Defining Absence Rules

This section provides an overview of absence rules for Singapore and discusses:

• Delivered absence primary elements—(the absence entitlement and absence take elements).

• Calculate annual leave.

• Calculate sick leave.

• Calculate hospitalization leave.

• Calculate maternity leave.

• Calculate national service leave.

• Calculate other leave.

• Calculate special leave.

• Calculate leave without pay.

• Calculate absence entitlements on termination.

Understanding Absence Rules for Singapore

Global Payroll for Singapore delivers predefined rules for processing absence payments, such as annual leave, sick leave, maternity leave, other leave and national service leave. Rules are also delivered to calculate unused annual leave on termination. You can easily modify any of these rules to reflect absence and termination policies that are specific to your organization or to labor agreements with your employees.

To demonstrate how Global Payroll can process typical absence requirements in Singapore, PeopleSoft provides 10 absence entitlement elements and 10 absence take elements. After the table of primary elements—the absence and take elements—we describe the interaction of each element with supporting elements.

Understanding Delivered Absence Primary Elements

Primary absence elements are absence entitlements—entitlement or pro rata—and absence takes. In the following tables, we cross-reference entitlements to takes and takes to entitlements in the description column. After the following tables, we describe each element in the context of leave calculations.

This section discusses:

• Absence entitlements elements.

• Absence take elements.

Delivered Absence Entitlements

The following table lists the absence entitlement elements for Singapore. Absence entitlement elements define how much paid time off your organization gives payees for various kinds of absences. They also specify the entitlement period, the calculation frequency, and any automatic adjustments to make to entitlement balances.

Delivered Absence Takes

The following table lists the absence take elements for Singapore. Absence take elements define your rules for allowing paid time off. They define which kinds of absences are valid and the requirements that must be met before entitlement can be used.

Calculating Annual Leave

This section provides an overview of annual leave calculations, and discusses how to:

• Calculate annual leave on a pay period basis.

• Calculate annual leave at every anniversary.

Understanding Annual Leave Calculations

Every employee who has worked for at least 3 months is entitled to pro rated annual leave. The entitlement is based on working days (and not calendar days). We provide two absence entitlements for the calculation of annual leave entitlement. The first entitlement— ANN GENL ENT— calculates leave on a pay period basis. Leave entitlement is based on the years of service within the company. Pro rata leave entitlement is calculated at every pay period and added to the balance. This process also verifies that the total leave does not exceed beyond a particular holding.

The other annual leave entitlement— ANN STAT ENT— is calculated at every anniversary for the employee. The total entitlement is based on the years of service and the number of accrual days is based on the values that are set in a bracket. This leave entitlement does not check for maximum balance carryover into the next anniversary year (for the employee).

Note. There is no fixed legislation to carryover entitlements. Generally, leave balance from one year cannot be carried over for more than two years. In some cases, restriction also applies on the number of days that can be accrued at each quarter. For example, if the number of days in the first year of service was 10, then a maximum of 3 must be used within the first quarter—otherwise, the 3 days are forfeited.

Calculating Annual Leave by Pay Period

The annual leave entitlement— ANN GENL ENT— using formula ANN FM GENL ENT (with generation control ANN GC ELIG STS) calculates leave on a pay period basis (returning the monthly annual leave entitlement during the monthly accrual process). The leave entitlement is based on the years of service within the company. Pro rata leave entitlement is calculated at every pay period and added to the balance. This process also uses formula ANN FM MAX ADJST to verify that the total leave does not exceed beyond a particular holding.

The ALV FM GENL ENT formula resolves as follows:

1. The annual leave entitlement value is retrieved from bracket ANN BR GENL ENT. This annual leave bracket defines the entitlement an employee can earn in each year of service. The bracket is used while calculating the entitlement on a per pay period basis. The bracket search keys and return column values are as follows (after the completion of (x) years of service, an employee is entitled to (x) days of leave):

   Years Of Service (LVE DR YR OF SVC)	Days Of Leave (ANN BR GENL ENT)
   1st	7
   2nd	8
   3rd	9
   4th	10
   5th	11
   6th	12
   7th	13
   8th (and thereafter)	14

2. The bracket uses duration CM DR YR OF SERV to return the employee’s years of service (number of years between the service date SERVICE DT and the pay period end date PERIOD END DATE).

   The yearly entitlement is deannualised whenever the entitlement has not been changed during the pay period. If the entitlement has been changed, the partial entitlements before and after the anniversary date are added up and returned.

3. The current year’s annual leave entitlement variable ANN VR CURR ENT stores the current deannualised annual leave entitlement.

   The previous year’s annual leave entitlement variable LVE VR PREV ENT stores the previous deannualised annual leave entitlement.

4. The formula CM FM PREV ACCM returns the previous year’s accumulator balance variable PREV VALUE ACCM (to add to the current new year accumulator balance) and is used in the accumulator initialize rule.

5. The entitlement adjustment unit formula ANN FM MAX ADJST calculates the maximum carry over entitlement of annual leave. This carry over adjustment is executed at every pay period and the adjustment reduces the entitlement. The formula looks up the current and previous year entitlement and checks if the cumulative entitlement is over the next year (of service) entitlement.

6. The annual leave balance accumulator ANN GENL ENT_BAL is carried forward to the new annual leave accumulator.

   Whenever the accumulator begins, the previous accumulator balance is brought to the current balance (new accumulator period).

   The variables, ANN VR ANNIV MTH (begin month) and ANN VR ANNIV DY (begin day) specify the begin date of the accumulators.

   All accumulator periods are year-to-date (YTD) and begin to accumulate from the employee’s hire date.

7. Generation control ANN GC ELIG STS identifies active employees who have completed the probation period at the end of the pay period that is being calculated. This generation control is only attached to the annual leave entitlement. The generation control uses formula ANN FM ELIG which verifies if the period end date is beyond the eligibility date. This formula validates the annual leave entitlement for the employee.

8. The takes day formula ANN FM TAKE UNIT calculates leave for employees. Based on the schedule hours and holiday type, a unit of 1 or 0 is returned to the formula.

Calculating Annual Leave at Every Anniversary

The annual leave entitlement— ANN STAT ENT— is calculated at every anniversary for the employee. The total entitlement is based on the years of service and the number of accrual days is based on the values that are set in bracket ANN BR STAT ENT. This leave entitlement does not check for maximum balance carryover into the next anniversary year (for the employee). The accrual process runs once for every 12-month period from the employee’s hire date. The annual leave entitlement ANN STAT ENT, using formula ANN FM STAT ENT, returns the annual leave entitlement for statutory employees, only when their anniversary dates occur in the current pay period. The formula also returns annual leave entitlement from the employee’s last anniversary date to the termination date only when the employee is terminated in the current pay period.

The ANN FM STAT ENT formula resolves as follows:

1. The annual leave entitlement value is retrieved from bracket ANN BR STAT ENT. This annual leave bracket defines the entitlement an employee can earn in each year of service. At the completion of a full year of service, the entitlement is calculated based on the total years of service in the company.

   The bracket search keys and return column values are as follows:

   Years Of Service (LVE DR YR OF SVC)	Days Of Leave (ANN BR GENL ENT)
   1st	7
   2nd	8
   3rd	9
   4th	10
   5th	11
   6th	12
   7th	13
   8th (and thereafter)	14

2. The duration LVE DR YR OF SVC returns the years of service (number of years between the service date SERVICE DT and the pay period end date PERIOD END DATE).

3. The current year’s annual leave entitlement variable ANN VR CURR ENT stores the current deannualised annual leave entitlement.

   The previous year’s annual leave entitlement variable LVE VR PREV ENT stores the previous deannualised annual leave entitlement.

4. The formula CM FM PREV ACCM returns the previous year’s balance (system variable PREV VALUE ACCM) and is used in the accumulator initialize rule.

5. The annual leave balance accumulator ANN STAT ENT_BAL is carried forward to the new annual leave accumulator.

   Whenever the accumulator begins, the previous accumulator balance is brought to the current balance (new accumulator period).

   The variables ANN VR ANNIV MTH and ANN VR ANNIV DT specify the accumulator’s begin date.

   All accumulator periods are YTD and begin to accumulate from the employee’s hire date.

6. The takes day formula ANN FM TAKE UNIT calculates leave for employees. Based on the schedule hours and holiday type, a unit of 1 or 0 is returned to the formula.

See Also

Understanding Absence Rules for Singapore

Understanding Delivered Absence Primary Elements

Understanding Absence Management

Calculating Sick Leave

Every employee who has worked for at least 6 months is entitled to sick leave. The entitlement is a maximum of 14 working days for non-hospitalization and up to 60 days where hospitalization is necessary. An employee cannot claim paid sick leave while on annual leave, rest day, public holiday or any non-working day.

The sick leave entitlement— SLV SICK ENT—using eligibility SCK GC ELIG and formula SCK FM GC ELIG grants the entitlement to the employee. The maximum days is set to 14 days and the value is stored in variable SCK VR FXD ENT. You can change the value in this variable to suit your company requirements.

The entitlement is granted each calendar year. When sick leave exceeds entitlement, the extra days are taken from the annual leave. Balance days that cannot be reduced from annual leave are converted into unpaid leave and deduction is generated within payroll

Note. There are no accrual rules for sick leave. The entitlement cannot be carried forwarded into another term. There is also no proration rule for sick leave accrual.

See Also

Understanding Absence Rules for Singapore

Understanding Delivered Absence Primary Elements

Understanding Absence Management

Calculating Hospitalization Leave

Hospitalization leave is calculated in the same way as Sick Leave. The only difference is that the entitlement is 60 days in a calendar year (provided probation has been completed). The 60 day limit is controlled using the variable HSP VR MAX ENT and you can change the value in this variable to suit your company requirements.

Employee eligibility is determined by generation control HSP GC ELIG which refers to the HSP FM GC ELIG formula. The daily take formula HSP FM TAKE UNIT evaluates if the day identified is a working day and whether the employee was scheduled to work on that day. Hospital leave over 60 days (or the maximum set in the variable) will be taken from annual leave before becoming unpaid leave.

See Also

Understanding Absence Rules for Singapore

Understanding Delivered Absence Primary Elements

Understanding Absence Management

Calculating Maternity Leave

All female employees are covered by the Maternity Protection and Benefits of the Employment Act. A pregnant female employee is entitled to leave from work for 4 weeks before and 4 weeks immediately after delivery, totalling 8 weeks. The 8 weeks leave is to be paid by the employer if the female employee satisfies specific conditions. Employees who have completed 180 days of service in the company are entitled to maternity leave.

Note. Maternity leave is fixed for 8 weeks. This leave cannot be carried over to another term.

Calculating Maternity Leave Payments

The maternity leave entitlement— MAT LVE ENT—using formula MLV FM MAT ENT maintains and calculates maternity leave taken by employees. The calculation is based on per absence days. Absence take MAT LVE TAKE maintains the total days for maternity. An employee can earn maternity as paid leave provided they have completed their probation period. The probation period is calculated as 180 days of service from the date of joining. An employee is allowed a maximum of 8 weeks of leave, which is controlled by using a variable MLV VR MAX Days. A maximum of 8 weeks of leave is granted with full pay. If the absence day count is greater than 8 weeks / 56 days, the days will reduce the annual leave (if any is available) before becoming unpaid leave.

Formula MLV FM MAT ENT checks if an employee is eligible for claiming maternity leave. The check is based on the completion of 180 days of service within the company. If the probation period has not been completed, the day take will result in unpaid leave. If the ABSENCE DATE is less than the maternity leave eligibility date (date MLV DT ELIG), the formula does not resolve.

The conditional resolution formula MLV FM RESOLVE ENT (Maternity Leave Resolve Formula) verifies that the employee is not being paid for more than the maximum days variable MLV VR MAX Days value. If duration MLV DR MAT—The rule that returns the number of days between absence begin and end date—. is less than variable MLV VR MAX DAYS.

See Also

Understanding Absence Rules for Singapore

Understanding Delivered Absence Primary Elements

Understanding Absence Management

Calculating National Service Leave

National Service leave is a compulsory leave taken by Singapore citizens. Every Singapore citizen (male) must return for national service / reservice and the duration depends on various factors that are not controlled by Global Payroll. An employer must grant their employee leave of absence if the employee is required to report for National Service. The leave is calculated as unpaid leave and the employee has to submit the appropriate papers to the administration and claim the loss of pay (for the period). National Service Leave is not really an entitlement—employees are expected to go for national service and that time, the employer may decide not to pay the employee. Each day of absence is considered as unpaid. The payroll process generates a positive input as Makeup Pay and the amount is reduced from total earnings for the pay period. Employees will have to claim the amount from MINDEF directly.

Calculating National Service Payments

The National Service Leave entitlement— NSL LVE ENT— uses conditional resolution formula NSL FM RESOLV ENT for resolving national service leave. Each working day (based on the schedule) resolves to 1 (the entitlement is Numeric 1.00 when the SCHED HRS is greater than 0). The process identifies each day taken as reservice leave and generates a Makeup earning entry into payroll. The loss of pay appears on the payslip as Makeup pay and the employee can claim this amount back from the MINDEF. When payroll is processed and it finds National Service leave for an employee, MakeUp pay earnings are generated.

Note. There are no accrual or proration rules for this type of leave and the entitlement cannot be carried forward into another term. Since National Service leave is a mandatory service for male Singapore citizens, the call for service is initiated by the Ministry of Defence. The number of days relating to National Service are determined and calculated by the administration.

See Also

Understanding Absence Rules for Singapore

Understanding Delivered Absence Primary Elements

Understanding Absence Management

Calculating Other Leave

Legislation recognizes the following leave as Other Leave. There are however, no rules that must be followed. It is up to the employer and employee to negotiate at the time of signing the contract.

This section discusses how to calculate:

• Paternity leave.

• Newly married leave.

• Special leave.

Calculating Paternity Leave

Paternity leave entitlement PAT LVE ENT enables a maximum entitlement of 3 days. The entitlement is accrues per absence. The 3 days is controlled by a variable PAT VR MAX DAYS which you can modify, depending on individual company policy. If the leave extends more than the days specified in the variable, the additional days are reduced from their annual leave before becoming unpaid leave.

Employees are granted paternity entitlement provided they have completed their probation period. The probation period is 180 days and upon completion, employees can apply for paternity leave. The process does not stop you from entering paternity leave multiple times in the same year. Employees are granted the maximum entitlement every time the leave (take) is entered. It is up to the payroll officer to verify the proper documentation before granting paternity leave to the employee.

The absence day formula LVE FM TAKE UNIT evaluates each day of the absence event.

Note. This type of leave is not governed by the employment act. The practice is to grant paid paternity leave from one to 3 days and following that all the remaining will be unpaid leave

Calculating Newly Wed (Married) Leave

The newly wed leave entitlement NWD LVE ENT enables leave up to a maximum of 5 days. This entitlement calculates leave on a per absence basis and days beyond the 5th day are calculated as unpaid leave. The 5 days is controlled by a variable NWD VR MAX DAYS which holds the maximum leave takes allowed in an anniversary year for newly wed employees. You can modify the value to suit your company requirements. Employees can take Newly Wed leave provided they have completed their eligibility period.

Conditional resolution formula NWD FM RESOLV ENT (Newly Wed Resolution Formula) validates to see if the employee can claim newly wed leave. The condition checks to see if the employee is claiming more than the company stated rules.

Generally, Newly Wed leave would be granted only once in an employee's life time. The delivered rule does not perform that check and the entitlement is granted every time the leave (take) is entered. It is up to the payroll officer to manually verify that the leave (take) is not entered without proper validation.

The takes absence day formula LVE FM TAKE UNIT evaluates each day of the absence event.

The required entitlement units (either 1 or 1/2) of each absence date are returned and compared with the beginning entitlement balance to calculate the paid and unpaid units. If PARTIAL HOURS is greater than half of SCHED HRS, it is treated as a one-day leave of absence. When leave exceeds total entitlement, it will come off the annual leave balance. When the annual leave balance is exhausted, the remaining days are treated as unpaid leave (resulting in a Leave Without Pay deduction being generated in payroll).

Note. This type of leave is not governed by the employment act. The practice is to grant paid newly wed leave from 3 to 5 days.

Calculating Special Leave

All Special Leave (types) are paid leave. It is at the discretion of the employer how they want to process them.

Special leave entitlement covers a range of leave types. For example it can cover the following:

• Moving house.

• Arranging accommodation.

• Family problems.

• Religious obligations.

• Illness within the employee’s family.

The Special Leave entitlement SPL LVE ENT is calculated on a per absence basis—as and when it occurs. It is always calculated as paid leave. There is no entitlement calculated. The calculation uses entitlement formula OLV FM ENT (Other Leave Entitlement) which resolves to 1 for a valid working day. It is used for resolving entitlement for special leave entitlements which are calculated per absence.

Conditional resolution formula OTH FM LVE ENT (Resolve Other Lve Entl ) resolves to 1 for a valid working day. It is used for resolving entitlement for special leave entitlements which are calculated per absence.

Note. Balance is not carried over into the new anniversary year and their are no accrual rules.

See Also

Understanding Absence Rules for Singapore

Understanding Delivered Absence Primary Elements

Understanding Absence Management

Calculating Leave Without Pay

The no pay leave entitlement NPL LVE ENT is entitlement for leave without Pay. There are no entitlement and accruals associated with LWOP and leave days are calculated as unpaid leave as they occur.

The formula NPL FM RESOLV ENT (No Pay Leave Resolve Formula ) is used as the conditional resolution formula for no pay leave. A valid working day will return a value of 1 working day, which in turn will be treated as leave without pay.

1 DAILY RT is reduced from monthly income for every single day of LWOP taken.

The process generates a positive input of leave without pay deduction and the amount reduces the earnings of the employee for the pay period.

The takes absence day formula LVE FM TAKE UNIT evaluates each day of the absence event.

See Also

Understanding Absence Rules for Singapore

Understanding Delivered Absence Primary Elements

Understanding Absence Management

Calculating Absence Entitlements on Termination

PeopleSoft delivers a set of predefined rules for processing absences due to termination. PeopleSoft designed these rules in accordance with Singapore statutory requirements.

This section discusses how to calculate unused annual leave on termination.

Calculating Unused Annual Leave on Termination

When employees are terminated after three months of continuous service, they are entitled to a payment for their prorated unused annual leave. The earnings element ANN LIEU is the payment in lieu of annual leave entitlement. The calculation of the unused annual leave amount is Unit × Rate:

• Unit: Formula TER FM ANN BAL (unused annual leave balance in days).

• Rate: DAILY RT (average daily rate).

The TER FM ANN BAL formula returns the total leave balance for an employee who has been terminated. This formula is used to calculate the unused annual leave days that must be reimbursed to the employee. If the termination date plus one day (date TER DT DATE + 1) is greater than or equal to the annual leave eligibility date (date ANN DT ELIG) then the total of the annual leave balance accumulators (ANN STAT ENT_BAL and ANN GENL ENT_BAL) is stored in formula TER FM ANN BAL.

Note. When the employee is terminated with Action Reason code — CON (misconduct) or GMI — Gross Misconduct, the entitlement will not be paid to the employee. In all other cases, the entitlement will be translated to monetary amount and reimbursed to the employee.

See Also

Understanding Absence Rules for Singapore

Understanding Delivered Absence Primary Elements

Understanding Absence Management