Notice Period and Termination in Singapore

In Singapore, an open-ended employment contract is normally ended by one side giving notice to the other. Notice can come from the employer (termination) or from the employee (resignation), and the same rules on length apply either way.

The length of notice is a lookup, not an estimate. The first place to look is the contract; only where the contract is silent does the Employment Act's default scale step in.

This is general legal information, not legal advice. Consult a qualified advocate and solicitor about your situation. Figures are current as of 2026 and the Employment Act is under a broad tripartite review with recommendations expected in the second half of 2026.

The contract comes first

If the employment contract specifies a notice period, that agreed period applies. Employers and employees are free to agree a longer or shorter notice than the statutory default, provided it is the same for both parties.

The requirement that notice be equal both ways is a statutory rule, not a matter of practice. An employer cannot hold an employee to three months while reserving one month for itself.

The statutory default scale

Where the contract does not state a notice period, the Employment Act supplies one. The default scale, set out in section 10 of the Act and restated on MOM's page, is keyed to length of service:

The boundaries matter. The first band is measured in weeks, not months, so an employee with under 26 weeks of service is entitled to just 1 day. The 2-year and 5-year points are the anniversaries of service: exactly 2 years of service falls in the third band (2 weeks), and exactly 5 years falls in the fourth band (4 weeks).

This scale is a default and a floor for the silent-contract case. It does not override a longer notice period the parties have agreed in writing.

Salary in lieu of notice

Neither side is obliged to serve out the notice period. Either party may instead pay salary in lieu of notice, which is a sum equal to the salary the employee would have earned during the notice period.

If the employer pays salary in lieu, the employee stops work immediately. If the employee pays salary in lieu, usually by forfeiting or paying an amount equal to the unserved notice, the employee can leave without serving the balance. Either way the contract ends at once rather than at the end of the notice period.

Waiving notice by agreement

Notice can also be waived. Under section 10 of the Employment Act, either party may waive its own right to receive notice on any occasion, and where both sides agree, the contract can end on a chosen date with no notice served and no salary paid in lieu.

What one party cannot do is force the other to accept a shorter notice period than the contract or the statutory scale provides, or make the other side give up notice it is owed.

Notice does not cure an unlawful dismissal

Giving the correct notice ends the contract, but it does not make every dismissal lawful. A dismissal can be procedurally correct on notice yet still be a wrongful dismissal if it was without just or sufficient cause.

That is a separate question with its own route and deadline. The page on wrongful dismissal explains when a dismissal on proper notice can still be challenged, and the unpaid-salary page covers claims for salary in lieu that was promised but not paid. For how notice fits into the wider system, see the employment law section.