Sick Leave in Singapore: Entitlement, MC Rules & Your Rights (2026)
MOM sick leave rules explained: outpatient and hospitalisation entitlement, pro-rated days, probation, valid MCs and consultation-fee reimbursement.
Digital Health Clinic·1 October 2026·10 min read
In Singapore, eligible employees covered by the Employment Act receive up to 14 days of paid outpatient sick leave and 60 days of paid hospitalisation leave a year after completing six months of service. The 60-day limit includes the outpatient sick-leave entitlement. After three to five months of service, the entitlement is lower and pro-rated. Eligibility also depends on the required medical certification and notifying or trying to notify your employer within 48 hours of your absence.
Every figure below is from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM); primary links are in each section and listed at the end. This is general information, not legal advice — check your employment contract, which may offer more (but not less) than the statutory minimum.
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How many days of paid sick leave are you entitled to?
If you are covered by the Employment Act and have completed at least 6 months of service, you are entitled to 14 days of paid outpatient (non-hospitalisation) sick leave and up to 60 days of paid hospitalisation leave per year. One point trips many people up: the 60 days of hospitalisation leave already include the 14 outpatient days — they are not added together. So the real picture is up to 14 outpatient days, or up to 60 days in total if hospitalisation is involved (i.e. 14 outpatient + up to 46 further hospitalisation days).
If you have served between 3 and 6 months, your entitlement is pro-rated by length of service, as set out by MOM:
Months of service completed
Paid outpatient sick leave
Paid hospitalisation leave
3 months
5 days
15 days
4 months
8 days
30 days
5 months
11 days
45 days
6 months or more
14 days
60 days
Sick leave is calculated on a calendar-year basis and does not carry forward — unused days simply reset at the start of the new year. If a single illness straddles 31 December, the days are split across each year's entitlement.
Who is eligible for paid sick leave?
You qualify for paid sick leave when all three conditions are met:
You are an employee covered under the Employment Act (most employees are; it excludes, for example, seafarers, domestic workers and statutory board/government staff, who are covered separately).
You have served your employer for at least 3 months.
You have been certified unfit for work by a registered medical practitioner, and you informed (or tried to inform) your employer within 48 hours.
Platform workers (covered by the Platform Workers Act from 1 January 2025) are not granted statutory paid sick leave; that Act deals with work-injury compensation and CPF, not general illness leave.
Can I take paid sick leave during probation?
Probation does not by itself remove your statutory paid sick-leave entitlement. MOM says eligibility depends on Employment Act coverage and your length of service, rather than whether you have passed probation. The usual certification and notification requirements still apply. See MOM's probation FAQ.
If you have completed fewer than three months with the employer, there is no statutory paid sick-leave entitlement yet. Check your contract or ask HR whether the company provides paid leave earlier.
Example: Someone on a six-month probation who has completed four months of service has a statutory outpatient sick-leave entitlement of eight days, subject to eligibility and any days already used. They do not have to wait until the six-month probation ends. The MOM entitlement table sets out the other service milestones.
When speaking to HR, separate three questions: your completed service, your remaining sick-leave balance and any extra company benefits. This helps avoid confusing a probation policy with statutory leave eligibility.
What counts as hospitalisation leave?
Hospitalisation leave is for situations where a hospital doctor deems that you need hospital-level care, and it is paid for up to 60 days. According to MOM, it covers when you are:
Warded in a hospital as an in-patient, or admitted for day surgery.
Quarantined under any written law (for example, a Quarantine Order).
Certified by a doctor who can admit patients to hospital that you need further rest, hospitalisation or medical treatment after discharge — including bed rest for conditions such as pregnancy-related complications.
Because hospitalisation leave must be certified by a doctor who can admit you to a hospital, it is generally not something issued in a routine teleconsult — a video consult is suited to outpatient sick leave for everyday illnesses.
Do you need an MC, and who can issue it?
Yes — to claim paid sick leave you must be certified unfit for work by a medical practitioner registered under the Medical Registration Act or Dental Registration Act. The Employment Act does not require the MC to come from a specific clinic, a "panel" doctor, or a government doctor for the leave itself to be valid. Any SMC-registered doctor's MC qualifies.
An MC is a doctor's clinical judgement that you are unfit for duty — it cannot be bought, guaranteed in advance, or back-dated. (We cover the rules on back-dating in our guide to back-dating MCs.)
Does a teleconsult or online MC count for sick leave?
Yes. MOM is explicit on this point. In its FAQ (last updated December 2025), MOM states: "Under the Employment Act, employers must recognise MCs issued by a medical practitioner registered under the Medical Registration Act or Dental Registration Act. This includes MCs issued through teleconsultation." (MOM FAQ.)
So a digital MC from a teleconsult with an SMC-registered doctor is valid for your statutory sick leave, the same as a paper MC from a clinic. Most Singapore clinics now issue the national DigiMC, which your employer can verify through the mc.gov.sg domain. You can read how that works on our online medical certificate page and in the complete MC guide.
How do you claim sick leave correctly?
Three steps keep your claim clean:
Inform your employer within 48 hours. The Employment Act requires you to notify, or attempt to notify, your employer within 48 hours of your absence. If you do not, the absence may be treated as unauthorised at your employer's discretion — so message your manager or HR as early as you can.
See a doctor and get certified. Attend a clinic or a teleconsult and be assessed. If you are unfit, the doctor issues an MC for an appropriate number of days.
Submit your MC. Give the MC to your employer when you return (or send the DigiMC link). Keep a copy.
Be honest about your symptoms, especially over a teleconsult — doctors can only issue an MC when they judge you genuinely unfit, and the assessment protects you and everyone at your workplace.
Will your employer pay your salary and consultation fee?
Two different things are at play here, and the rules differ:
Your salary during paid sick leave: your employer pays you at your gross rate of pay (excluding shift allowances) for each day of paid sick leave you are entitled to.
The consultation fee itself: your employer is only required to reimburse the medical consultation fee if the MC results in at least one day of paid sick leave and it was issued by a doctor from a public medical institution or a company-appointed doctor. An MC from a private clinic or a private teleconsult is fully valid for your leave, but your employer is not legally required to reimburse that consult fee.
This is why a low, transparent consult fee matters when you are paying out of pocket. A $15 nett teleconsult gives you a valid MC without an expensive clinic visit.
Do weekends and public holidays count against your sick leave?
No. You cannot claim paid sick leave for rest days, public holidays, non-working days, annual leave or unpaid leave — and crucially, if one of those days falls within your MC period, it is not deducted from your sick-leave balance. MOM's worked example: an employee given an MC for 8–9 August, where 9 August is a public holiday, is counted as having taken only 1 day of sick leave. So a long weekend inside your MC does not eat into your entitlement.
How many days of paid sick leave do you get in Singapore?
Up to 14 days of paid outpatient sick leave a year, or up to 60 days of paid hospitalisation leave, once you have completed 6 months of service. The 60 hospitalisation days include the 14 outpatient days — they are not added together. Between 3 and 6 months of service the entitlement is pro-rated (5/15, 8/30, 11/45 days).
Is a teleconsult MC valid for sick leave in Singapore?
Yes. MOM states that employers must recognise MCs issued by an SMC-registered doctor, including MCs issued through teleconsultation. A digital MC (DigiMC) from a video consult is valid for your statutory sick leave, the same as a paper MC.
Do I qualify for paid sick leave on probation?
Yes, as long as you are covered by the Employment Act and have served at least 3 months — probation does not remove the entitlement. Below 3 months of service there is no statutory paid sick leave, though your contract may offer more.
Does my employer have to pay for my consultation fee?
Your employer must pay your salary (at your gross rate of pay) for entitled sick-leave days. The consultation fee, however, only has to be reimbursed if the MC leads to at least one day of paid sick leave and was issued by a government/public institution or company-appointed doctor. A private-clinic or private teleconsult MC is valid for the leave, but the fee is not required to be reimbursed.
What happens if I don't inform my employer within 48 hours?
The Employment Act requires you to inform, or attempt to inform, your employer within 48 hours of your absence. If you do not, the absence may be treated as unauthorised at your employer's discretion. Notify your manager or HR as early as possible, then submit your MC.
Do public holidays during my MC count against my sick leave?
No. Rest days and public holidays that fall within your MC period are not deducted from your sick-leave balance. MOM's example: a 2-day MC where one day is a public holiday counts as only 1 day of sick leave used.
Can I carry forward or encash unused sick leave?
Sick leave is calculated per calendar year and does not carry forward — unused days reset each year. It is consumed only when you are actually certified unfit, so unused days simply lapse rather than being paid out.
Can a doctor back-date my MC to cover days I already missed?
Generally no. An MC reflects a doctor's assessment on the day you are seen and should not be back-dated to certify days before the consultation. See our dedicated guide on back-dating MCs for the limited exceptions.
Editorial correction, 30 September 2026: the opening summary now distinguishes the full entitlement after six months of service from the lower, pro-rated entitlement after three to five months. See the MOM eligibility and entitlement guidance.
