Chief Heart Officer: Is Your HR Team Compassionate Enough?

Job titles such as “Chief Heart Officer” and “Head of Employee Experience” have started to appear on LinkedIn profiles and company websites, including a few in Singapore. The idea behind the title is simple: someone senior should own how people are treated at work. So is your HR team compassionate enough, or is compassion being left to chance?

Who this applies to

No Singapore law requires a company to appoint a Chief Heart Officer. The title is a branding choice, not a regulatory one. The responsibilities behind it, however, apply to almost every employer here, including:

SMEs where the founder or an office manager handles HR alongside other duties
Growing companies that employ foreign staff on the Employment Pass, S Pass or Work Permit
Regional headquarters that must apply group policies in a way that fits the Employment Act and MOM work pass conditions
HR leaders who are being asked to improve retention, engagement or employer branding

If you employ people in Singapore, you already carry duties around fair treatment, wellbeing and safety. A compassionate HR culture is largely about carrying out those duties well.

Key rules and requirements in Singapore

Compassion at work is not a legal term, but several laws and guidelines set the minimum standard for how employees should be treated.

Employment Act minimum standards

The Employment Act covers most employees, including managers and executives. It sets out paid annual leave, paid sick leave (up to 14 days of outpatient leave and 60 days of hospitalisation leave a year, inclusive, once the employee has served at least three months), rest days, public holidays and timely salary payment. Compassionate leave is not a statutory entitlement, so any bereavement or family care leave you offer is a matter of company policy and should be written down clearly.

Fair employment and the Workplace Fairness Act

The Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices, promoted by TAFEP, expect employers to hire and manage staff on merit. The Workplace Fairness Act, passed by Parliament in 2025, will put protection against discrimination on grounds such as age, nationality, sex, marital status, pregnancy, caregiving responsibilities, race, religion, language and disability into law. It will also require employers to have proper grievance handling processes. Check MOM’s latest guidance for the commencement date and the obligations that apply to your company size.

Flexible work and family leave

Since 1 December 2024, the Tripartite Guidelines on Flexible Work Arrangement Requests have required employers to consider formal FWA requests properly and respond in writing within two months. Family leave has also expanded, with government-paid paternity leave now four weeks and shared parental leave rising to 10 weeks for eligible parents of children born from 1 April 2026.

Duties towards work pass holders

Under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act and its work pass conditions, employers must pay the declared salary, maintain medical insurance for S Pass and Work Permit holders, bear their medical costs, and provide acceptable housing for Work Permit holders. These are legal obligations, not goodwill gestures. Getting them wrong can lead to fines, debarment from hiring foreign staff and a poorer standing under the COMPASS framework for future Employment Pass applications.

Workplace safety and mental wellbeing

The Workplace Safety and Health Act requires employers to take reasonably practicable steps to protect employees. The Tripartite Advisory on Mental Well-being at Workplaces adds practical guidance, such as giving staff access to an Employee Assistance Programme and training managers to spot signs of distress.

Step-by-step process

You do not need a new C-suite title to build a more compassionate people function.

Audit the basics first. Check that leave records, payslips, CPF contributions, key employment terms and work pass conditions are in order. Late salaries undo any wellbeing campaign.
Listen before designing. Run a short anonymous survey or small group conversations. Ask what causes stress, what support people value, and where managers fall short.
Write down your policies. Set out compassionate leave, FWA requests, medical support, grievance handling and return-to-work arrangements in the employee handbook so that decisions are consistent.
Assign clear ownership. Name a senior person, whatever their title, who is accountable for employee wellbeing and fair treatment, and give them a budget and a reporting line to management.
Train line managers. Most employees experience the company through their direct manager. Short training on difficult conversations, mental health first aid and fair appraisals has a large effect.
Include foreign employees properly. Translate key policies where needed, explain entitlements clearly at onboarding and make sure grievance channels are genuinely accessible to Work Permit and S Pass holders.
Measure and review. Track turnover, sick leave, grievances and exit interview themes each quarter.

Common mistakes to avoid

Treating compassion as a perk. Fruit baskets and yoga sessions are pleasant, but they do not replace fair workloads, clear expectations and on-time pay.
Making promises the policy does not support. If a manager verbally grants extra leave to one employee but not another, you risk claims of unfair treatment.
Confusing kindness with avoiding hard decisions. Delaying a performance conversation or a necessary retrenchment usually hurts the employee more later. Compassion means handling these fairly and with notice, in line with the Tripartite Advisory on Managing Excess Manpower and Responsible Retrenchment.
Oversharing personal information. Discussing an employee’s medical or family situation with colleagues, even with good intentions, can breach the PDPA.
Forgetting work pass holders. Wellbeing programmes that only reach office staff can leave Work Permit holders, who may face the greatest pressures, without support.

Practical examples

Example 1: A logistics SME with high turnover

A logistics company with 40 staff, half of them on Work Permits, was losing drivers every few months. Exit interviews showed that workers did not understand their overtime pay and felt unable to raise concerns. The company introduced itemised payslips in plain language, a monthly check-in with a named HR contact and a simple grievance form available in several languages. Turnover fell over the following year without any change in salary levels.

Example 2: A tech firm with a burnout problem

A regional tech office noticed that sick leave rose sharply during product launches. Rather than creating a new title, it made its HR manager responsible for a wellbeing plan: an Employee Assistance Programme, launch schedules with realistic buffers, and training for team leads on handling FWA requests. Survey scores on “my manager cares about me” improved within two quarters.

Example 3: A family business handling bereavement

An S Pass holder in a family-run trading company lost a parent overseas. With no written policy, the request was handled informally and the employee felt pressured to return early. The company then adopted three days’ paid compassionate leave for immediate family, with annual or unpaid leave available for travel.

How Singapore Employment Agency can help

A compassionate workplace is built on sound HR compliance. Singapore Employment Agency supports employers with work pass applications, renewals and appeals for the Employment Pass, S Pass and Work Permit, and with the HR compliance behind them. We can review your employee handbook, key employment terms and leave policies against the Employment Act, help you prepare for the Workplace Fairness Act, and advise on how your practices affect your COMPASS assessment and MOM standing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a Chief Heart Officer a legal requirement in Singapore?

No. There is no requirement under Singapore law to appoint anyone with this title. Employers are, however, responsible for complying with the Employment Act, the CPF Act, work pass conditions and workplace safety rules, so it helps to name someone accountable for people matters.

Do employers have to give compassionate leave?

Compassionate or bereavement leave is not a statutory entitlement under the Employment Act. Many employers offer it as a company benefit. If you do, set out the eligibility and number of days in writing so it is applied consistently.

Does a wellbeing programme have to include foreign workers?

There is no specific rule that says so, but excluding them can raise fair treatment concerns and miss the staff who may need support most. Separately, core obligations such as medical insurance, medical costs and acceptable housing for Work Permit holders are mandatory work pass conditions.

Can we reject a flexible work arrangement request?

Yes, but under the Tripartite Guidelines on Flexible Work Arrangement Requests, you must consider the request properly, base any rejection on reasonable business grounds and reply in writing within two months.

Key takeaways

“Chief Heart Officer” is a trend in titles, not a legal requirement in Singapore.
Compassionate HR starts with compliance: correct pay, CPF contributions, leave and work pass obligations.
The Workplace Fairness Act and the FWA guidelines are raising the baseline for fair treatment and grievance handling.
Written policies and trained managers matter more than perks or job titles.
Foreign employees on the Employment Pass, S Pass and Work Permit should be fully included in wellbeing and grievance processes.

Requirements may change, so always check the latest guidance from MOM, IRAS or ACRA, or consult a professional adviser.

If you would like to find out more about how Singapore Employment Agency can assist with your work pass and employment compliance requirements, please get in touch with the team at [email protected].

Yours sincerely,
The editorial team at Singapore Employment Agency

Disclaimer: This does not constitute legal advice. If you require legal advice, please contact a lawyer.