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.
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.