COMPASS explained for employers: how to plan an Employment Pass application

The two-stage test

Since 1 September 2023 every new Employment Pass application, and since 1 September 2024 every renewal of a pass expiring from that date, has been assessed in two stages. The first stage is the qualifying salary, which rises with age and is higher in financial services: currently S$5,600 at age 23 or below rising to S$10,700 at 45 and above, and S$6,200 rising to S$11,800 in financial services. From 1 January 2027 the minimums become S$6,000 and S$6,600 for new applications, and from 1 January 2028 for renewals of passes expiring from that date. A candidate below the qualifying salary is ineligible whatever their COMPASS score.

The second stage is the Complementarity Assessment Framework. The application is scored on four foundational criteria, each worth up to 20 points, and two bonus criteria, and needs 40 points to pass. Three categories of candidate are exempt: those with a fixed monthly salary of S$22,500 or more, overseas intra-corporate transferees under the WTO GATS or an applicable FTA definition, and roles of one month or less. Exemption from COMPASS is not exemption from the qualifying salary or from fair-hiring obligations.

The four foundational criteria

C1 salary. The candidate's fixed monthly salary is compared with local PMET salaries in the employer's sector for the candidate's age. At or above the 90th percentile scores 20; from the 65th to below the 90th scores 10; below the 65th scores 0. The benchmarks come from MOM's annual labour force survey, are published each August, and apply to new applications from the following January and to renewals of passes expiring from the following July.

C2 qualifications. A degree-equivalent qualification from an institution on MOM's top-tier list scores 20; another degree-equivalent qualification, or a listed professional qualification such as certain accountancy, engineering or cybersecurity credentials, scores 10; no qualification scores 0. The lists are refreshed once a year. Any qualification relied on must be verified through a MOM-accepted procedure, and a candidate with no degree can still pass with 40 points from elsewhere.

C3 diversity. This is about the firm. MOM looks at the share of the candidate's nationality among the firm's PMETs. Below 5% scores 20; from 5% to below 25% scores 10; 25% or more scores 0. A firm with fewer than 25 PMETs receives 10 points by default.

C4 support for local employment. Also about the firm. The firm's local PMET share is compared with its sector. At or above the 50th percentile scores 20; from the 20th to below the 50th scores 10; below the 20th scores 0. Firms with fewer than 25 PMETs receive 10 by default, and a local PMET share of at least 70% guarantees at least 10.

The arithmetic is simple and unforgiving. A firm scoring 0 on C3 and 0 on C4 needs 40 points from the candidate alone: 90th-percentile pay and a top-tier degree, or one of those plus a bonus. A firm scoring 10 and 10 needs 20 from the candidate, which a 65th-percentile salary and an ordinary degree deliver. A firm scoring 20 and 20 can hire a candidate with no C1 or C2 points at all.

The bonus criteria

C5 skills bonus. A job on the Shortage Occupation List earns 20 points, reduced to 10 if the candidate's nationality makes up one third or more of the firm's PMETs. The list was updated for applications from 1 January 2025 and again for 2026, and now spans healthcare, agritech, financial services, the green economy and AI alongside the established engineering and technology roles. The candidate must actually perform the listed duties, the additional requirements in MOM's employer guide must be met, and the employer must select the shortage occupation in the application. Certain technology roles on the list may also qualify for a five-year pass.

C6 strategic economic priorities bonus. Participation in, or meeting the criteria for, an eligible programme supported by a government agency earns 10 points. The bonus lasts up to three years or the duration of participation, whichever is shorter, and renewal of an application relying on it requires at least 10 points each on C3 and C4 in each of the three months before renewal. The supporting agency, not the employer, decides eligibility.

Planning the application: a sequence

The planning sequence follows from where the points come from.

Step one: read the firm's own score. The Workforce Insights tool on the myMOM Portal shows the firm's C3 and C4 scores and workforce profile. This is the first thing to check, before a candidate is identified, because it sets the bar the candidate must clear. A firm whose local PMET share is trending towards the 20th percentile, or whose single largest nationality is approaching 25% of PMETs, should treat that as a strategic problem rather than a filing detail.

Step two: run the Self-Assessment Tool with real facts. Enter the candidate's age, the firm's sector, the fixed monthly salary and the verified qualification for the intended filing date. MOM states that a negative result predicts rejection and that a positive one is an aid, not an approval. For a January 2027 start, use the 2027 qualifying table and the C1 benchmarks released in August 2026.

Step three: design the role and package to be real and to score. Fixed monthly salary means fixed: variable pay, housing allowances and equity do not count. If a candidate sits just below the 65th or 90th percentile, the question is whether the role genuinely warrants a higher fixed salary, not whether the number can be moved. Declared salary is tested against payroll, and a salary declared but not paid is a false declaration under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act.

Step four: advertise and recruit fairly. Unless an exemption applies, the role must be posted on MyCareersFuture for at least 14 consecutive days with a salary range no wider than twice the minimum and including the salary offered, no offer may be made during the window, and every applicant must be genuinely considered. A posting closed for more than three months cannot be used. Exemptions cover firms with fewer than 10 employees, roles at S$22,500 or more, roles of one month or less, local group transfers and overseas intra-corporate transferees.

Step five: verify before filing. Obtain the qualification verification proof, reconcile the contract with the payslip template, confirm the occupation code matches the duties, and keep the SAT result and the advertisement reference on file.

Renewals are applications too

Employers used to the pre-2024 regime sometimes treat renewal as administrative. It is not. A renewal is assessed against the qualifying salary for the holder's current age and against COMPASS with the benchmarks in force for the renewal period. A holder who was 29 at first application and is 32 at renewal faces a higher qualifying salary; a firm whose local PMET share has slipped faces a lower C4 score; and the C1 benchmark for the sector may have moved.

The practical discipline is a twelve-month look-ahead for every pass. Each August, when MOM releases the following year's C1 benchmarks, review every pass expiring in the subsequent renewal window (passes expiring from 1 July of the following year use the new benchmarks) against the holder's age-adjusted qualifying salary, the new C1 band and the firm's current C3 and C4 position. Salary reviews, promotions and local hiring plans can then be made with the renewal in view rather than discovered when the renewal is refused.

What the framework is really measuring

COMPASS is a workforce-composition policy expressed as a points test. The signal to employers is that Singapore wants foreign professionals who complement, rather than substitute for, a local PMET workforce, and that firms with mixed nationalities and strong local employment will find it easier to bring in the people they need. A firm that responds by hiring and developing local PMETs, and by avoiding concentration from a single source country, improves its C3 and C4 scores and widens the band of candidates it can hire. A firm that responds by searching for a candidate who scores 40 on their own will find the search narrowing each year.

For the transferee, qualifying under COMPASS is worth something. The role, the salary and the credentials were tested against a published benchmark, which gives a Singapore assignment weight when the next authority, in the United States, Canada or Europe, asks what the person did and for whom. For a family enterprise placing a successor in a regional affiliate, that is the point: a benchmarked managerial role under a tested pass is real work, documented in a form other authorities recognise. WG's COMPASS programme page sets out the scoring tables and the evidence an application needs.