Many parents are not aware that if you have children below 7 years old and you meet the criteria, you are actually eligible to claim for childcare leave from the government. My hubby and I just got our cheque thanks to a gentle reminder from our cousin. We almost missed claiming for last year’s leave. We do hear of maternity leave paid by the government but childcare leave is a very hot topic even though many will benefit from it.
Below are some conditions to be met:
- Child is below 7 years old;
- Child is a Singapore Citizen;
- Parent must have served his or her employer for a continuous duration of at least 3 calendar months;
or
For a parent who is self-employed, he or she must have been engaged in a particular business, trade, profession for a continuous duration of at least 3 calendar months; and have lost income as a result of not engaging in the trade, business, profession or vocation during the child care leave period.
The first 3 days of childcare leave will be employer-paid and the last three days Government-paid (capped at $500 per day, including CPF). Regardless of the number of children, the total childcare leave entitlement for each parent is capped at six days per year until the year the child turns seven years old.
The number of days of childcare leave that a working parent can benefit from will add up to a total of 42 days over a seven-year period.
If an employee has worked less than a year
The leave year for childcare leave will be any 12-month period as agreed by both employer and employee. If there is no agreement, the leave year will be the calendar year by default.
For employees who are entitled to 6 days of Childcare leave per year, employers may pro-rate the leave based on the duration of employment, subject to a minimum of 2 days. The tables below indicate the number of childcare leave days an employee is eligible for if he/she serves for less than 1 year of service:
Please click here for more details.
For application for the claim, get ready your singpass.
1) Login to www.cpf.govt.sg with your singpass.
2) Go to <My Requests> on the left panel
3) Check the box next to <Govt-Paid Leave Schemes> and click Proceed.
4) Follow the instructions accordingly and submit the application.
Surprisingly, I got my reply as in how much I am entitled within 3 days! Very efficient. 😉
Mummies, if you have not claimed before, don’t waste your entitlement! Do it now and you can get up to few hundred dollars which is of very good use! Cheers! 🙂
SG TWINS 