Eligible adoptive mothers, including those who are self-employed, are entitled to 12 weeks of paid adoption leave to bond with and care for their adopted infants.
Eligibility
As the mother of an adopted child, you are entitled to adoption leave if you meet the following criteria:
- Your adopted child is below the age of 12 months at the point of your formal intent to adopt. The “formal intent to adopt” happens:
- For a local child: when you file the court application to adopt.
- For a foreign child: when in-principle approval is granted for a Dependant’s Pass.
- The adopted child is a Singapore citizen.
- If the child is a foreigner:
- One of the adoptive parents must be a Singapore citizen.
- The child must become a Singapore citizen within 6 months of the adoption.
- You must have served your employer or been self-employed for a continuous period of at least 3 months immediately before your formal intent to adopt.
- The adoption order must be passed within 1 year from the formal intent to adopt.
Entitlement
If your formal intent to adopt is on or after 1 July 2017, you are entitled to 12 weeks of adoption leave for mothers, capped at $10,000 per every 4-week leave taken, including CPF.
If your formal intent to adopt is before 1 July 2017, you are entitled to 4 weeks of adoption leave, capped at $10,000, including CPF.
You can start your adoption leave from your formal intent to adopt.
You must consume your adoption leave before the child’s first birthday.
Your employer will pay your usual monthly salary during the leave period. They can then claim reimbursement from the Government accordingly:
| Births |
Paid by employer |
Reimbursed by government |
| First and second |
First 4 weeks |
Last 8 weeks |
| Third and subsequent |
– |
All 12 weeks |
Reimbursement is subject to a maximum of $20,000 for the first and second children, and $30,000 for the third and subsequent children, including CPF.
You can take your leave as follows:
| Arrangement |
12 weeks |
| Default, without any mutual agreement |
Taken as a continuous stretch, from the date of formal intent to adopt. |
| Flexibly, by mutual agreement |
The first 8 weeks must be taken in one continuous stretch starting any time between the date of formal intent to adopt and the date when the Adoption Order is granted, including both dates.
The last 4 weeks can be taken flexibly in days before the child’s first birthday.
|
| Calculating working days |
4 weeks X number of working days in the week.
Capped at 6 working days per week.
|
How to apply or claim
For instructions on leave application or reimbursement claims, visit the Government-Paid Leave (GPL) Portal.
Find out more
To find out more about Government-Paid leave schemes, you can visit: