Posting the job is free. The government cost is the part nobody quotes you first.
A monthly salary is the visible half of the bill. The other half — levy, insurance, bond and pass fees — is fixed by MOM, paid by you, and impossible to pass to the worker. Budget it before you advertise, or you will advertise a job you cannot afford to fill.
Your monthly cost
Working it out…
Every figure below comes from MOM, with the date it was read. Your insurer sets the actual premium — what is fixed is the cover MOM demands and who has to pay for it.
The numbers, in one table
| Item | What it is |
|---|---|
| S Pass levy | S$650 a month per S Pass holder, paid by the employer, every month the pass is valid. |
| S Pass medical insurance | Cover of at least S$60,000 a year per worker; above S$15,000 the insurer pays 75% and you pay 25%. |
| S Pass quota | S Pass holders can be at most 10% of the workforce in a services company — and that 10% shares the same 35% ceiling as Work Permit holders. |
| Work Permit security bond | S$5,000 per worker held by a bank or insurer, refundable when the worker leaves properly. MOM says you cannot ask the worker to pay it. You must also buy medical insurance for the worker. |
| Employment Pass fees | S$105 to apply plus S$225 when it is issued, per pass. No monthly levy. |
| Work Permit fees | S$35 to apply plus S$35 on issue, per pass. The pass runs about 2 years. |
| Processing time | Work Permit: within 1 week. Employment Pass: within 10 business days, or up to 6 weeks if the employer is an overseas company with no Singapore-registered company. |
| Before you can apply at all | For an Employment Pass or S Pass application, the job must be advertised on MyCareersFuture for 14 consecutive days with no changes. Any edit restarts the 14 days. A Work Permit application does not need this. |
Source: MOM — foreign worker quota and levy · read 20 September 2026.
Source: MOM — Work Permit security bond · read 20 September 2026.
Source: MOM — Apply for a Work Permit · read 20 September 2026.
Source: MOM — Apply for an Employment Pass · read 20 September 2026.
Source: MOM — Fair Consideration Framework · read 20 September 2026.
Who pays: MOM holds the employer responsible for the levy and work pass fees, and the security bond cannot be charged to the worker. Passing any of it to the employee is the fastest way to lose the right to hire anyone at all.
Do this next
Post the job free — the ad passes an automatic compliance scan before it publishes, and the form shows you this same monthly cost as you type the salary.