MOM’s Fair Consideration Framework 2026: What Employers Must Do Before Hiring Foreign Talent

Every year, Singapore employers apply for Employment Passes and S Passes to bring in foreign talent, and every one of those applications is shaped by the Fair Consideration Framework (FCF). Administered by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), the FCF requires employers to advertise vacancies on MyCareersFuture and genuinely consider Singaporean and permanent resident candidates before turning to the foreign labour market. MOM actively monitors advertising patterns, interview records and hiring outcomes, and treats the FCF as a live compliance obligation rather than a one-off checkbox.

For SME employers, the FCF interacts with other moving parts of the work pass system, including the COMPASS points framework for Employment Pass applications and the quota and levy rules that govern S Pass hiring. Getting the sequencing wrong, such as making a job offer before the advertising window closes, can delay an application or, in serious cases, result in additional scrutiny or debarment from hiring foreign staff.

This article sets out what the FCF requires in 2026, who is exempt, how MOM assesses fair consideration, the penalties and watchlist consequences for non-compliance, and practical steps SME employers should take to stay compliant.

What the Fair Consideration Framework Requires

The FCF sets out requirements for all employers in Singapore to consider the local workforce fairly, and prohibits discrimination based on non job-related characteristics such as age, sex, nationality or race. Every employer is expected to adhere to the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices issued by the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP), whether or not they intend to hire a foreigner.

The FCF’s most visible requirement is the job advertising rule: employers submitting Employment Pass or S Pass applications must first advertise the role on MyCareersFuture and fairly consider all applicants before applying for the work pass. Employers may not make a job offer to any candidate during the mandatory advertising period, so that jobseekers have a genuine window to apply and be considered.

The 14-Day MyCareersFuture Advertising Requirement

A job vacancy must be advertised on MyCareersFuture for a minimum of 14 consecutive days before an employer submits the related Employment Pass or S Pass application, whether the employer is a first-time applicant or a long-established company. If you are also working through the broader process of taking on staff for the first time, our guide on how to hire your first employee in Singapore covers how the FCF timeline fits alongside CPF registration and other onboarding obligations.

What the Advertisement Must Contain

MOM expects the advertisement to accurately reflect the vacancy: job title, key duties, required skills and experience, and salary range. An advertisement that misrepresents the role or sets unreasonable requirements will not satisfy the FCF; MOM has stated it will reject Employment Pass applications linked to advertisements that are discriminatory or inaccurate.

No Job Offers During the Advertising Window

A common misstep is advertising a role while having already informally offered it to a preferred foreign candidate. MOM treats this as going through the motions rather than practising fair consideration, and it is exactly the pattern that draws scrutiny. Offers should only be finalised after the 14-day window closes and local applicants have been properly assessed.

Which Employers and Roles Are Exempt

Not every role needs to go through MyCareersFuture. MOM has carved out several exemptions, largely to reduce the administrative burden on very small firms and to reflect how certain roles are actually filled.

Small Companies With Fewer Than 10 Employees

Companies with fewer than 10 employees remain exempt from the advertising requirement, in recognition of limited administrative resources. This does not remove the underlying obligation to consider local candidates fairly; MOM and TAFEP will still investigate and act on complaints of discriminatory hiring against small companies.

The S$22,500 Salary Threshold

Roles with a fixed monthly salary of S$22,500 or above are exempt. This threshold, raised from S$20,000 with effect from 1 September 2023, is calibrated to the top 10 percent of Employment Pass holders. Such roles, typically senior management or specialist positions, are rarely filled through open advertisements and usually go through executive search instead. Employers using agencies for these searches must still instruct them to source on merit and uphold the Tripartite Guidelines and the FCF.

Intra-Corporate Transferees and Other Exemptions

Genuine intra-corporate transferees rotated in from an overseas parent, subsidiary or affiliate may be exempt, subject to supporting documentation, as can roles filled urgently for an unexpected short-term deployment and positions lasting one month or less. The FCF advertising requirement applies specifically to Employment Pass and S Pass applications; it does not extend to Work Permit holders, whose eligible occupations are governed separately, as set out in our coverage of the NTS-OL expansion of Work Permit occupations. Interns and trainees often sit outside the work pass system entirely, a distinction explained in our article on whether interns and trainees need a work pass in Singapore.

How MOM Assesses Fair Consideration

MOM does not simply check that an advertisement existed. Case officers assess whether the employer genuinely reviewed applications, interviewed suitable candidates, and can explain, with job-related reasons, why local candidates were not selected. Employers should keep interview records and job offer decisions for at least one year in case a discrimination complaint is later made. If asked for this documentation and unable to produce it, MOM may treat the gap as evidence the company is not genuinely committed to fair hiring.

MOM and TAFEP also monitor advertising patterns across the labour market, cross-referencing MyCareersFuture postings against the profile of the eventual pass holder, and follow up on complaints lodged by jobseekers who believe they were passed over unfairly.

FCF and the COMPASS Framework for Employment Pass

The FCF and COMPASS are tightly linked. Beyond the mandatory 14-day advertising step, an employer’s broader track record on local employment feeds into two COMPASS criteria: C3 (Diversity) and C4 (Support for local employment). Companies that score poorly here, alongside those with a generally weak workforce profile, are more likely to attract additional scrutiny under the FCF. The FCF is not a hurdle that ends once the advertisement closes; it is one input into a company’s ongoing standing under COMPASS. Read this alongside our detailed breakdown of the COMPASS framework and how EP applications are scored, since thin or perfunctory local hiring can quietly depress a company’s score even when an individual application otherwise looks strong.

FCF’s Interaction With S Pass Quota and Levy Compliance

The same 14-day advertising requirement applies before an S Pass application, unless an exemption applies. Passing the FCF stage does not guarantee approval: S Pass applications remain subject to the Dependency Ratio Ceiling (quota) for the employer’s sector and the monthly foreign worker levy payable for each S Pass held. An employer that clears the FCF requirement but has exhausted its quota, or is not current on levy payments, will still have the application rejected or delayed on those separate grounds. Treat the FCF step, the quota check and the levy account status as three independent gates that all need to be clear before submission.

Penalties, the Watchlist and Additional Scrutiny

MOM has progressively strengthened penalties attached to the FCF and to breaches of the Tripartite Guidelines more broadly.

Work Pass Debarment

Employers found to have breached the Tripartite Guidelines, including going through the motions of FCF advertising after pre-selecting a foreign candidate, or posting discriminatory advertisements, face work pass debarment. The minimum period is 12 months, rising to 24 months for more egregious cases, and covers both new applications and renewals. Since most work passes run for two to three years, a 12-month debarment can block renewal of a third to half of an employer’s existing passes, while a 24-month debarment can affect every pass the company holds.

The FCF Watchlist and Additional Scrutiny

Companies with weak workforce profiles, including poor COMPASS diversity and local employment scores, or against whom discrimination complaints have been made, may face additional scrutiny. MOM closely examines the company’s Employment Pass and S Pass applications and asks further questions, while TAFEP engages the company directly to strengthen its HR practices, for example through partnerships with career centres at the Institutes of Higher Learning, or programmes run with SkillsFuture Singapore or e2i to hire and train experienced local professionals. Employers who are fully cooperative are given room to improve; those who are not may have their work pass privileges curtailed until MOM is satisfied.

Criminal Liability for False Declarations

Beyond administrative penalties, MOM will prosecute employers or key personnel who make false declarations that they have considered all candidates fairly. A conviction under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act carries imprisonment of up to two years, a fine of up to S$20,000, or both, applying personally to the individual who signs the declaration.

Record-Keeping: What to Keep and for How Long

Good record-keeping is the difference between a smooth response to an MOM query and an escalation into additional scrutiny. At minimum, employers should retain, for at least one year:

• A copy of the MyCareersFuture advertisement as posted, including the dates it ran.
• Records of all applications received during the advertising period.
• Interview notes and shortlisting decisions, with job-related reasons for rejecting local candidates.
• The final job offer decision and any correspondence with an employment agency engaged to assist with the search.

This sits alongside an employer’s other statutory duties once a foreign employee is on board, from renewal deadlines to reporting obligations if circumstances change unexpectedly, a scenario covered in our guide to employer obligations when a foreign employee absconds in Singapore.

Practical Compliance Checklist for SME Employers

Example Scenarios

A ten-person fintech start-up hiring a foreign software architect at S$9,000 a month is exempt from advertising due to headcount, though MOM still expects genuine consideration of any local candidates it did encounter. A 60-person logistics firm hiring a foreign operations manager at S$7,500 a month qualifies for no exemption, so it must advertise on MyCareersFuture for 14 consecutive days and review responses before applying, engaging a licensed employment agency if it wants support with the Employment Pass application. A regional group appointing an incoming country manager at S$25,000 a month, transferred from its overseas headquarters, is exempt on salary and possibly ICT grounds, but should still keep records of its internal selection process.

Conclusion

The Fair Consideration Framework is not a paperwork exercise that ends once a MyCareersFuture posting expires. It is a running assessment of how genuinely an employer considers Singaporean and permanent resident candidates, one that feeds into COMPASS scoring, sits alongside quota and levy checks for S Pass hiring, and can result in debarment, watchlisting or criminal liability where the process was not followed in good faith. SME employers without in-house HR support should build the 14-day advertising step, genuine candidate review and one-year record retention into a standard hiring workflow, rather than treating it as an afterthought once a preferred foreign candidate has already been identified.

To speak with the team at Raffles Corporate Services, you can email [email protected] or call, SMS, or WhatsApp +65 8501 7133. We are happy to assist with any queries.

– The Editorial Team, Raffles Corporate Services