Singapore’s food and beverage (F&B) sector employs more than 200,000 workers across restaurants, cafes, hawker centres, hotels, and institutional catering. It is also one of the most compliance-intensive sectors for employers managing a mixed local-foreign workforce. The Services sector Dependency Ratio Ceiling, the S Pass sub-DRC, the foreign worker levy schedule, the Progressive Wage Model for food service workers, and the Fair Consideration Framework all apply simultaneously — and each has its own thresholds and timelines.
This guide covers everything F&B operators in Singapore need to know to hire legally and cost-effectively in 2026, from Work Permit source countries and levy rates through to the PWM wage requirements that now affect your ability to renew work passes for foreign staff.
Services Sector DRC: How Much of Your Workforce Can Be Foreign?
F&B businesses fall under the Services sector for the purpose of MOM’s Dependency Ratio Ceiling (DRC). The Services sector DRC sets the maximum proportion of foreign workers (Work Permit and S Pass holders combined) at 35 per cent of your total workforce. This is significantly lower than the manufacturing sector DRC of 60 per cent, reflecting MOM’s policy intent to develop local service-sector workers.
Within the 35 per cent ceiling, S Pass holders are subject to a tighter sub-DRC of 15 per cent of your total workforce. This means that in a 100-person F&B business, you may have at most 35 foreign workers in total, of whom no more than 15 may hold S Passes. The remaining 20 slots (if fully used) would be for Work Permit holders.
Your DRC entitlement is computed monthly from your CPF payroll. From 1 July 2026, only local employees earning at least the Local Qualifying Salary (LQS) of SGD 1,800 per month count as full headcount for DRC purposes — up from SGD 1,600 previously. See our Local Qualifying Salary 2026 guide for the calculation method. Part-time local employees count pro-rata based on hours worked relative to the standard week.
S Pass for F&B: Salary, Levy and Typical Roles
The S Pass in the Services sector requires a minimum fixed monthly salary of SGD 3,150. In F&B, the S Pass is most commonly used for qualified head cooks, sous chefs, specialty pastry chefs, and F&B supervisory roles where the candidate holds at least a culinary diploma or equivalent professional qualification with documented relevant experience. MOM assesses S Pass applications holistically — qualifications, experience, and salary together — and will reject applications where the salary exceeds the minimum but the qualifications are inconsistent with the declared role.
S Pass levy
The S Pass levy for Services sector employers is SGD 650 per month per S Pass holder, payable by GIRO to the CPF Board by the 14th of the following month. Employers may not recover this levy from the worker’s salary. When your S Pass headcount reaches the 15 per cent sub-DRC ceiling, EP Online will automatically block further S Pass applications until quota is freed — either by reducing S Pass holders or by increasing your qualifying local headcount.
Work Permit for F&B Workers: Source Countries and Levy
Work Permits are the primary pass type for kitchen helpers, food handlers, dishwashers, and service crew roles where no diploma-level qualification is required. In the Services sector, Work Permit holders may be hired from Malaysia, Traditional Source (TS) countries (India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Thailand, Myanmar, and the Philippines), and Non-Traditional Source (NTS) countries.
From 1 June 2026, MOM expanded the NTS list for services sector employers to include Bhutan, Cambodia, and Laos — three countries not previously permitted as sources for services sector Work Permits. Workers from these three countries may only be hired for roles on MOM’s approved NTS occupation list for services; check the list before extending an offer.
Work Permit levy for F&B
The Work Permit levy for Services sector employers (including F&B) is structured in two tiers based on the proportion of your workforce that consists of NTS workers relative to a 10 per cent headcount threshold. Tier 1 (lower) rates apply up to 10 per cent of total workforce; Tier 2 (higher) rates apply beyond that. Current levy rates are published on MOM’s levy schedule for service workers. Services sector Work Permit levy rates are generally higher than manufacturing rates, reflecting the sector’s greater access to local labour supply. Always verify current rates in EP Online before finalising employment cost models.
Progressive Wage Model for Food Service Workers
The Progressive Wage Model (PWM) in Singapore establishes statutory minimum wage floors for covered job roles, structured as a career ladder rather than a single national minimum wage. In F&B, the relevant PWM coverage areas are:
Food services PWM
The Tripartite Cluster for the food services sector established PWM wage ladders for kitchen and service roles. F&B employers must pay qualifying local employees at least the PWM floor for their job function. Failure to comply with PWM requirements prevents MOM from processing your S Pass and Work Permit renewals — making PWM compliance a direct operational risk for operators who rely on foreign staff.
Cleaning and waste management PWM (overlap)
F&B outlets that employ in-house cleaners are subject to the cleaning sector PWM for those workers, even if cleaning is not the restaurant’s primary business. Many F&B operators who outsource cleaning to licensed contractors pass this obligation to the contractor; those who employ cleaners directly must comply independently.
Progressive Wage Co-Fund (PWCS)
The government’s Progressive Wage Credit Scheme co-funds a portion of qualifying wage increases for lower-wage workers. The co-funding rate in 2026 is 20 per cent of qualifying wage increases (down from 40 per cent in 2025). F&B operators who structure local wage increases to meet PWM requirements may partially offset the cost through PWCS disbursements from the CPF Board.
Fair Consideration Framework for F&B Employers
For S Pass applications in F&B (where the applicant is a qualified chef, pastry specialist, or F&B manager), employers must advertise the vacancy on MyCareersFuture for at least 14 calendar days before applying for the foreign candidate’s pass — unless the role qualifies for an exemption. MOM scrutinises F&B EP and S Pass applications carefully given the relatively large supply of locally trained hospitality graduates from Singapore’s polytechnics and ITE.
Employers on MOM’s watchlist for high foreign workforce concentration or a pattern of preferring foreign over local S Pass candidates may be referred to MOM’s Fair Consideration Framework review process. Proactive steps — structured local hiring, documented recruitment processes, and workforce development programmes under SkillsFuture — strengthen your position.
Employment Pass for F&B Professionals and Group-Level Roles
F&B operators with group or regional functions — operations directors, marketing heads, group finance managers, beverage development directors — will sponsor EP applications for these roles. The Employment Pass qualifying salary from August 2026 is SGD 5,600 per month (general sector). All EP applications are subject to COMPASS assessment. Note that the F&B sector does not attract the higher Financial Services EP threshold — the SGD 5,600 general-sector floor applies.
Employer Compliance Checklist for F&B Operators
Before each foreign worker starts work, F&B employers must confirm:
- DRC and sub-DRC headroom available in EP Online
- Medical insurance of at least SGD 15,000 per year per Work Permit holder is in place
- WICA insurance is purchased for all Work Permit holders and qualifying non-manual workers
- PWM wage floors met for all covered local employees
- FCF advertisement requirements completed for S Pass roles
For work pass cancellation procedures when staff leave, see our Work Pass Cancellation and Repatriation guide. For the broader employer compliance picture, see our Singapore Labour Market Q1 2026 guide.
How Little Big Employment Agency Can Help
F&B operators who are new to Singapore, scaling across multiple outlets, or restructuring their workforce mix after a headroom squeeze benefit from experienced work pass guidance. Singapore Employment Agency — the consumer brand of MOM-licensed Little Big Employment Agency Pte Ltd (Licence 19C9790) — assists F&B employers with S Pass and Work Permit applications, FCF compliance review, and levy optimisation. Contact us at +65 8501 7133 or [email protected].
For company incorporation and corporate secretarial services for Singapore F&B entities, contact Raffles Corporate Services.
— The Editorial Team, Little Big Employment Agency