Employer Access to Local Employee Foreign Worker Quota Eligibility Status and Real-time Notification of Eligibility Changes

Ms Yeo Wan Ling asked the Acting Minister for Manpower (a) whether employers can be provided with an indication of whether each local employee is eligible to count towards their foreign worker quota, particularly where employees receive CPF contributions from multiple employers; (b) whether employers can be notified when such eligibility changes; and (c) how can employers accurately plan their manpower requirements without access to such information.

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.