A Singapore pay slip must show 12 items: employer and employee full names, the date of payment, the basic salary, the start and end dates of the salary period, allowances, other additional payments such as bonuses, deductions, overtime hours, overtime pay, the overtime period dates, and the net salary paid. Items that do not apply can be left out.
That list is MOM's stated requirement for all employers issuing itemised pay slips to employees covered by the Employment Act, with the underlying duty in section 96 of the Employment Act. It applies to every salary payment, not just the annual one. Two consequences catch SMEs out: the pay slip must be complete and accurate, and "not applicable" is the only thing you are allowed to omit.
| # | Item MOM requires on the pay slip |
|---|---|
| 1 | Full name of employer. |
| 2 | Full name of employee. |
| 3 | Date of payment (or dates, if the pay slip consolidates multiple payments). |
| 4 | Basic salary. For hourly, daily or piece-rated workers, indicate all of the following: basic rate of pay (e.g. $X per hour); total number of hours or days worked or pieces produced. |
| 5 | Start and end date of salary period. |
| 6 | Allowances paid for salary period, such as all fixed allowances (e.g. transport) and all ad-hoc allowances (e.g. one-off uniform allowance). |
| 7 | Any other additional payment for each salary period, such as bonuses, rest day pay and public holiday pay. |
| 8 | Deductions made for each salary period, such as all fixed deductions (e.g. employee's CPF contribution) and all ad-hoc deductions (e.g. deductions for no-pay leave, absence from work). |
| 9 | Overtime hours worked. |
| 10 | Overtime pay. |
| 11 | Start and end date of overtime payment period (if different from item 5). |
| 12 | Net salary paid in total. |
Source: MOM — Itemised pay slips, read on 16 September 2026. MOM's wording: "Pay slips must include the items below, unless an item is not applicable."
With the money, or three working days. MOM states the pay slip should be given together with the payment to the employee; if that is not possible, it must be given within three working days of payment. On termination or dismissal, the pay slip must be given together with the outstanding salary.
Where payments are made more than once a month, MOM allows employers to consolidate pay slips — but the consolidated pay slip must contain details of all payments made since the last pay slip. The format may be soft or hard copy, including handwritten.
Section 96(3) of the Employment Act gives electronic pay slips explicit standing: the requirement is satisfied if an electronic record containing the prescribed information is provided in a way that makes it "accessible and useable by the employee for subsequent reference".
This is the sentence most payroll teams have never read. Section 96(4) of the Employment Act:
"An employer is taken to have failed to comply with subsection (1) if the pay slip given to an employee is incomplete or inaccurate, whether or not the employer knew that the pay slip is incomplete or inaccurate."
So an honest mistake is still a failure to comply. The practical test is not "did we issue a payslip", it is "does every line on it match the payroll record behind it" — basic salary, allowances, the employee's CPF deduction, and net pay.
MOM's position is short and broad: "From 1 April 2016, all employers must issue itemised pay slips to employees covered by the Employment Act." Section 96(1) frames the duty as a pay slip to every employee of the employer, for all salary paid for the salary period to which the pay slip relates. The employment type does not remove the duty — MOM's guidance covers local and foreign employees, full-time, part-time, temporary and contract staff, whether paid hourly, daily, monthly or by piece. Which employees are covered by the Employment Act at all is set out on MOM — Who is covered; if you have a specific employment type in question, check that page rather than a summary.
MOM requires employers to keep a record of all pay slips issued: for current employees, the latest two years; for ex-employees, the last two years, kept for one year after the employee leaves employment. Soft or hard copy, including handwritten, is acceptable.
A failure to comply with section 96(1) is a civil contravention under the Employment Act, enforced by MOM rather than through the courts. MOM told Parliament on 2 July 2024 that it receives complaints about non-issuance or late issuance, engages and guides those employers to start issuing itemised payslips within one month, and — if they fail to do so and complaints surface again — "will issue caution letters to the employers and can further impose an administrative penalty of up to $400 fine for each repeated infringement".
Yes. MOM: "From 1 April 2016, all employers must issue itemised pay slips to employees covered by the Employment Act." Section 96(1) of the Employment Act sets out the duty and section 96(2) requires the pay slip to contain all the prescribed information.
Yes. MOM accepts soft copy as well as hard copy, including handwritten, and section 96(3) expressly allows an electronic record if the employee can access and reuse the information later.
The employee's CPF contribution must appear, because MOM lists it as an example of a fixed deduction (item 8). The employer's own CPF contribution is not one of the 12 required items.
MOM allows it to be left out: "Pay slips must include the items below, unless an item is not applicable." For example, if overtime pay does not apply, the overtime items need not appear.
Latest two years for current employees; for ex-employees, the last two years kept for one year after they leave employment (MOM — Itemised pay slips).
ClearHR is a Singapore HR, payroll and compliance system for SMEs. Payslips are generated from the same payroll record that calculates CPF, so the basic salary, allowances, deductions and net pay on the payslip come from one source rather than a spreadsheet copy.
Every requirement on this page is quoted from these pages, read on 16 September 2026.
This page summarises published Singapore requirements for general information. It is not legal advice, and it does not replace the Employment Act, MOM's guidance or the regulations. Where the law is nuanced or your situation is unusual, read the source linked above or take advice. Regulations and figures are those published on 16 September 2026.