Reservist Call-Up During Work Pass Renewal: Employer Guide

Roughly one in four working-age Singaporean men remains liable for operationally ready national service (ORNS), commonly called reservist or “ICT” (in-camp training), until age 40 for most ranks and age 50 for officers, under the Enlistment Act 1970 (Enlistment Act 1970, sso.agc.gov.sg, as at 26 September 2026). For most employers this is a routine calendar item. It becomes a live compliance question, however, when a local employee’s reservist call-up falls in the same three-month window that the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is using to compute a company’s local headcount for an Employment Pass (EP) or S Pass reservist call-up during work pass renewal assessment. HR teams sometimes assume the employee’s temporary absence, or the make-up pay arrangement that follows it, will dent the quota that supports a foreign employee’s renewal. It will not, provided the employer follows the rules correctly, and getting this wrong in the other direction, by mishandling the reservist’s own employment, carries separate criminal exposure under the Enlistment Act.

This article sets out what actually happens when a work pass renewal cycle overlaps with an employee’s national service liability, what the Enlistment Act 1970 requires an employer to do (and not do) during that period, and how compliance and HR teams should sequence their paperwork so neither the reservist’s job nor the foreign colleague’s pass renewal is put at risk.

How MOM Computes the Headcount Behind a Work Pass Renewal

An Employment Pass or S Pass renewal is not assessed in isolation. For S Pass and Work Permit holders, MOM sets a Dependency Ratio Ceiling (DRC) and, for S Pass, a sub-ceiling, both calculated against the employer’s local workforce (mom.gov.sg, Local Qualifying Salary, as at 26 September 2026). The local headcount that feeds this calculation is derived from the average number of Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents on the payroll over the preceding three months of CPF contributions, with each local counted as a full headcount only if paid at least the Local Qualifying Salary, which rises from S$1,600 to S$1,800 a month from 1 July 2026 (mom.gov.sg, Local Qualifying Salary, as at 26 September 2026). Our earlier guide covers the mechanics of this threshold in more detail: Local Qualifying Salary 2026: S$1,800 Quota Guide.

An Employment Pass itself does not sit behind a quota, but MOM’s Fair Consideration Framework and its broader assessment of an employer’s hiring practices still look at the composition and stability of the local workforce. A local employee’s national service absence has no bearing on any of these figures if the employer keeps paying CPF correctly throughout the call-up, which is precisely what the Enlistment Act requires.

What the Enlistment Act 1970 Requires While an Employee Is on Reservist Duty

CPF Contributions Continue Unchanged

Section 24(6) of the Enlistment Act 1970 requires an employer to continue paying CPF contributions at the same rate during an employee’s ORNS service as if the employee had not been called up, unless the employee has separately been dismissed for cause under section 22 (sso.agc.gov.sg, Enlistment Act 1970, revised edition incorporating amendments to 1 December 2021, as at 26 September 2026). This is the operative fact for work pass renewal purposes: because CPF contributions do not drop during a reservist stint, the employee continues to count as a full local headcount in MOM’s three-month average, and a foreign colleague’s EP or S Pass renewal computation is unaffected by the timing of the call-up.

Leave of Absence Is Mandatory

Section 23 obliges the employer to grant leave of absence for the full period of national service, including ORNS training, and makes non-compliance an offence carrying a fine of up to S$5,000 or imprisonment of up to three years (sso.agc.gov.sg, Enlistment Act 1970, as at 26 September 2026). This leave cannot be deducted from the employee’s annual leave entitlement, and the reservist’s substantive employment terms, including any role tied to supporting an EP or S Pass renewal file, must remain exactly as they were before the call-up.

Dismissal Because of NS Liability Is a Criminal Offence

Section 22(1) prohibits an employer from dismissing an employee solely or mainly by reason of any national service duty or liability, and section 22(3) reverses the burden of proof, so that where NS liability contributed to a dismissal, the employer must prove the dismissal was unconnected to it. Contravention is punishable by a fine of up to S$2,000, imprisonment of up to six months, or both, plus compensation of up to three months’ remuneration (sso.agc.gov.sg, Enlistment Act 1970, as at 26 September 2026). Section 21 separately requires reinstatement, on terms no less favourable, of any employee who had at least six months’ continuous service before being called up.

Put together, these provisions mean an employer under renewal-cycle pressure cannot lawfully solve a perceived headcount problem by timing a reservist’s exit around his call-up. Doing so exposes the company to prosecution under a statute that has nothing to do with immigration law, on top of whatever work pass consequences follow.

Reservist Call-Up During Work Pass Renewal: What Changes and What Does Not

In practice, four things do not change when a local employee is called up mid-renewal-cycle: the employee’s CPF contribution rate, his headcount status for DRC purposes, his substantive job terms, and his employment protection under the Enlistment Act. What can change, and what HR should actively manage, are administrative details around the timing of MOM’s renewal review, particularly if the renewal officer requests updated payroll records that happen to fall within the call-up period. For background on the wider renewal mechanics, see Renewal of Employment Pass and our related note on EP Renewal, Salary Uplift and Dependency Ratios: Common Mistakes and Rejection Reasons.

Where employers do run into difficulty is when the reservist is paid through the DIRECT scheme, under which MINDEF reimburses the employer for wages continued during the call-up. Reimbursement timing does not affect the CPF contribution obligation, which remains the employer’s responsibility on the usual schedule regardless of when MINDEF’s reimbursement lands (cpf.gov.sg, as at 26 September 2026). A renewal file that shows a temporary payroll gap or a late CPF posting because reimbursement was pending can trigger an unnecessary MOM query, so the fix is procedural: keep CPF contributions running on time from the employer’s own funds and reconcile the MINDEF reimbursement separately.

What Employers Must Do

Continue CPF contributions for the reservist employee at the same rate throughout the call-up, regardless of whether MINDEF reimbursement or make-up pay has yet been received, so the local headcount used in a colleague’s work pass renewal is not disturbed.
Grant the full period of leave requested on the NS notice without deducting it from annual leave.
If the company is registered under the DIRECT scheme, pay the employee’s usual salary during the call-up and claim reimbursement afterwards; if not registered, ensure the employee is aware he may claim make-up pay directly.
Keep the reservist’s job scope, reporting line and terms unchanged so that reinstatement obligations under section 21 are met automatically.
If a work pass renewal query lands during the call-up window, respond with the standard payroll and CPF records; there is no need to disclose the reservist’s absence unless MOM specifically asks about headcount composition.

What Employers Must Not Do

Do not treat the reservist’s call-up as a convenient moment to restructure his role, reduce his hours or terminate him, even where a pending EP or S Pass renewal is under scrutiny; section 22(3) presumes any connected dismissal is unlawful unless the employer proves otherwise.
Do not pause or reduce CPF contributions while waiting for MINDEF reimbursement; section 24(6) requires the same rate to continue.
Do not count the NS leave against the employee’s annual leave balance or treat it as unpaid leave.
Do not assume a foreign employee’s renewal will be rejected because a local colleague is temporarily absent; MOM’s headcount calculation is CPF-based, not attendance-based, so a properly paid reservist continues to count in full.
Do not delay the reservist’s reinstatement or downgrade his terms on return; this breaches section 21 independently of any renewal-related pressure.

Practical Sequencing Checklist for HR and Compliance Teams

When an NS notice and a work pass renewal deadline are known to overlap, a short internal checklist avoids most problems. First, confirm the reservist’s CPF contributions are scheduled to continue on the normal cycle irrespective of DIRECT scheme reimbursement timing. Second, flag the overlap to whoever is preparing the EP or S Pass renewal submission, so that if MOM requests supplementary payroll evidence, the team can explain the temporary absence without implying any change in headcount status. Third, diarise the reservist’s expected return date and confirm reinstatement terms in writing before he is discharged, closing out the section 21 obligation cleanly. Fourth, if the renewal itself involves salary or dependency ratio recalculations, cross-check against our guide on S Pass Quota Breach Mid-Year: The Employer’s Immediate Remediation Steps to confirm the quota position independently of the reservist matter. Employers managing a broader restructuring or workforce planning exercise alongside these obligations may also find it useful to review Work Permit Singapore 2026: Complete Employer’s Guide (Quota, Levy and Renewal) from our sister firm, Raffles Corporate Services, which covers quota and levy administration for the wider foreign workforce.

None of this requires notifying MOM’s Work Pass Division of an employee’s national service liability as a matter of course. The two regimes, Enlistment Act obligations to a local reservist and MOM’s work pass renewal assessment of a foreign employee, run on separate tracks and are not meant to intersect. The compliance task is simply to keep the reservist’s CPF and employment terms exactly as the Enlistment Act requires, so the separate track never gets disturbed.

Getting Professional Support

If your company is navigating a work pass renewal that coincides with a key employee’s national service call-up, or you are unsure whether a proposed restructuring around the call-up period is lawful, Singapore Employment Agency’s work pass specialists can review the file before any renewal submission is made. Visit Singapore Employment Agency for work pass application and renewal support. Where the matter also touches broader corporate workforce planning or entity-level restructuring, our sister firm Raffles Corporate Services advises on the corporate secretarial and compliance side.

— The Editorial Team, Little Big Employment Agency