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Higher EP salaries for renewals mean employers may have to give big raises – or lose workers

Elysia Tan,

Renald Yeo

Published Thu, May 25, 2023 · 05:50 AM

Foreign workers

WHEN higher Employment Pass (EP) qualifying salaries kick in for renewals this September, some companies may have to give big pay rises to keep their foreign employees – or let them go.

Since September 2022, qualifying salaries for new EP applications have been benchmarked to the top third of local professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) by age.

This starts at S$5,000 and increases from the age of 23, up to S$10,500 for those aged 45 and above. The exception is financial services, where the range is from S$5,500 to S$11,500.

This is “because local PMET wages have also been increasing with ag…