COMPASS framework: points, bonuses, shortage list:...

The COMPASS framework is the points system the Ministry of Manpower uses to assess Employment Pass applications, scoring each candidate and employer on salary, qualifications, workforce diversity and support for local employment, with a minimum of 40 points required to pass.

What the COMPASS framework is

COMPASS stands for the Complementarity Assessment Framework. Introduced by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and progressively applied to all new and renewal Employment Pass applications since September 2023, it replaces a purely salary-based test with a points system built around four core criteria plus two bonus criteria. Every EP application is scored out of a maximum of 20 points across the core criteria, with additional bonus points layered on top; an application generally needs to reach 40 points to pass, and there is a separate, lower foundational tier for applications from smaller firms or shortage occupations.

The stated policy intent is to ensure that EP holders complement, rather than compete directly with, the local workforce, and that firms hiring foreign PMETs also invest in local talent development. This sits alongside, but is separate from, the underlying qualifying salary threshold, which remains a strict pass or fail gate before COMPASS is even applied.

Why COMPASS replaced a purely salary-based test

Before September 2023, an Employment Pass application was assessed almost entirely on whether the offered salary met the qualifying threshold for the candidate’s age band. This was simple to administer but drew persistent criticism that it allowed firms to hire foreign PMETs on salaries that technically cleared the bar while doing little to develop the local workforce or diversify their hiring. COMPASS was designed to address that gap directly: by scoring firm-level behaviour (diversity, local support) alongside individual-level merit (salary, qualifications), MOM created a system where an individually excellent candidate can still be blocked by firm-level patterns, and conversely where a modest candidate profile can be helped along by strong firm-level practices.

This shift has practical consequences for how employers should think about EP applications: the unit of analysis is no longer just the candidate, it is the candidate plus the sponsoring firm’s track record. Firms that have never previously sponsored an EP, or that have a small and geographically concentrated workforce, often underestimate how much the firm-level criteria affect the outcome, and are surprised when a strong individual candidate is nonetheless scored poorly.

Who needs to understand the COMPASS framework

COMPASS matters most to:

HR and mobility teams sponsoring EP applicants, who need to model the score before submitting
Founders and small business owners applying for their own EP through a newly set up Singapore entity, where firm-level criteria (local headcount, sector, size) weigh heavily
Regional headquarters and multinational groups relocating staff into Singapore, where firm-level bonus points such as being on the Ministry’s recognised list of top employers can materially change the outcome
Recruiters and employment agencies advising clients on realistic salary and role positioning before an offer is made

How COMPASS scoring works: the criteria and thresholds

COMPASS scores an application across four core criteria (C1 to C4), each worth 0, 10 or 20 points, and two bonus criteria (C5 and C6), each worth 0 or 20 points, capped so that bonus points cannot exceed 20 in total contribution to the pass or fail threshold.

C1 Salary: how the candidate’s fixed monthly salary compares against the local market salary for PMETs of similar age in the same sector. Paying meaningfully above the local median earns full marks; paying at or barely above the qualifying salary earns zero.
C2 Qualifications: whether the candidate holds a qualification from a recognised institution relevant to the role, assessed against a reference list MOM maintains internally.
C3 Diversity: the proportion of the firm’s PMET workforce that already comes from the candidate’s nationality. A firm with a concentrated single-nationality PMET workforce scores zero here regardless of the individual candidate’s merits.
C4 Support for local employment: whether the firm has a track record of hiring and developing local PMETs, benchmarked against firms of similar size and sector.
C5 Bonus: Shortage Occupation List: 20 bonus points if the role appears on MOM’s published shortage occupation list, which is reviewed periodically and currently weighted towards select technology, engineering and healthcare roles.
C6 Bonus: Firm is on the SkillsFuture Queen Bee / top local employer list: 20 bonus points if the sponsoring firm is recognised as a partner supporting local workforce development under a scheme MOM designates from time to time.

A separate, lower pass mark of 30 points applies to a “foundational” tier intended to give small firms and genuinely scarce roles a lower bar, but this tier itself is capped by firm size and sector, and cannot be assumed without checking eligibility first.

Cost and timeline implications of COMPASS

COMPASS itself carries no separate fee; it is assessed automatically as part of the standard Employment Pass application. However, getting the score wrong has real cost and time consequences:

MOM application fee: S$105, non-refundable even if the application is rejected on COMPASS grounds
Typical processing time for an application that clears COMPASS comfortably: 3 to 5 weeks
Processing time for an application near the 40-point threshold, which often triggers supplementary review: 6 to 10 weeks
Cost of restructuring a rejected application (revised salary, updated job description, fresh advertisement under the Fair Consideration Framework): typically an additional 4 to 8 weeks of delay
Appeal window after a COMPASS-related rejection: generally within 3 months, though a stronger approach is usually to address the specific criterion that scored zero rather than appeal on the same facts

Section 3 of the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act 1990 gives MOM broad discretion over the conditions attached to a work pass, which is the legal basis for applying COMPASS as a condition of approval rather than a separate statutory test; there is no standalone “COMPASS Act”, so the framework operates as MOM policy exercised under that discretion.

Step-by-step: scoring your application before you submit

Benchmark the offered salary against MOM’s published local salary comparators for the role’s sector and the candidate’s age band, not just the bare qualifying salary threshold.
Check the candidate’s qualifications against MOM’s institution and field-of-study reference criteria for C2, and gather certified transcripts where the institution is less well known internationally.
Pull the firm’s current PMET nationality mix to estimate the C3 diversity score honestly before submission, rather than discovering the shortfall after rejection.
Review the firm’s local hiring and training record for C4, including whether the firm participates in any recognised local talent programmes.
Check the current shortage occupation list for C5 bonus eligibility; this list is updated periodically and a role that qualified last year may not qualify this year, or vice versa.
Confirm firm-level recognition status for C6, which is not something an individual application can influence quickly, but which should be factored into expectations.
Run the self-assessment tool on MOM’s EP Online portal before formal submission to get an indicative score.
Adjust the application, most commonly the offered salary or the job description, if the indicative score sits close to or below 40.

Common mistakes and rejection reasons

Assuming the qualifying salary threshold and COMPASS are the same test. They are not; a candidate can clear the salary bar and still fail COMPASS on diversity or qualifications.
Not checking the firm’s existing PMET nationality concentration before extending an offer, which is often the single biggest score killer for firms that have hired heavily from one country previously.
Treating C5 and C6 bonus points as guaranteed without confirming the current shortage occupation list or the firm’s actual recognition status, which changes over time.
Under-selling the salary relative to true market rate to save cost, which directly depresses the C1 score and can turn an otherwise strong application into a rejection.
Vague job descriptions that do not clearly justify the qualifications sought, weakening the C2 assessment.
Ignoring the hidden peer benchmark MOM applies when comparing a firm against others in its industry; many employers do not realise their COMPASS outcome is partly relative to sector peers rather than an absolute scale. Our detailed explainer on the hidden COMPASS score benchmark against industry peers unpacks exactly how this comparison works and how to check where your firm sits.
Applying without first restructuring firm-level facts, such as local PMET headcount, when a modest, planned change ahead of the application could meaningfully lift C3 or C4.

COMPASS and regional headquarters

Regional and international headquarters relocating multiple staff to Singapore face a distinct set of COMPASS dynamics, since a large cohort of same-nationality transferees can quickly depress the firm’s C3 diversity score even where each individual candidate is highly qualified. Groups planning a headquarters relocation should model this at the portfolio level, not application by application, and should also review the tax incentives available to regional and international headquarters, since the same relocation plan often needs to be assessed for tax structuring in parallel with work pass planning. See our related guide on regional HQ tax incentives for employers relocating staff to Singapore for the tax side of that planning exercise.

Firms establishing a new Singapore entity to serve as the regional headquarters, rather than expanding an existing one, should also get the underlying company registration right, since a newly incorporated shell entity with no local hires and minimal paid-up capital will struggle on C3 and C4 regardless of how strong the individual candidates are. Our partner site’s guide on company registration for foreign employers setting up in Singapore is a useful companion read at the planning stage.

How to model COMPASS before you make an offer

The single most effective way to avoid a COMPASS-related rejection is to model the score before an offer letter is signed, not after. This means treating the salary, job description and candidate profile as variables that can still be adjusted, rather than fixed facts to be defended once submitted. A practical modelling exercise involves running the offered salary against MOM’s local comparator data for the sector and age band, estimating the firm’s current C3 diversity position from existing headcount records, and checking whether the role could plausibly be described in a way that better matches the candidate’s qualifications for C2.

Employers should also build a buffer into their planning rather than aiming for exactly 40 points. An indicative self-assessment score of 40 leaves no margin for a less favourable formal assessment, whereas a modelled score of 50 or more gives confidence that the application will clear even if one criterion is scored slightly less favourably than expected on formal review. This is particularly important for firms making a first-time EP application, where there is no track record with MOM to smooth over any borderline criteria.

Renewals: why a passing score once does not guarantee it again

One of the more frequently misunderstood aspects of COMPASS is that it applies at renewal, not just at first issuance. A pass that cleared 40 points comfortably three years ago can face a materially different outcome at renewal if the local salary comparator has moved, if the firm’s nationality mix has become more concentrated due to other hires in the interim, or if the shortage occupation list no longer includes the role. Employers should treat the renewal application with the same rigour as a first-time application, running a fresh self-assessment several months ahead of the expiry date rather than assuming the previous approval will simply carry over.

FAQs

What is the minimum COMPASS score needed to pass?
An application generally needs 40 points across the core and bonus criteria, though a lower foundational tier of 30 points may apply to smaller firms or genuinely scarce roles, subject to eligibility.

Can bonus points alone make up for a weak core score?
Bonus points help, but they are capped and cannot fully substitute for a structurally weak core score, particularly on salary or diversity, which tend to carry the most weight in practice.

Does the shortage occupation list change often?
Yes, MOM reviews and updates the list periodically, so a role’s eligibility for the C5 bonus should be checked at the time of application rather than assumed from a previous cycle.

Is COMPASS applied to renewals as well as new applications?
Yes. Renewal applications are reassessed under COMPASS, which means a pass that scored comfortably at first issuance can still face a tighter outcome at renewal if firm-level metrics have shifted.

Can an employer see the exact COMPASS score before submitting?
MOM provides a self-assessment tool that gives an indicative score, but the final assessed score is only confirmed on formal submission and review.

Related guides

Read our full walkthrough of the Employment Pass application process for the wider context COMPASS sits within, and our article on EP appeal letters and rejection recovery if a COMPASS-related rejection has already been issued.

For official policy detail, refer to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) for the current COMPASS criteria, thresholds and shortage occupation list, and to the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) for context on how workforce and headquarters planning fits into broader investment promotion policy.

Need help with this? Call, SMS or WhatsApp +65 8501 7133, or email [email protected]. Little Big Employment Agency (EA Licence 19C9790) works with a panel of corporate and employment law firms; this article is general information, not legal advice.