The advertisement must come **before** the work pass application, and Singapore citizens must be fairly considered in fact, not merely given the opportunity to apply. An advertisement written around a pre-selected foreign candidate, or local applicants declined without real assessment, is exactly the practice the framework exists to prevent — and it cannot be corrected retrospectively.
Fair Consideration Framework
Job advertisement, assessment and record
The advertisement must come before the work pass application, and Singapore citizens must be fairly considered in fact, not merely given the opportunity to apply. An advertisement written around a pre-selected foreign candidate, or local applicants declined without real assessment, is exactly the practice the framework exists to prevent — and it cannot be corrected retrospectively.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Employer | [COMPANY NAME], UEN [UEN] |
| Role | [JOB TITLE], [DEPARTMENT] |
| Pass intended | [Employment Pass / S Pass] |
| Advertising required? | [Yes / No — exemption relied on: ______] |
| Posted on the national jobs portal on | [DATE] |
| Minimum period required | [DAYS] days |
| Closes on | [DATE] |
| Pass application may be submitted from | [DATE] — not before |
| Company profile on the portal current? | [Y/N] |
| Records retained at | [LOCATION] |
1. Sequence
| # | Step | When |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Role defined by reference to skills and experience genuinely required | Before advertising |
| 2 | Company profile on the national jobs portal reviewed and updated | Before advertising |
| 3 | Advertisement posted, open to all | Day 0 |
| 4 | Applications received and logged | Days 0 to close |
| 5 | Every applicant assessed against the stated criteria; shortlist recorded | During the period |
| 6 | Shortlisted candidates interviewed, including Singapore citizens | During and after |
| 7 | Decision recorded with the reason, by reference to skills and experience | After assessment |
| 8 | Advertisement runs for the full minimum period | To close |
| 9 | Work pass application submitted | Only after the advertisement has run its full period |
| 10 | Records retained for the prescribed period | Ongoing |
1.1An offer extended to a foreign candidate before the advertisement has run is the defect that cannot be cured. If the candidate has already been selected, the advertisement is not a genuine search and the record will show it.
5 more pages in the Word file
This is page 1 of the Word document, exactly as it appears when you open it. Fields shown like THIS are placeholders for you to complete.
These notes accompany the template and explain the drafting choices, the compliance points and the mistakes most often made with this document. They appear as a final page in the Word file, intended to be deleted before the document is executed.
The role must be advertised on the national jobs portal for the required minimum period, and local applicants fairly considered, before the work pass application is submitted. Advertising while the application is pending, or after it, does not comply. This is the requirement most often got wrong, and unlike most compliance failures it cannot be remedied after the fact.
The obligation is not discharged by allowing citizens to apply. Applications must be genuinely assessed against the stated criteria, and qualified local candidates should be interviewed. Employers who advertise, receive local applications, and decline them all without interview have created a record that answers the question against them.
An advertisement specifying an unusual combination of skills, an unnecessary language, or a very specific background that happens to match one person is a recognisable pattern. So is a role advertised at a salary well below what is then offered. Draft the requirements from the job, and be able to justify each one.
Language ability is a protected characteristic. Requiring a language is permissible where it is genuinely needed — to serve a specific customer group or market — and the reason should be stated and recorded. A general preference for a language spoken by a particular community is not a business requirement and is treated as a proxy for race or nationality.
Exemptions from advertising exist — by salary level, for certain intra-corporate transferees, for short-duration roles, and for some small employers, among others. They are defined by their terms and are revised periodically, including the salary level above which advertising is not required. Identify the exemption by reference to its terms and record it; do not assume seniority or urgency creates one.
The applications not shortlisted are as important as those that were, because they show whether local candidates were assessed at all. Annexure B logs every applicant with a reason. Retaining only the successful candidate’s file is the same as having no record.
Publishing a range is good practice, reduces wasted applications on both sides, and helps demonstrate that the role advertised is the role filled. It also avoids the situation where a role advertised at one level is filled at another, which invites the question why.
Employers assessed as having unfair employment practices can be placed on a watch list, have work pass applications scrutinised or curtailed, and in serious cases face debarment from hiring foreign workers. For a business that depends on pass holders, that is an operational problem rather than a penalty.
The Fair Consideration Framework is already in force and operates administratively. The Workplace Fairness Act, expected to commence at the end of 2027, will add a statutory discrimination regime with a Tribunal claims route and civil penalties, covering nationality among its protected characteristics. Practices that are merely awkward under the framework become actionable under the Act.
The advertisement can be immaculate and the process undermined by an interviewer asking about marital status, family plans, religion or age. Brief hiring managers before the interviews, not after a complaint.
The employer’s profile on the national jobs portal forms part of how the advertisement is presented and assessed. An outdated or minimal profile is a small thing that is easily fixed and occasionally noticed.
Beyond compliance, the framework asks a question worth asking honestly: could this role be filled locally with reasonable training or a slightly different specification? Employers that genuinely explore that build a stronger local workforce count, which in turn improves their quota position and their pass assessments.
The final row of Annexure B is the one that will be read. It should refer to specific skills or experience required by the role and absent from the local applicants, not to general impressions of fit or availability.
Advertising records, applications, shortlists, interview notes and the decision reasoning should be retained for the prescribed period and be retrievable on request. Where a pass application is queried months later, this file is the response.
Reflects Singapore requirements current as of {{DATE OF USE}}. Minimum advertising periods, exemption criteria and salary thresholds, portal requirements and pass qualifying salaries all change — confirm the current position with the Ministry of Manpower before each recruitment, and note that Employment Pass thresholds are scheduled to rise in 2027.
This is a ready-to-use template provided for convenience. Laws and requirements change, and every situation is different — please have it reviewed by a qualified professional (a lawyer, corporate secretary, or accountant as relevant) before you rely on it.