Singapore | Director Kelvin Tan contributed to SBR article on Singapore’s new EP application policy

Director Kelvin Tan contributed to Singapore Business Review (SBR) article on the new employment pass (EP) application policy in Singapore.

He highlighted the two main changes to EP applications: 1) an increase in the qualifying salaries which will be benchmarked to the top 33% of local professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMET) by age; and 2) the introduction of the new points-based Complementarity Assessment (COMPASS) framework.

Kelvin weighed in, "The new policy for the grant of EPs is consistent with other labour policies in place in Singapore. Singapore’s foreign workforce policies are guided by the goals of a strong Singaporean core, complemented by a high-quality and diverse foreign workforce."

“Raising the qualifying salaries for EP applications goes towards ensuring that EP holders are comparable in quality to the top one-third of our local PMET workforce”, he said. Another advantage of the new rules for employers is that "The new policy is designed to be a transparent system so that businesses and applicants will have a clearer idea as to whether they meet the criteria for obtaining an EP and have greater clarity and predictability for manpower planning."

You may read the full article on SBR here.