Employment agencies must provide a security bond. The amount, known as the security deposit, varies according to the licence type and other factors. The security bond liabilities will only be discharged 6 months after the licence ends.
When to get the security bond
You need to get the security bond (in the form of a banker’s guarantee) before the employment agency (EA) licence is issued.
Security deposit amount
You can use the security bond calculator to calculate your security deposit:
Calculate your security deposit
The security deposit your employment agency needs to furnish is as follows:
- For EAs with a Select Licence (SL): between $20,000 and $60,000, depending on the following criteria:
|
For an EA meeting this criteria
|
Minimum security deposit required
|
|
All SL EAs within first year of operation (if the EA has not accumulated any demerit points)
|
$20,000
|
|
Has more than 3 demerit points in the past 12 months
|
$40,000
|
|
Has 8 or more demerit points in the past 12 months
|
$60,000
|
- For EAs with any of the Comprehensive Licences: between $20,000 and $60,000, depending on the following criteria:
|
For an EA meeting this criteria
|
Minimum security deposit required
|
- All CL EAs within first year of operation.
|
$60,000
|
- Has 3 or fewer demerit points in the past 12 months.
- Placed fewer than 200 Work Permit and S Pass holders in past 12 months.
|
$20,000
|
- Has 3 or fewer demerit points in the past 12 months.
- Placed 200 or more Work Permit and S Pass holders in past 12 months.
|
$40,000
|
- Has more than 3 demerit points in the past 12 months.
- Placed fewer than 200 Work Permit and S Pass holders in past 12 months.
|
$40,000
|
- Has more than 3 demerit points in the past 12 months.
- Placed 200 or more Work Permit and S Pass holders in past 12 months.
|
$60,000
|
- Has 8 or more demerit points in the past 12 months, regardless of the number of foreign placements.
|
$60,000
|
All new EAs with a CL are required to furnish a $60,000 security deposit. This requirement can only be reviewed after the first 12 months of operations. The amount will be revised depending on the EA’s placement volume and track record, as shown in the table.
To get your EA’s security deposit amount reviewed, send in a request to mom_fmmd@mom.gov.sg.
Note: EAs that do not provide the required security deposit will not be allowed to submit any new work pass applications.
When a security bond will be discharged
We will discharge your security bond liabilities 6 months after the termination or expiry of your licence. This is to hold your employment agency against any continued liabilities, including your responsibility to refund fees to any applicant that you have placed for employment.
If you have changed entity type (e.g. from sole-proprietorship to private limited company) and applied for a licence under the new entity, your old security bond liabilities will only be discharged after 6 months, even if you have furnished a new security bond.
The old security bond is tied to the old entity. Hence, it cannot be discharged earlier.