Foreign Worker Levy and Quota in Singapore: The Employer Guide (2026)

By Lucas Seah, Founder of Excellence Singapore Group | Last Updated: July 2026

If you employ Work Permit or S Pass holders in Singapore, you pay the foreign worker levy: a monthly fee the government uses as a pricing mechanism to regulate the number of foreign workers. In 2026, Work Permit levy rates range from S$200 to S$900 a month depending on your sector, the worker’s skill level and your quota tier, while the S Pass levy is a flat S$650 across all sectors. The levy works hand in hand with the quota, the dependency ratio ceiling that caps how many foreign workers your local headcount can support. This guide sets out the full 2026 rate matrix, the quota maths, and the increases already announced for 2028, so you can budget Work Permit and S Pass headcount with confidence.

Key Takeaways

• Work Permit levy rates in 2026 run from S$200 (process sector, higher-skilled, Malaysia, NAS and PRC) to S$900 (construction, basic-skilled NTS) a month.
• The S Pass levy is harmonised at S$650 a month across all sectors and tiers, in place since 1 September 2025.
• The quota is the dependency ratio ceiling: services 35 percent, manufacturing 60 percent, marine shipyard 75 percent, construction and process 83.3 percent.
• MOM computes your quota from the CPF records of your local employees, averaged over the last 3 months; a local counts as 1 at S$1,800 or more a month and 0.5 at S$900 to below S$1,800.
• Levy increases for 2028 are already announced for the process, marine shipyard, manufacturing and services sectors, so build them into multi-year budgets now.
• The employer pays the levy by GIRO and cannot recover it from worker salaries.

What is the foreign worker levy?

The foreign worker levy is a pricing mechanism that regulates the number of foreign workers in Singapore. You pay it monthly for every Work Permit and S Pass holder you employ, at rates set by sector, skill level and quota tier. In 2026, Work Permit rates span S$200 to S$900 a month, and the S Pass rate is S$650.

Levy liability starts on the day the pass is issued and ends only when the pass is cancelled or expires. There is no grace period for notice or handover, so when a worker leaves, cancel the pass promptly: every extra day accrues levy. If the departure is a retrenchment rather than a resignation, work through our retrenchment versus termination guide before you cancel anything.

Payment runs monthly by GIRO, and the levy is always the employer’s cost. MOM prohibits recovering it from worker salaries, whether as a deduction, an admin fee or a condition of the job. Treat it like employer CPF for local staff: a cost of holding the headcount, never the worker’s bill.

How does the quota (dependency ratio ceiling) work?

The quota, formally the dependency ratio ceiling (DRC), caps foreign workers as a share of your total workforce. The 2026 ceilings are 83.3 percent in construction and process, 75 percent in marine shipyard, 60 percent in manufacturing and 35 percent in services.

Sub-quotas inside the DRC

Two sub-quotas sit within the overall ceiling. S Pass holders are capped at 10 percent of the workforce in services and 15 percent in every other sector. PRC Work Permit holders carry their own sub-quota too: 8 percent in services and 25 percent in manufacturing.

How MOM counts your local workforce

MOM computes your quota from the CPF records of your local employees, averaged over the last 3 months, and refreshes the figure every Saturday. Only genuine employees you pay CPF for count, so an independent contractor builds no quota. Salary matters as well: a local counts as 1 full headcount at S$1,800 or more a month and 0.5 at S$900 to below S$1,800. Those thresholds come from the local qualifying salary framework, and the announced changes are covered in our July 2026 salary hike and SME quota guide.

The ratio way to read your quota

In construction and process, the 83.3 percent ceiling works out to 5 Work Permit holders for every qualifying local employee. In marine shipyard, 75 percent means 3 per local. That framing shows the stakes clearly: lose one counted local, or let a part-timer’s pay slip below a threshold, and your foreign worker entitlement shrinks with it.

Work Permit levy rates by sector, 2026

Levy rates depend on the sector, the worker’s skill level and, in manufacturing and services, the quota tier the worker falls into. Higher-skilled status comes from recognised qualifications, salary, experience or skills certificates, and it cuts the rate sharply: in services Tier 1, a higher-skilled worker costs S$300 a month against S$450 for basic-skilled.

Tiering rewards a leaner foreign mix. Manufacturing runs three tiers up to its 60 percent ceiling, and services runs three up to 35 percent. A worker’s rate depends on which band of your workforce that worker occupies, so the last hires before the ceiling are the most expensive ones. NTS means Non-Traditional Sources, and NAS means North Asian Sources.

Category	Skill level	Monthly levy	Daily levy
Construction (rates from 1 January 2024)
Malaysia, NAS and PRC	Higher-skilled	S$300	S$9.87
Malaysia, NAS and PRC	Basic-skilled	S$700	S$23.02
NTS	Higher-skilled	S$500	S$16.44
NTS	Basic-skilled	S$900	S$29.59
Approved without required certification	Unskilled	S$900	S$29.59
Manufacturing (tiered by foreign workforce share)
Tier 1: up to 25% of workforce	Higher-skilled	S$250	S$8.22
Tier 1: up to 25% of workforce	Basic-skilled	S$370	S$12.17
Tier 2: above 25% to 50%	Higher-skilled	S$350	S$11.51
Tier 2: above 25% to 50%	Basic-skilled	S$470	S$15.46
Tier 3: above 50% to 60%	Higher-skilled	S$550	S$18.09
Tier 3: above 50% to 60%	Basic-skilled	S$650	S$21.37
Services (tiered by foreign workforce share)
Tier 1: up to 10% of workforce	Higher-skilled	S$300	S$9.87
Tier 1: up to 10% of workforce	Basic-skilled	S$450	S$14.80
Tier 2: above 10% to 25%	Higher-skilled	S$400	S$13.16
Tier 2: above 10% to 25%	Basic-skilled	S$600	S$19.73
Tier 3: above 25% to 35%	Higher-skilled	S$600	S$19.73
Tier 3: above 25% to 35%	Basic-skilled	S$800	S$26.31
Process
Malaysia, NAS and PRC	Higher-skilled	S$200	S$6.58
Malaysia, NAS and PRC	Basic-skilled	S$450	S$14.80
NTS	Higher-skilled	S$300	S$9.87
NTS	Basic-skilled	S$650	S$21.37
Marine shipyard
All source countries	Higher-skilled	S$350	S$11.51
All source countries	Basic-skilled	S$500	S$16.44
S Pass (since 1 September 2025)
All sectors, all tiers	All levels	S$650	S$21.37

One construction rule deserves its own line: workers approved without the required certification are charged S$900 as unskilled, per the MOM construction sector requirements. Getting certification recognised before arrival is worth real money every month.

The basic-skilled rates show the spread across sectors most clearly:

Two patterns stand out. Construction NTS basic-skilled, at S$900, is the ceiling of the whole matrix. And services climbs steeply through its tiers, from S$450 to S$800, so a growing services firm can watch its marginal levy nearly double as the foreign share rises.

What is the S Pass levy in 2026?

The S Pass levy is a flat S$650 a month, or S$21.37 a day, across every sector. The harmonised rate has applied since 1 September 2025, replacing the old two-tier structure, so your sector and workforce mix no longer change what an S Pass holder costs in levy. For S Pass salary thresholds and quota planning, see our complete S Pass guide.

The quota still binds, though: S Pass holders are capped at 10 percent of your workforce in services and 15 percent elsewhere, inside the overall DRC. For roles above the S Pass salary bar, the Employment Pass carries no levy and no quota at all, which is one reason employers compare the two routes. Our 2026 COMPASS salary benchmarks guide covers what the EP route now demands.

How is the daily levy rate calculated?

The daily levy rate is the monthly rate multiplied by 12, divided by 365, then rounded up to the nearest cent. It applies only when a worker does not work a full calendar month, typically the month a pass is issued and the month it is cancelled or expires.

Take the S Pass rate as a worked example. S$650 x 12 gives S$7,800; divided by 365 that is S$21.3698, which rounds up to S$21.37 a day. A pass issued on the 20th of a 30-day month accrues 11 days at S$21.37, or S$235.07, rather than the full S$650. The same formula produces every daily figure in the table above.

Levy changes already announced for 2028

MOM has already announced levy increases taking effect in 2028 across four sectors: process, marine shipyard, manufacturing and services, with the notices published on each sector’s MOM requirements page. Basic-skilled process rates rise by S$150, marine shipyard by S$100, and manufacturing and services will each merge Tiers 1 and 2 into a single tier at higher rates. Implementation timelines are still to be confirmed by MOM. For the wider hiring obligations beyond levy and quota, see our Work Permit employer guide.

• Process: basic-skilled Malaysia, NAS and PRC rises from S$450 to S$600; basic-skilled NTS from S$650 to S$800.
• Marine shipyard: basic-skilled rises from S$500 to S$600.
• Manufacturing: Tiers 1 and 2 merge; the merged tier is S$300 higher-skilled and S$470 basic-skilled.
• Services: Tiers 1 and 2 merge; the merged tier is S$400 higher-skilled and S$600 basic-skilled.

The tier mergers hit the leanest employers hardest. A manufacturing firm in Tier 1 today pays S$370 for a basic-skilled worker; at the merged S$470 rate, that is S$1,200 more a year per worker. A services firm in Tier 1 sees basic-skilled climb from S$450 to S$600, an extra S$1,800 a year. Tier 2 employers, by contrast, mostly pay what they already pay, and on the announced numbers, manufacturing Tier 2 higher-skilled actually eases from S$350 to S$300. Construction was not part of the announcement. If your hiring plan runs past 2027, build the new rates in now and watch MOM for the confirmed dates.

How do you check and pay your levy?

Use MOM’s Check and pay levy eService, logging in with Corppass, to see your levy bill, payment records and quota position. Payment is collected by GIRO, so keep the registered bank account funded: a failed deduction counts as non-payment, not a deferral.

Late or non-payment bites quickly. Penalties apply on outstanding levy, and arrears block you from applying for or renewing Work Permits and S Passes. There is a quieter risk too: your quota and levy tiers rest on the CPF declarations you make for local staff, so late CPF submissions can shrink your countable local workforce and push workers into a higher, costlier tier. Disciplined payroll, covered in our employer payroll guide, is levy protection as much as salary compliance.

If an unpaid levy or a quota breach has already stalled an application or renewal, our work visa team can review the position and map the fastest route back to compliant hiring.

When can you get a levy waiver?

MOM waives the levy in defined situations, most commonly when a worker is overseas for an extended period or is on hospitalisation leave. Waivers are not automatic: you apply through MOM with supporting documents, and the qualifying conditions and limits are set out on the levy pages.

Keep the evidence tidy from day one. Travel records, hospitalisation certificates and leave records decide these applications, and reconstructing them months later rarely goes well. If a worker will be away for a long stretch, check the current waiver conditions before assuming the levy simply stops.

What does the levy mean for your headcount budget?

The levy is a fixed monthly overhead per foreign worker, so price it into every hire before you recruit. A services company hiring a basic-skilled Work Permit holder in Tier 1 pays S$450 a month, S$5,400 a year, on top of salary. An S Pass holder adds S$650 a month, S$7,800 a year.

The tier system makes the marginal hire dearer than the average one. If that services company’s foreign share crosses 10 percent, workers in the next band cost S$600 a month, and above 25 percent, S$800. Model your workforce mix before you sign offer letters, not after.

The levy also moves with everything else in payroll: CPF for locals sets your quota, salary levels set how each local counts, and GIRO timing shapes cashflow. Many SMEs hand that whole stack to our payroll outsourcing service so levy tiers, CPF submissions and pay runs stay aligned. And if the levy maths nudges you toward other hiring routes, our Dependant’s Pass, LOC versus EP guide covers the family-member options.

Frequently asked questions

How much is the foreign worker levy in Singapore?

Work Permit levy rates in 2026 range from S$200 to S$900 a month, depending on the sector, the worker’s skill level and the quota tier. The S Pass levy is a flat S$650 a month across all sectors. The highest rate, S$900, applies to construction workers from Non-Traditional Sources at basic-skilled level.

Who pays the foreign worker levy?

The employer pays the levy in full, every month, for each Work Permit and S Pass holder. It is a business cost, and MOM does not allow employers to recover it from worker salaries, whether as a deduction, a fee or an employment condition.

How do I check and pay the levy?

Use the MOM Check and pay levy eService, logging in with Corppass, to view your levy bill and payment records. Payment is made by GIRO from your registered bank account, so keep the account funded to avoid a failed deduction being treated as non-payment.

How is the daily levy rate calculated?

Multiply the monthly rate by 12, divide by 365, and round up to the nearest cent. A S$650 monthly levy works out to S$21.37 a day. The daily rate applies only when a worker does not work a full calendar month, such as the month a pass is issued or cancelled.

What happens if I pay the levy late?

Penalties apply on the outstanding amount, and you can lose the ability to apply for or renew Work Permits and S Passes until the arrears are cleared. Late CPF declarations for local staff carry a related cost: they can reduce your counted local workforce and push workers into a higher levy tier.

Will levy rates increase?

Yes. MOM has announced increases for 2028: basic-skilled process rates rise to S$600 and S$800, marine shipyard basic-skilled rises to S$600, and manufacturing and services will each merge Tiers 1 and 2 at higher merged rates. MOM will confirm the implementation timelines closer to the date.

Get the levy and quota side of hiring right

Levy rates, quota tiers and CPF records move together, so a single late submission or a mistimed hire can raise your monthly bill or block a renewal. Excellence Singapore runs payroll outsourcing, work pass applications and corporate compliance under one roof, which keeps your levy position watched by the same team that runs your pay run. Talk to us before your next Work Permit or S Pass hire and we will price the levy into the plan from day one.