Laws passed to grant more parental leave, tackle abuses of court processes

Parliament on Nov 13 passed a Bill to give effect to additional paid parental leave allowances that were first announced at the National Day Rally in August.

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Twelve MPs spoke on the Child Development Co-Savings (Amendment) Bill, which will amend the law to raise total paid parental leave to 30 weeks (7 1/2 months) come April 2026.

The House also passed a law clarifying that "lawfare"—in the form of abusive court applications and time-wasting tactics—constitutes contempt of court.

Here are the key takeaways:

LAW PASSED TO RAISE GOVT-PAID PARENTAL LEAVE

Additional government-paid parental leave, first announced at 2024's National Day Rally, was formally written into law on Nov 13.

With the amendment, parents-to-be will get 10 weeks of shared leave on top of their current leave entitlement, bringing the total amount of government-paid parental leave to 30 weeks by April 1, 2026.

Another change is for the third and fourth weeks of a father's government-paid paternity leave to become mandatory. Currently, it is at employers' discretion whether to offer this additional leave.

Besides calls for more fathers to take their paternity leave, MPs also raised employers' concerns, such as when leave requests could pose significant operational challenges for firms.

WHY IT MATTERS

The Singaporean population is declining fast, with its total fertility rate reaching a historic low of 0.97 children per woman in 2023. This is lower than Japan's 1.2 and Sweden's 1.45, although it is higher than South Korea's 0.72.

Despite this, the Republic's current parental leave provisions are still shorter than those in many other developed countries, which can stretch to a year, albeit not on a full salary.