Working in Singapore

What the employer must have

• The Singapore employer (or its appointed employment agent) must apply for every pass — the worker cannot self-apply.
• Employment Pass: at least S$5,600/month at age 23 (rising with age; higher in financial services) plus 40 points under COMPASS unless an MOM-listed exemption applies. S Pass: at least S$3,300/month (age-scaled) within quota and levy limits.
• To hire a Filipino it must also be accredited with a DMW-licensed Philippine agency and its job order approved by the DMW.

What you must do before you leave

1. Go through a DMW-licensed recruitment agency. Direct hiring is banned by Article 18 of the Labor Code — only the narrow categories listed in POEA Memorandum Circular 08-2018 are exempt — and you can check any agency's licence on dmw.gov.ph before you pay or sign anything.
2. Your employment contract must be verified by the Migrant Workers Office (MWO, formerly POLO) at the Philippine post covering your destination before you can be deployed.
3. Complete the Pre-Employment Orientation Seminar (PEOS) and the Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar (PDOS) and keep both certificates — they are part of the documentary requirements.
4. Get your Overseas Employment Certificate (OEC) before you leave. Every departing OFW needs one, it exempts you from travel tax and the airport terminal fee, and it is valid for 60 days from the date it is issued.
5. Check which pass your offer actually qualifies for against MOM's published salary thresholds before you resign from anything — an offer below the threshold cannot become a pass.

Things to watch

• If you are hired as a household service worker you must NOT be charged a placement fee at all — Republic Act 10361 sec. 13 puts the recruitment cost on the employer, and collecting a fee from a domestic worker is a ground for cancelling the agency's licence. For every other job the placement fee is capped at one month's basic salary and may only be collected once you have a signed contract.
• A job order on the DMW approved list means the government approved the employer's demand and the agency's licence. It does not mean you have been hired, and an order stops being real once its approved slots are filled.
• Migrant domestic workers in Singapore are covered by the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act rather than the Employment Act, and employment agencies there may charge a helper no more than two months' salary — while Philippine law allows a household service worker to be charged nothing.

Official sources

• Employment Pass eligibility — Ministry of Manpower
• Ministry of Manpower — Work Permit for migrant domestic worker
• DMW — Licensed recruitment agencies (check your agency before you pay)
• DMW — Approved job orders

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