Ready to use legal template

Drafted by experienced lawyers

Compliant with Singapore law

Ready to use legal template

Drafted by lawyers

Compliant with Singapore law

HomeAccounting servicesPayslips

Learn more about Payroll Service in Singapore

Employees are paid on a flat rate, hourly, or salary basis. However, before paying employees, the company must calculate their net salary and deduct and withhold tax. Employers in Singapore must pay social security, national, and sometimes local taxes for every employee. To be valid, all of these transactions must be recorded for audit and tax purposes. The Payslip is a required document that is sent to an employee by his or her employer on a monthly or periodic basis. It is a summary of various information pertaining to the employee’s work and remuneration. Under penalty of legal action, this document must be delivered to the employee.

Table of contents


What are the advantages of utilizing a Payroll Service?

Here are five advantages of employing managed payroll services:

1. Maintain control

Many business owners are concerned about outsourcing because it implies a loss of control. However, with managed payroll services, you retain control because the engagement is detailed in the contract with the third party. With managed payroll services, you may pick and choose which operations you want to outsource and which you want to maintain in-house, if any.

It’s not an all-or-nothing approach. Partnering with a managed services provider is more adaptable and scalable. You may specify exactly what you want the third party to accomplish and guarantee that it is completed without the time-consuming chore of doing it yourself.

2. Risk management in compliance

Payroll and tax laws may be intricate and complicated. To reduce risks, you may have access to knowledge in legislation, government regulations, privacy, and security with the proper partner. Your partner will deliver services in an expedient, secure, accurate, and private way, allowing you to achieve regulatory compliance while also protecting your data from payroll theft and fraud.

3. Improved accuracy

When it comes to payroll, you must get the numbers correct or risk getting in problems with the IRAS and disappointing your employees. However, with differing tax rates, a plethora of different time sheets and pay scales, various benefits and coverage options, and voluntary withholdings, it can be difficult to get it right. When you engage in managed payroll services, you have assured accuracy, allowing you to ensure that your employees are paid accurately and on time, every time. You will not lose your employees’ faith if you fail to pay them overtime or enter their hours incorrectly, and you will not be audited by the government if the numbers are always correct.

4. Maintain cost control

Managed payroll services provide you the freedom to convert your fixed overhead expenditures into a flexible cost structure. This is especially significant during a recession: as your company expands or decreases, so are your service expenses.
If the workload does not justify the fixed cost, you will not be required to continue paying a large salary and benefits to a payroll clerk. You will also not have to pay for payroll software, equipment, training, or office supplies in order to prepare, process, sign, and print the checks. You’ll also get access to IT assistance, world-class hosting infrastructure, and software that you couldn’t otherwise afford.

5. Conserve time

When your HR department isn’t wasting valuable time on payroll system maintenance, your company may save time that can be spent on other vital tasks. Instead of spending hours manually entering data, researching legislation, and double-checking numbers, your HR professionals can devote time and resources to strategy and other critical activities that increase efficiency and productivity and optimize your workforce in order to better meet the needs of your customers and achieve your business goals at the lowest possible cost. Payroll processing must be properly handled to guarantee that business operations run smoothly. However, because it is not an essential job, adopting managed payroll services may be quite advantageous.

What is a Payslip?

A payslip is a document that details your employees’ wages. Payslips must include information such as your employee’s basic pay, overtime pay, bonuses, CPF deductions, and other salary-related issues. As a result, an itemised payslip can be used to give confirmation of wage amounts and payment.
Issuing payslips (and adhering to the stringent rules that will be discussed in further detail later) may appear to be extra work for firms and Human Resources departments. Employers, on the other hand, can provide employees with a sense of security and comfort that they are being paid properly by breaking down their employees’ salaries in a standardised payslip. This may convert into more trust and confidence in their employers, leading to the employees’ desire to continue working with them.
Furthermore, because the payslip clearly states all of the important monetary information relating to the employee’s salaries and benefits, employers may receive fewer salary complaints from employees or be able to resolve such complaints faster.

What information should a Payslip contain?

A payslip must include the following information:

➤ The amount of pay, both gross (before tax) as well as net (after tax)
➤ The date of receiving the pay
➤ The pay period
➤ Any loadings, bonuses or penalty percentage entitlements
➤ Deductions
➤ Superannuation contributions such as the name of the super fund
➤ The employer’s name and ABN if they have one
➤ The employee’s name

If employees are paid by the hour, the payslip should include the employee’s regular hourly rate as well as the number of hours worked at that rate. If an employee is paid a yearly wage, the rate should be the one in effect on the final day of the pay period. While it is not required by law, including the balance on each payslip is great practice.

Is it necessary to provide Payslip to your employees in Singapore?

If your employees in Singapore are covered by the Employment Act, you must submit itemised payslips to them. Employees are persons who work under a service contract, and they include both domestic and international workers. However, because seafarers, domestic workers, statutory board employees, and government servants are not protected by the Employment Act, you are not obligated to provide them with itemised payslips.
Payslips must be sent in conjunction with the employee’s wage or payment. If you are unable to offer both the payslip and the salary at the same time, you must provide the payslip within three working days of issuing the salary.

If you are planning to terminate or dismiss your employee, you must provide him or her with his or her payslip as well as the due wages.
The Ministry of Manpower might force you to furnish itemised payslips if you fail to do so. Alternatively, or in addition, you may face a pecuniary penalty of $100 to $200 every instance of noncompliance.
It is likewise a violation of the Employment Act to:

➤ Fail to deliver itemised payslips within the timeframe specified above, regardless of whether this was done on purpose
➤ Failure to deliver an exact or complete payslip, whether deliberate or unintentional

As a result, in addition to the financial penalties listed above, you may be punished in court for an offense if you fail to deliver proper payslips on time.

If you are found guilty, you might face a $5,000 fine and/or a 6-month prison sentence for each offense. You may face a punishment of up to $500 for each day you fail to deliver the itemised payslip or correct an incorrect one.

Is it mandatory to keep records of all Payslip issued?

For the last two years, you must preserve records of itemized payslips for current workers. You must maintain the previous two years of records for former workers for one year following their final day of employment.
Itemised payslips are essential, and they must be both comprehensive and precise (containing all 12 legally required details). Failure to do so may result in a criminal offense. Remember to save your pay stubs for at least two years.

Aside from the necessity to deliver payslips, employers in Singapore are also required to observe other employment rules. These regulations compel you to respect the terms of your Employment Contract, such as paying your employees on time, giving the agreed-upon employee benefits, and firing your employees equitably and with sufficient notice.
If you require legal guidance on how to comply with employment rules, you should visit an employment Lawyer. In the case of a dispute, an employment lawyer may also advise you on the provisions of the employment contract as well as how to handle legal claims brought by your employees against your company.

What is the Singapore Payroll procedure?

Payroll processing is the procedure through which businesses pay their employees, usually on a monthly basis.
Payroll processing in Singapore must be managed correctly, even if it is straightforward and clear, because it entails special rules and regulations – and must take into consideration the Status of Resident and non-resident personnel. If not handled correctly, it may result in errors and impair payroll Accounting, resulting in erroneous report data for income tax filing. Payroll processing in Singapore necessitates contributions to social security programs such as the CPF, the Skill Development Levy, and the Foreign Workers Levy; however, employers in Singapore are not required to make monthly withholdings.

Employers in Singapore often handle payroll while considering performance review, year-end incentives, medical leave, statutory claims, and other factors.
The payroll process workflow contains the following steps:

➤ Payroll setup
➤ Raw data gathering and cleaning
➤ Payroll processing
➤ Payroll payment
➤ Statutory submission
➤ Individual income tax annual report
➤ Employee payroll information maintenance
➤ Year-end payments such as bonuses

Payroll management success requires precise payroll processing, good maintenance, and timely payout. Apart from guaranteeing compliance, this will serve to motivate personnel and keep them positive.

Share information

Why Themis Partner ?

Make documents forhundreds of purposes

Hundreds of documents

Instant access to our entire library of documents for Singapore.

24/7 legal support

Free legal advice from our network of qualified lawyers.

Easily customized

Editable Word documents, unlimited revisions and copies.

Legal and Reliable

Documents written by lawyers that you can use with confidence.

DOWNLOAD NOW