. The Local Qualifying Salary (LQS) requires companies that hire foreign workers to pay their local employees at least S$1,600 per month (rising to S$1,800 under Budget 2026). And the Employment Pass and S Pass salary thresholds set de facto minimum wages for foreign professionals at S$5,600 and S$3,150 per month respectively.

This guide explains how each of these wage floors works, who they apply to, the specific rates for 2026, and what international companies hiring in Singapore need to understand about compliance.

Singapore’s government has deliberately chosen not to implement a blanket minimum wage. The rationale, which has been articulated by multiple prime ministers and labour ministers over the years, is that a national minimum wage would reduce Singapore’s economic flexibility, potentially price low-skilled workers out of the market, and create an artificial floor that does not account for differences between industries, skill levels, and productivity.

Instead, the government uses the Progressive Wage Model, a sector-specific wage ladder that ties pay increases to skills upgrading and career progression. The idea is that workers do not just get a flat minimum; they get a structured pathway where wages increase as they gain certifications, take on more responsibility, and move into higher-value roles. Whether this works as intended is debated, but the policy direction is clear: Singapore will not adopt a blanket minimum wage. It will expand the PWM to cover more sectors instead.

For employers, the practical consequence is that you need to check multiple wage frameworks depending on the roles you are filling, the nationality of your workers, and whether you employ any foreigners. There is no single number you can look up and apply to your entire workforce.

The PWM is the closest thing Singapore has to a minimum wage, and it now covers a significant and growing portion of the workforce. As of 2026, the following sectors have mandatory PWM wage schedules:

The PWM is mandatory. If your company operates in a covered sector, you must pay at least the PWM rate for the relevant job level. Failure to comply can result in the revocation of your business licence (for licensed sectors like cleaning and security) or the inability to hire foreign workers. The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) enforces compliance through inspections and through the work pass application process.

The PWM rates are not static. They increase on published schedules, typically annually or biennially. Employers must track these increases and adjust payroll accordingly. The government co-funds a portion of these wage increases through the Progressive Wage Credit Scheme (PWCS), which in 2026 provides 30% co-funding for eligible wage increases for workers earning up to S$4,000/month.

The LQS is not technically a minimum wage either, but it functions as one for a large number of companies. If your company employs any foreign workers (Employment Pass, S Pass, or Work Permit holders), you must pay all of your Singaporean and Permanent Resident employees at least the LQS to count them toward your foreign worker quota.

The current LQS is S$1,600 per month for full-time employees and S$10.50 per hour for part-time employees. Under Budget 2026, announced in February 2026 by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, the LQS will increase to S$1,800 per month (with the corresponding part-time hourly rate adjusted proportionally).

The foreign worker quota calculation works as follows: each local employee earning at least the LQS counts as 1.0 local worker toward the quota. Those earning between S$800 and S$1,600 count as 0.5. Under the Budget 2026 changes, the thresholds shift: S$1,800+ counts as 1.0, and S$900 to S$1,800 counts as 0.5.

The LQS matters for international companies because if you hire even one foreigner on an S Pass or Work Permit, the salary you pay your local staff directly affects how many foreign workers you are allowed to employ. Underpaying local staff does not just create a compliance risk; it directly restricts your ability to access foreign talent.

While there is no minimum wage for foreign workers per se, the work pass system sets effective salary floors that function identically:

Under Budget 2026, EP minimum qualifying salaries will increase further from January 2027. The government has been steadily raising these thresholds to ensure that companies hiring foreigners are bringing in genuinely skilled professionals rather than replacing local workers with cheaper foreign labour. For international companies, the EP threshold of S$5,600 means you cannot hire a junior foreigner at a low salary. The system is designed to make foreign hires expensive relative to locals, which pushes employers toward hiring Singaporeans for lower-level roles.

The answer depends on three things: what sector you operate in, whether you hire any foreign workers, and what pass types your foreign workers hold. Here is a simplified decision framework:

If you are in a PWM-covered sector (cleaning, security, landscaping, food services, retail, etc.), you must pay at least the PWM rates for roles covered by the applicable wage schedule. This applies to all Singaporean and PR employees in those roles, regardless of whether you also hire foreigners.

If you hire any foreign workers (EP, S Pass, or Work Permit), you must also pay all local employees at least the LQS (S$1,600, rising to S$1,800 under Budget 2026). If PWM rates for specific roles are higher than the LQS, the PWM rate applies. If the LQS is higher than a given role’s PWM rate, the LQS takes precedence.

If you only employ Singaporeans and PRs and do not operate in a PWM-covered sector, there is no statutory minimum wage. You can technically pay whatever you and the employee agree on. In practice, market rates and the Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) scheme create soft floors, but there is no legal minimum.

The government recognises that mandatory wage increases under the PWM create costs for employers, and it partially offsets these through the PWCS. For 2026, the co-funding rate has been raised to 30% (up from 20%) for eligible wage increases. This means if you raise a lower-wage worker’s pay by S$200/month, the government reimburses S$60/month of that increase for the qualifying period.

Eligibility: the worker must be a Singaporean citizen or PR, earn S$4,000/month or less after the wage increase, have received CPF contributions from your company for at least 3 months in both the preceding and qualifying year, and the wage increase must be at least S$100/month (rising to S$200/month from 2027). The PWCS has been extended through 2028, with co-funding at 30% in 2026 and 2027, and 20% in 2028.

For international companies, the PWCS is effectively a subsidy for hiring lower-wage Singaporean workers. If your EOR or local entity is properly registered and filing CPF contributions, the PWCS payout should be automatic. Verify with your EOR that they are capturing this credit.

The WIS is a government income supplement paid directly to lower-wage Singaporean workers, not through the employer. It tops up the worker’s income and CPF savings. From January 2025, the qualifying income cap was raised to S$3,000/month, and the maximum annual payout increased to S$4,900 for older workers (60+). Payments are split 40% cash and 60% CPF.

The WIS does not affect the employer’s payroll obligations, but it is relevant context: for low-wage workers, the government is effectively supplementing income through WIS, subsidising wage increases through PWCS, and mandating minimum pay through PWM. The combined effect is a comprehensive system for uplifting lower-wage workers without a blanket minimum wage law.

When you hire through an EOR in Singapore, the EOR is the legal employer and must comply with all applicable wage requirements: PWM rates for covered roles, LQS for its local employees if it employs any foreign workers (which most EOR entities do), and the correct minimum salary for work pass applications.

The most common compliance issue for EOR clients is the interaction between the LQS and the EOR’s foreign worker quota. Because the EOR entity employs workers from multiple client companies, the total number of local and foreign employees across all clients affects the EOR’s quota. Some EOR providers manage this by maintaining a careful balance of local and foreign workers, while others may restrict the number of foreign worker placements they accept. If you are trying to hire a foreigner through an EOR in Singapore, the EOR’s ability to sponsor the work pass depends partly on its own workforce composition.

Ask your EOR: are PWM rates applied for any applicable roles? Is the LQS reflected in the employment contracts for local hires? Does the EOR entity have sufficient quota to sponsor the work pass you need? Is the PWCS credit being claimed and passed through to clients?