s 12JA Reimbursement of employer by Government for extra paternity leave granted to employee, etc.
12JA.—(1) This section applies to an employer of a male employee, and in respect of a male employee, who is —(a) the natural father of a child born alive, where the mother’s confinement and estimated delivery date in respect of the child satisfies the following requirements:(i) the confinement occurs before 1 January 2024 but the estimated delivery date is on or after that date; (ii) the confinement occurs on a date between 1 January 2024 and 31 March 2025 (both dates inclusive), and the estimated delivery date is before 1 April 2025; or[Act 46 of 2024 wef 01/04/2025] (b) the adoptive father of a child, where the eligibility date of the application to adopt the child is on a date between 1 January 2024 and 31 March 2025 (both dates inclusive).[Act 46 of 2024 wef 01/04/2025] (2) An employer is entitled to claim reimbursement from the Government in respect of a male employee mentioned in subsection (1) in accordance with this section, if all of the following requirements are satisfied:(a) the employee satisfies the requirements of section 12I(1) (in the case of a natural father mentioned in subsection (1)(a)) or section 12I(2) (in the case of an adoptive father mentioned in subsection (1)(b)), and is entitled to absent himself from work on paternity leave and to payment under section 12H(1) and (2) in relation to the child (called in this section the statutory paid paternity leave); (b) the employer grants to the employee, in relation to the child, absence from work that is in excess of the employee’s entitlement to statutory paid paternity leave (called in this section the extra paternity leave); (c) the employee takes the extra paternity leave after the statutory paid paternity leave has been consumed and within 12 months commencing on the date of the child’s birth, for —(i) a period not exceeding 2 weeks as agreed with his employer; or (ii) one or more than one period, each being of a duration that is agreed between the employee and his employer, all of which in aggregate are equal in duration to twice the employee’s weekly index or 12 days, whichever is the lower; (d) the employer makes payment to the employee for the extra paternity leave taken in accordance with paragraph (c) in the following manner:(i) if the employee’s gross rate of pay is $2,500 or less for every period equal in duration to the employee’s weekly index or every 6 days (whichever is the lower) (called the number of reimbursable days per week), the employer pays to the employee his gross rate of pay for every day of the extra paternity leave taken; (ii) if the employee’s gross rate of pay exceeds $2,500 for the number of reimbursable days per week, the employer pays to the employee —(A) his gross rate of pay for every day of the extra paternity leave taken; or (B) an amount for every day of the extra paternity leave taken which is at least an amount calculated in accordance with the formula where P is $2,500 and W is the number of reimbursable days per week. (3) Subject to the limits on the amount of reimbursement mentioned in subsection (4), the reimbursement that the employer is entitled to claim from the Government under subsection (2) in respect of the male employee is —(a) the total amount paid by the employer to the employee as mentioned in subsection (2)(d); and (b) any contribution made by the employer under the Central Provident Fund Act 1953 in respect of the payment mentioned in paragraph (a) which is not recoverable from the employee’s wages. (4) For the purposes of subsection (3), the amount of reimbursement that the employer is entitled to claim from the Government must not exceed —(a) $2,500 for every period equal in duration to the male employee’s weekly index or every 6 days (whichever is the lower) of the extra paternity leave taken by the male employee in accordance with subsection (2)(c); and (b) a total of $5,000 for the period (if only one), or all the periods, of the extra paternity leave taken by the male employee in accordance with subsection (2)(c) in respect of —(i) if the male employee is a natural father — a child born to the male employee, or all the children born to the male employee during a single confinement; or (ii) if the male employee is an adoptive father — a child who is the subject of an application by the male employee for adoption, or for whom the male employee has obtained a dependant’s pass. (5) In subsections (2) and (4), the weekly index of a male employee must be determined in accordance with Part 1 of the First Schedule, read with item 11, 12 or 13 of Part 2 of the First Schedule, with the modification that the male employee mentioned in item 11, 12 or 13 (as the case may be) of Part 2 of the First Schedule is to be read as the male employee mentioned in subsection (1)(a) or (b), whichever is applicable.[Act 46 of 2024 wef 01/04/2025] (6) Despite subsection (2)(a), the Government may reimburse an employer an amount not exceeding the limits mentioned in subsection (4)(a) and (b) in respect of a male employee, in addition to any amount reimbursed by the Government under section 12J(3) in respect of that male employee, if all of the following requirements apply:(a) the employee is a natural father or an adoptive father mentioned in subsection (1)(a) or (b), who is not entitled to the statutory paid paternity leave in relation to the child because the employee does not satisfy the requirements of section 12I(1)(d) or (2)(d), as the case may be; (b) despite paragraph (a), the employer makes payment to the employee for his absence from work with respect to the delivery or adoption of the child for any duration corresponding to extra paternity leave (as if the employee had been entitled to statutory paid paternity leave), in addition to the employer’s payment to the employee mentioned in section 12J(3); (c) the requirements of section 12I(1)(b) and (c) (in the case of a natural father mentioned in subsection (1)(a)) or section 12I(2)(c) and (f) (in the case of an adoptive father mentioned in subsection (1)(b)) are satisfied; (d) where section 12I(1)(b)(ii) applies, the employee’s absence from work commences on or after the date that the child becomes a citizen of Singapore; (e) the employee’s absence from work occurs within 12 months commencing on the date of the child’s birth;[Act 32 of 2023 wef 01/01/2024] [Act 46 of 2024 wef 01/04/2025] (f) where the employee is the adoptive father of the child, the employee’s absence from work commences on or after the eligibility date of the application to adopt the child.[Act 46 of 2024 wef 01/04/2025]