Verifying Local Employees' Status So It Counts Towards Employer's Foreign Worker Quota

Ms Diana Pang Li Yen asked the Acting Minister for Manpower given that a local employee may cease to count towards an employer's foreign worker quota when receiving CPF contributions from multiple employers (a) how employers can verify an employee's status to count towards the employer's foreign worker quota; and (b) whether the Ministry will provide employers with eligibility notifications without disclosing other employment arrangements.

A firm's foreign worker quota is calculated based on the latest three-month average number of eligible local employees in the firm. Recognising that some locals may need to work in multiple jobs across different firms, we allow each resident worker to count towards the quota of up to two firms. The number of locals working in three or more jobs is very low, at around 0.5% of resident employees in 2025.

For existing employees, employers can view their local workforce count, quota entitlement and quota balance through the Work Permit Online system. Where there are any changes in employment arrangements of an existing employee that affect quota entitlement, this will be reflected in the system.

For prospective employees, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) does not currently provide employers with information on whether a candidate would count towards their quota, as this involves the candidate's employment arrangements with other employers, which are personal in nature. Disclosing such information without the employee's knowledge or consent raises privacy considerations that need to be carefully weighed.

Should employers require clarifications on their foreign worker quota, they may approach MOM which will work with them to clarify how their foreign worker quota was derived.