CPF contribution when you have two or multiple jobs and employers

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So you are in the (un)enviable position of holding 2 or more jobs with different employers? Then what happens with regard to your CPF contributions then? Does it mean only one employee should contribute CPF? Or both must? Or do they split and if so, how?

Before we go into that, it is important to know your rights as an employee and your obligations as an employer concerning CPF contributions.

CPF contributions by employment type

Party CPF
Applicable?
Foreigners holding EP, SP, Work Permit or other work passes No
Work that is not done under a contract of service (Note: It is illegal for foreigners to work without a valid work pass!) No
Singapore PR Permanent Residents SPR (Note: CPF contribution rates are lower during first two years of SPRs) Yes
Salary of Company Directors Yes
Director Fees Not Applicable
Sole Proprietors, Partners or Self-employed Medisave Only
Employees working overseas Voluntary
If employee is a family member of proprietor Yes
Part-time / temporary / casual workers Yes
‘N’ ‘O’ ‘A’ level students working during school holidays (and before ‘A’ level exams) No
Students or school-leavers working temp/part-time Yes
Students from school endorsed training programmer or internship No


CPF contributions by wage type

Basic Salary Yes
Bonuses and cash incentives Yes
Allowances (for transport, meals, laundry etc) Yes
Commissions (from sales etc) Yes
Overtime pay Yes
ICT Reservist NSmen make-up pay Yes
Reimbursements No
Termination benefits Yes for “temporary lay-off benefits”. See details.
Gifts in kind (including shopping vouchers) No


Ordinary Wage Ceiling and Additional Wage Ceiling

Your Ordinary Wage is your basic salary + allowances + commissions paid monthly. The current Ordinary Wage (OW) Ceiling is capped at $6,000 a month. This means that CPF contribution is only applicable for up to $6,000 of OW a month.

Additional Wages are your bonuses, leave pay and commissions that are not paid monthly. The current Additional Wage ceiling is at $102,000 a year.

Concurrent employment and CPF
The information below was taken from the CPF website.


If an employee is concurrently employed by more than one employer, all his employers must pay CPF contributions based on the wages paid to him.

If his total monthly wages do not exceed the current Ordinary Wage (OW) ceiling of $6,000 per month, CPF contributions are payable based on the current CPF contribution rate.

However, if the employee’s total monthly wages exceed the OW ceiling, he may apply to limit the employee’s share of contributions on OW.

The employee can send in his application to the CPF Board, Prosecution & Court Proceedings Department, or email [email protected], indicating:

  • the amount of Ordinary Wages from each employer;
  • the employee’s share of CPF contributions; and
  • the amount of CPF contributions to be paid through each employer

Each employer has to pay the usual employer’s share of the CPF contributions on the full amount of the wages, subject to the OW ceiling.


The phrase “may apply to limit” seems to suggest it is not necessary. So I asked CPF to confirm and their reply is as follows:

Question: If the wage ceiling is exceeded, is it compulsory or optional for the employee to notify CPF board to split the CPF contributions?

Answer: It is not compulsory for the employee to apply to limit his share of CPF for his concurrent employment. Both your employers can continue to contribute to your CPF contributions normally.

So there you have it, if you and your multiple employers do not mind paying your CPF contributions, you can go for it!

Disclaimer: Note that the CPF rules and limits change over time. For more up-to-date information, please visit the CPF website at http://www.cpf.gov.sg or call them at 1800-227 1188 from Mondays to Fridays, 8am to 5:30pm. Alternatively, email [email protected], they respond pretty fast.

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1 Comment

  1. What about the CPF tax relief? Does it mean one could claim the amount contributed by both employers?

    Does it matter if the employers are related?

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