Counting Thresholds and Exclusions
A citizen or PR employed under a contract of service, including a company director, counts as 1 at monthly pay of at least S$1,800, or 0.5 at S$900 to below S$1,800. Below S$900 does not count. Sole-proprietor/partnership owners and platform workers do not count. A local worker may count for at most two companies; do not duplicate salary and CPF across accounts within one company to inflate quota. Newly hired staff affect quota after the first full month’s salary and CPF are paid.
| Employee | Monthly salary | Count |
|---|---|---|
| A | S$4,500 | 1 |
| B | S$1,800 | 1 |
| C | S$1,000 | 0.5 |
| D | S$900 | 0.5 |
| E | S$400 | 0 |
| Total | — | 3 |
Check the Payroll Period Behind the Count
The S$1,800 full-count threshold took effect on 1 July 2026, according to MOM’s LQS policy confirmation. The existing example therefore uses the current S$1,800 and S$900 bands. For preparation, reconcile each employee’s citizenship or PR status, contract of service, monthly salary and CPF contribution record before adding their weighted count. Keep exclusions for sole proprietors, partnership owners and platform workers visible rather than counting everyone on a payment list.
For an established company, MOM uses the latest three-month average derived from salary declarations and CPF contributions under the same company account. A new hire does not immediately create a full additional quota place. If a company has not made salary declarations and CPF contributions before, MOM’s newly established company rule starts with its first month’s local salary declaration and CPF contribution, then moves to the three-month basis. Check the reflected quota before planning an application.
Separate Wage Compliance from Quota and COMPASS
A part-time employee can meet the hourly LQS requirement yet add nothing to quota if monthly gross wages are below S$900. The current LQS page sets at least S$10.50 per hour gross for part-timers and separately explains the monthly quota bands. Full-time and overtime wage requirements, and any applicable Progressive Wage Model, still need their own check; a half-count is not permission to underpay a full-time employee.
This weighted local count is for Work Permit and S Pass quota. COMPASS C3 and C4 use a different PMET definition and their own salary and CPF-data tests. Do not transfer the total of three in this example directly into a COMPASS workforce calculation.