Singapore Employment Pass Eligibility Updates: COMPASS Points-Based System to Roll Out in September 2023
If your organization is currently hiring under Singapore’s Employment Pass (EP), you need to take note of the new Complementarity Assessment Framework (COMPASS) system.
The new system will apply for new EP applicants from 1 September 2023, and for renewals from 1 September 2024. The COMPASS system is designed to improve the capacity of Singaporean businesses to select high-quality foreign professionals and ensure workforce diversity.
According to Minister for Manpower Dr Tan See Leng, COMPASS is “a points-based system that considers both individual and firm-related attributes to holistically evaluate an EP applicant’s complementarity. It is designed to be a transparent system, so that businesses have clarity and predictability for manpower planning.”
How COMPASS Works
To qualify for an EP, applicants must pass a 2-stage eligibility framework.
Firstly the candidate must earn at least the EP qualifying salary, which is benchmarked to the top one-third of local PMET salaries by age. From 1 September 2023, the salary threshold for EP applicants has been raised to S$5,000 (US$3,694) from the current S$4,500 (US$3,332). For the financial sector, it is at least S$5,500.
The second stage is where COMPASS kicks in. It is a points-based system where candidates need to earn 40 points to pass. The scoring system assigns 0, 10, or 20 points, representing ‘does not meet expectations’, ‘meets expectations’, and ‘exceeds expectations’ respectively.
Applications receive points based on four fundamental criteria if they meet or exceed expectations. It is based on a collection of individual and firm-related attributes:
- Individual attributes include ‘salary’ and ‘qualifications’.
- Firm-related attributes include ‘diversity’ and ‘support for local employment’.
There are also two more bonus criteria that applicants can score points in:
- Skills bonus.
- Strategic economic priorities bonus.
For more information on these criteria and case studies, visit the Ministry of Manpower website.
Image credit: Ministry of Manpower
Exemptions from COMPASS
Foreign professionals are exempt from COMPASS if they meet any of the following conditions:
- Have a fixed monthly salary of at least S$22,500 (similar to the prevailing Fair Consideration Framework (FCF) job advertising exemption from 1 September 2023).
- Are applying as an overseas intra-corporate transferee.
- Are filling the role for 1 month or less.
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