s 12DB Payments and reimbursements for shared parental leave or lost income
12DB.—(1) Subject to any regulations made under section 20, the payment that an employee is entitled to receive from an employer under section 12DA(2)(b) in respect of any period of absence from work on shared parental leave under section 12DA(2)(a) (called in this subsection the claimable absence period) is an amount that does not exceed —(a) $2,500 for every period equal in duration to the employee’s weekly index or every 6 days (whichever is the lower) of the claimable absence period; and (b) a total of N times $2,500, where N is determined in accordance with a valid arrangement under section 12DD that applies in relation to the claimable absence period. (2) Subject to any regulations made under section 20, the payment that a self‑employed person is entitled to receive from the Government for any period of cessation of active engagement in her or his trade, business, profession or vocation mentioned in section 12DA(6) (called in this subsection the claimable cessation period) is an amount that does not exceed —(a) $2,500 for every period equal in duration to the self‑employed person’s weekly index or every 6 days (whichever is the lower) of the claimable cessation period; and (b) a total of N times $2,500, where N is determined in accordance with a valid arrangement under section 12DD that applies in relation to the claimable cessation period. (3) The amounts of payment mentioned in subsections (1) and (2) are inclusive of any contribution to the Central Provident Fund which an employer, a platform operator, an employee or a self‑employed person is liable to make under the Central Provident Fund Act 1953. (4) Subject to subsection (5) and any regulations made under section 20, where an employer makes payment to an employee under section 12DA(2)(b) for one or more than one period of absence from work, the employer is entitled to claim reimbursement from the Government for —(a) the amount paid to the employee under section 12DA(2)(b); and (b) any contribution which the employer has made under the Central Provident Fund Act 1953 in respect of such payment which is not recoverable from the employee’s wages. (5) The reimbursement that an employer is entitled to claim from the Government under subsection (4) in respect of an employee is an amount that does not exceed —(a) $2,500 for every period equal in duration to the employee’s weekly index or every 6 days (whichever is the lower) of the employee’s absence from work under section 12DA(2)(a) that is the subject of the claim; and (b) a total of N times $2,500, where N is determined in accordance with a valid arrangement under section 12DD that applies when the employer’s claim is determined in accordance with regulations made under section 20. (6) Where an employer makes payment equivalent to a payment under subsection (1) to an employee in circumstances where the requirements of subsection (7) are satisfied, the Government may reimburse the employer an amount that does not exceed each of the amounts mentioned in subsection (5)(a) and (b), where N is determined in accordance with the employee’s equivalent arrangement mentioned in subsection (7)(b). (7) For the purposes of subsection (6), the requirements are all of the following:(a) the employee is a natural parent or an adoptive parent of an April 2025 Scheme child who would have been eligible for any of the entitlements mentioned in section 12DA(1)(b) and for the entitlement to shared parental leave under section 12DA(2), but for the parent not having served the employer for a period of at least 3 months preceding the date of the child’s birth or the eligibility date of the application to adopt the child, as the case may be; (b) despite the employee not being entitled to paid shared parental leave under section 12DA(2), the employer had voluntarily granted the employee paid leave in accordance with an equivalent arrangement as if the employee were so entitled; (c) the employee’s absence from work occurs within 12 months (or any other period prescribed in substitution) commencing on the date of the child’s birth; (d) where the employee is a natural parent of the April 2025 Scheme child and the child becomes a citizen of Singapore within the period of 12 months commencing on the date of the child’s birth — the employee’s absence from work commences on or after the date that the child becomes a citizen of Singapore; (e) where the employee is an adoptive parent of the April 2025 Scheme child — the employee’s absence from work commences on or after the eligibility date of the application to adopt the child. (8) For the purposes of subsection (7)(b), an arrangement is an equivalent arrangement if —(a) it is an arrangement between 2 parents who are both employees as described in subsection (7)(a) (whether or not employed by the same employer) that meets all of the requirements of section 12DD(1)(a) to (e), as if both of them were entitled to shared parental leave under section 12DA(2); (b) it is an arrangement under section 12DD(2); or (c) it is an arrangement solely for the employee that meets all of the requirements of section 12DD(4)(a) to (e), as if the employee were entitled to shared parental leave under section 12DA(2). (9) To avoid doubt, subsection (8) does not apply to any employee to whom a valid arrangement under section 12DD(1) or (4) applies or could apply. (10) This section and section 12DA must not be construed as derogating from any other benefits that an employee is entitled to, during the period in which the employee is entitled to shared parental leave and to payment for such leave, under the terms of the employee’s contract of service or under any written law.[Act 46 of 2024 wef 01/04/2025]