MOM's New Salary Floors: What 1 July Changes for Filipino Workers
The Local Qualifying Salary rises to $1,800 on 1 July, and EP and S Pass minimums climb from 2027. What each number means if you hold, or want, a Singapore work pass.
The Ministry of Manpower announced a set of salary-floor increases at this year's Committee of Supply, and the first one lands on 1 July. If you work here on a pass, or your renewal falls in the next two years, the dates below are worth a screenshot.
1 July 2026: the LQS rises to $1,800
The Local Qualifying Salary climbs from $1,600 to $1,800 per month. The LQS is the minimum a firm must pay a full-time local worker for that worker to count toward its quota for hiring S Pass and Work Permit holders.
You do not receive the LQS, but it shapes your workplace. Firms that pay locals a notch under the new floor must raise those salaries or watch their foreign-worker quota shrink. Some employers will restructure; a few will cut headcount. If your company runs close to its quota, this is the quiet reason behind any sudden HR townhall in the coming months.
January 2027 and 2028: EP and S Pass floors climb
For Employment Pass holders, the minimum qualifying salary rises from $5,600 to $6,000 for new applications from 1 January 2027, and for renewals from 1 January 2028. In financial services, the floor goes from $6,200 to $6,600. These figures are the entry point for the youngest applicants; the bar rises with age, so a candidate in their 40s needs well above the floor.
For S Pass holders, the minimum rises from $3,300 to $3,600 for new applications from 1 January 2027 ($3,800 to $4,000 in financial services), with renewals following in 2028.
EP applicants still need to clear COMPASS, the points system that scores salary, qualifications, firm diversity, and local hiring. A salary above the floor gets you to the starting line, not through it.
What to do with these dates
EP holders: check when your pass expires. A renewal dated before 1 January 2028 runs under the current $5,600 floor; after that, $6,000 applies. If your salary sits between the two numbers, raise it with your manager at appraisal time, this year.
S Pass holders: same exercise with $3,600 as the target. Renewals from 2028 need it.
Hoping to bring family or switch employers: a new application after 1 January 2027 already needs the higher floor, even if your current pass was approved under the old one.
More roles open in September
Separate from the salary changes, MOM expands the Non-Traditional Sources Occupation List on 1 September, adding eight roles including waiters, kitchen assistants, cabin attendants, and teacher aides for hiring from the Philippines. Our NTS expansion guide covers the details.
Verify with MOM
Salary floors, dates, and sector rules live on mom.gov.sg and the MOM factsheet from COS 2026. Policies get refined between announcement and effective date, so check the official pages before making decisions around a renewal, a job switch, or a salary negotiation.
The pattern across all of it is steady: Singapore keeps raising the price of every pass tier. The workers who stay ahead of it are the ones who treat each announced date as a deadline for a conversation, not a surprise on a rejection letter.
Hero image: "Skylines of the Central Business District, Singapore at dusk.jpg" by Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Skylines_of_the_Central_Business_District,_Singapore_at_dusk.jpg).
