Yes. If one spouse is a stay-at-home parent or unemployed, the working spouse is entitled to the full duration of the Shared Parental Leave (SPL) or Shared Parental Leave Benefit, if he/she meets the eligibility criteria. This is to encourage shared parental responsibility, where the working spouse should also have time away from work to care for and bond with the newborn. We encourage employers and employees to have early discussions on leave plans, and include understanding the employment status of the employee’s spouse, so that employers are aware of their employees’ entitlements.

In such instances, the couple will see a default allocation where the leave is equally distributed between parents. The working spouse should update his/her sharing arrangement accordingly to reflect his/her own entitlement to take the full 6 or 10 weeks of the SPL. We encourage these parents to update their sharing arrangement in LifeSG within the first 4 weeks of the child’s birth or Formal Intent to Adopt (FIA) date, as they will have to submit supporting documentation to MSF if the change is made after the first 4 weeks.