Raffles Consulting Services
Plan an Employment Pass renewal for passes expiring from 1 January 2028 using the new age-adjusted salary and COMPASS requirements.
An Employment Pass renewal 2028 review should start well before the six-month renewal window. MOM’s higher qualifying salaries apply to renewals of passes expiring from 1 January 2028, with age-adjusted amounts and a higher financial-services table. The employer must also review COMPASS and the actual job, not only increase a number on the application.
Use pass expiry, sector and age on the renewal date
List every EP holder whose pass expires from 1 January 2028. Record the sector, date of birth, fixed monthly salary, job and intended renewal date. Use MOM’s age table for the relevant sector and check the candidate’s age at the applicable point. Do not apply the minimum for a younger candidate or the non-financial table to a financial-services role.
The MOM EP eligibility page states that the new minimum starts at S$6,000 outside financial services and S$6,600 in financial services, increasing with age, for renewals of passes expiring from 1 January 2028. The full age tables control the actual threshold.
Review salary and COMPASS as separate requirements
Confirm which regular payments count as fixed monthly salary and whether any planned adjustment is real, documented and sustainable. Revisit the role, organisation turnover data, qualifications and COMPASS position. A candidate who meets salary can still fail another renewal requirement, and renewal is not guaranteed.
Use the 2027 EP salary planning guide for new applications and the EP renewal checklist for the wider evidence pack. Keep this article focused on the 2028 renewal cutover population.
Build a calendar that allows an honest employment decision
MOM allows an EP renewal application up to six months before expiry and says early renewal does not reduce the new pass validity. Set an internal review earlier so the employer can budget, discuss a genuine salary change, consider role design or plan a lawful transition if renewal is not viable.
The MOM renewal page describes the renewal window, COMPASS requirement and processing target. Preserve the portal outcome and IPA conditions. Do not promise renewal to the employee or sign related relocation commitments solely because the company plans to meet the salary table.
Turn the decision into a controlled file
Use a dated decision record that identifies the applicant, business need, current official source, chosen route, responsible owner, costs, milestones and evidence. Separate facts already verified from forecasts and assumptions. A catalogue listing, supplier statement, consultant recommendation or portal acknowledgement does not establish approval. The company remains responsible for its declarations and commercial decision.
Give each quotation, contract, invoice, payment and deliverable a stable reference. Preserve earlier versions and explain material changes instead of silently replacing them. Where the authority, tax adviser, auditor or another professional must decide a point, record the open question and obtain the required view. Do not convert uncertainty into a confident eligibility statement.
Review before commitment and again before closeout
Run four reviews: suitability, authority, implementation and closeout. At suitability, test the entity, activity and business outcome. Before commitment, freeze the proposed scope, vendor and financial assumptions. During implementation, compare actual work with approved terms. At closeout, reconcile deliverables, accepted results, invoices, full payment, operating evidence and obligations that continue.
Name the person who may approve each stage and the records that person must see. Procurement should not treat a draft application as permission to contract. A project team should not treat supplier completion as company acceptance. Finance should not treat a submitted claim as cash received. Clear status words prevent accidental commitments and weak reporting.
Handle exceptions without rewriting history
Maintain an exception log for changed facts, delayed milestones, supplier variations, cost movements, missing records and failed tests. State the effect on scope, eligibility, timing and expected value. If an authority decision or formal variation is required, use the published route before relying on the change. Silence and helpdesk receipt are not approval.
If a material defect appears, pause the affected acceptance, filing or claim item. Keep original evidence, assign corrective action and set a review date. Do not backdate records, move costs between categories or adjust a baseline after seeing the result. A candid exception with an owned resolution is more credible than a clean-looking file that cannot explain what happened.
Plan handovers before the original project team disperses. The handover should identify the current version, source locations, system access owner, next review date, open exceptions and any condition that continues after payment or filing. Restrict personal, financial and commercially sensitive records to authorised users, while giving each responsible owner enough information to perform the assigned control. Record the external event that should trigger an earlier review, such as a changed programme page, revised authority letter, supplier failure or material business change.
Verify the final outcome independently
Ask someone who did not prepare the final pack to compare the decision, current official source, approved terms, deliverables, payments and operating evidence. Recalculate totals and sample source records. The reviewer should be able to reproduce the conclusion without relying on the preparer’s memory. Record unresolved points with named owners and dates.
Use the Singapore immigration and relocation cornerstone for the wider decision and keep this article as the narrower operating guide. After submission, preserve the receipt and reconcile questions, adjustments and the final registered or paid outcome. Continue any reporting, retention, asset-use or other condition that survives closeout.
Practical review checklist
- 2028 expiry population listed
- Sector and age table applied
- Fixed salary verified
- COMPASS reviewed separately
- Renewal calendar approved
The employer is prepared when every affected pass holder has the correct 2028 salary threshold, a separate COMPASS review, a documented employment decision and enough time to act before expiry.