If a Singapore company wants to hire a foreign professional under an Employment Pass (EP), one of the most important requirements to understand is the COMPASS system.
COMPASS stands for the Complementarity Assessment Framework. It is a points-based assessment framework introduced by Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower (MOM) to evaluate most Employment Pass applications.
Instead of looking only at whether a foreign professional earns above a minimum salary, COMPASS considers a broader range of factors involving both the individual candidate and the company employing the candidate.
The system assesses factors such as the candidate’s salary and qualifications, together with the employer’s workforce diversity and support for local employment. Additional bonus points may also be available for candidates with skills in shortage or companies that meet certain strategic economic criteria.
For employers planning to hire foreign professionals in Singapore, understanding COMPASS before submitting an Employment Pass application is therefore essential.
This guide explains how the MOM COMPASS system works, how the points are calculated and what employers should consider before applying for an Employment Pass.
What Does COMPASS Mean?
COMPASS stands for:
Complementarity Assessment Framework
It is a points-based framework used as part of Singapore’s Employment Pass eligibility assessment.
MOM introduced COMPASS for new Employment Pass applications from 1 September 2023, and it subsequently became applicable to relevant EP renewals from September 2024.
The purpose is to evaluate Employment Pass candidates more holistically rather than relying solely on salary.
Under Singapore’s current EP framework, most candidates need to pass two stages.
Stage 1: Meet the Employment Pass Qualifying Salary
The candidate must first meet the applicable EP qualifying salary.
The qualifying salary depends on factors including the candidate’s age and whether the employer is in the financial services sector.
Stage 2: Pass COMPASS
After meeting the qualifying salary, most candidates need to obtain sufficient points under COMPASS.
The minimum passing score is:
40 points
Candidates who fail Stage 1 cannot qualify simply by accumulating a high COMPASS score.
In other words:
EP qualifying salary + COMPASS = the core two-stage EP eligibility framework.
Why Did MOM Introduce COMPASS?
Before COMPASS, salary played a particularly significant role in determining Employment Pass eligibility.
However, salary alone cannot provide a complete picture of whether a foreign professional complements Singapore’s workforce.
COMPASS allows MOM to consider both:
Individual attributes
and
Firm-related attributes.
This means the framework considers the foreign professional being hired as well as characteristics of the company hiring that professional.
MOM describes COMPASS as a transparent points-based system intended to give businesses greater clarity for manpower planning while supporting workforce diversity and a strong local core.
How Many Points Do You Need to Pass COMPASS?
An Employment Pass application subject to COMPASS needs:
40 points
to pass.
Points are available under four foundational criteria:
C1 – Salary
C2 – Qualifications
C3 – Diversity
C4 – Support for Local Employment
There are also two bonus criteria:
C5 – Skills Bonus
C6 – Strategic Economic Priorities Bonus
A candidate does not necessarily need points from every category.
The objective is to achieve a total COMPASS score of at least 40 points.
C1: Salary
The first COMPASS criterion evaluates the candidate’s salary.
However, employers need to understand an important distinction.
The COMPASS C1 salary benchmark is different from the Employment Pass qualifying salary.
The EP qualifying salary is Stage 1. Candidates who do not meet this minimum requirement are not eligible for an EP regardless of how many COMPASS points they might otherwise obtain.
Once Stage 1 is satisfied, C1 compares the candidate’s fixed monthly salary against salaries of local PMETs of the same age within the relevant sector.
The current C1 scoring structure is:
20 points – Salary at or above the 90th percentile
10 points – Salary from the 65th percentile to below the 90th percentile
0 points – Salary below the 65th percentile.
This means simply meeting the EP qualifying salary does not automatically provide 10 or 20 COMPASS salary points.
For example, imagine a candidate satisfies the basic EP qualifying salary but the proposed salary is below the relevant C1 65th percentile benchmark.
The candidate may pass Stage 1 but receive:
0 points for C1.
This is why employers need to distinguish between the EP qualifying salary and the COMPASS C1 salary benchmark.
MOM updates the C1 salary benchmarks periodically to reflect market conditions.
C2: Qualifications
C2 assesses the candidate’s qualifications.
Candidates with certain degree-equivalent qualifications from highly recognised institutions may receive:
20 points
Other recognised degree-equivalent qualifications may receive:
10 points
Candidates without degree-equivalent qualifications receive:
0 points.
Examples of qualifications that may receive 20 points include degree-equivalent qualifications from institutions such as Singapore’s Autonomous Universities and qualifying highly reputed universities.
Other degree-equivalent or recognised professional qualifications may qualify for 10 points depending on MOM’s criteria.
Do You Need a Degree to Pass COMPASS?
No.
This is one of the most important misconceptions surrounding Employment Pass applications.
A candidate without a degree-equivalent qualification does not automatically fail COMPASS.
Instead, the candidate simply receives:
0 points under C2.
The candidate may still reach the required 40 points through other criteria.
For example:
C1 Salary – 20 points
C2 Qualifications – 0 points
C3 Diversity – 10 points
C4 Support for Local Employment – 10 points
Total = 40 points
The candidate would reach the COMPASS passing score despite receiving no qualification points.
Therefore, employers should evaluate the entire COMPASS score rather than assuming that a degree is mandatory.
C3: Diversity
C3 evaluates the diversity of the employer’s PMET workforce.
This is one of the features that makes COMPASS different from a purely candidate-based assessment.
MOM looks at the share of the candidate’s nationality among the organisation’s existing PMET employees.
For organisations with at least 25 PMET employees, the scoring is generally:
20 points – Candidate’s nationality represents less than 5% of the organisation’s PMET workforce
10 points – Candidate’s nationality represents 5% to less than 25%
0 points – Candidate’s nationality represents 25% or more.
The principle is straightforward.
A candidate whose nationality is currently underrepresented within the company’s PMET workforce can contribute more towards workforce diversity.
What About Small Companies?
Companies with fewer than 25 PMET employees receive:
10 points by default for C3.
MOM recognises that workforce percentages can fluctuate significantly in smaller companies, making percentage-based diversity measurements less meaningful.
This is particularly relevant to Singapore SMEs.
A small company with fewer than 25 PMET employees does not automatically fail because it lacks a large diversified workforce. Instead, it receives the default C3 score.
C4: Support for Local Employment
C4 assesses the employer’s support for local employment.
For companies with at least 25 PMET employees, MOM considers the organisation’s local PMET share relative to other companies in the same sector.
The principle behind C4 is to recognise employers that create opportunities for local professionals while building teams consisting of both local and foreign talent.
Companies performing strongly relative to their sector can receive more COMPASS points.
Companies with fewer than 25 PMET employees receive:
10 points by default under C4.
This means that a small business with fewer than 25 PMET employees typically starts with:
C3 Diversity – 10 points
C4 Support for Local Employment – 10 points
That provides:
20 points
from the two firm-related foundational criteria.
The candidate would then generally need another 20 points from individual or bonus criteria to reach the 40-point passing score.
A Simple COMPASS Example for an SME
Consider a Singapore SME with 15 PMET employees.
Because it has fewer than 25 PMETs:
C3 Diversity = 10 points
C4 Support for Local Employment = 10 points
Now suppose its proposed foreign employee receives:
C1 Salary = 10 points
C2 Qualifications = 10 points
The calculation would be:
C1 Salary: 10
C2 Qualifications: 10
C3 Diversity: 10
C4 Local Employment: 10
Total COMPASS Score: 40 points
The application reaches the COMPASS passing score.
This is one reason COMPASS can be relatively straightforward for many SMEs once the company understands how its candidate will score.
However, passing COMPASS is not itself a guarantee that MOM will approve the Employment Pass.
C5: Skills Bonus
COMPASS also includes bonus criteria.
C5 is the Skills Bonus.
It applies to qualifying Employment Pass candidates filling occupations on Singapore’s Shortage Occupation List (SOL).
The Shortage Occupation List identifies occupations where Singapore has shortages of professionals with highly specialised skills.
Qualifying candidates may receive up to:
+20 bonus points
under C5.
However, safeguards apply.
For example, where the candidate’s nationality makes up one-third or more of the company’s PMET workforce, the Skills Bonus may be reduced to +10 points.
Employers should also understand that simply selecting an occupation appearing on the Shortage Occupation List does not automatically provide the bonus.
The candidate needs to satisfy the applicable requirements for the occupation.
MOM may consider matters such as:
- Qualifications
- Professional experience
- Actual job responsibilities
- Relevant skills
- Industry requirements
Employers should therefore ensure that the occupation declared in an Employment Pass application accurately reflects the candidate’s real position.
C6: Strategic Economic Priorities Bonus
The second bonus criterion is:
C6 – Strategic Economic Priorities Bonus
This criterion applies to qualifying companies that participate in selected programmes run by Singapore’s economic agencies or meet specified assessment criteria.
The purpose is to recognise companies undertaking activities aligned with Singapore’s strategic economic priorities, including areas involving investment, innovation, internationalisation and transformation.
Eligible companies can potentially receive:
+10 points for each EP application
under C6.
This is a firm-level bonus rather than something an individual candidate can independently obtain simply through his or her personal qualifications.
Companies should check whether they participate in an eligible programme and satisfy the applicable conditions.
Can Bonus Points Help a Candidate Who Otherwise Fails COMPASS?
Yes.
This is one of the purposes of C5 and C6.
Suppose a candidate has:
C1 Salary – 10 points
C2 Qualifications – 0 points
C3 Diversity – 10 points
C4 Local Employment – 10 points
Without bonuses:
Total = 30 points
The candidate would not reach the normal 40-point threshold.
However, suppose the candidate legitimately qualifies for:
C5 Skills Bonus – +20 points
The total becomes:
50 points
The candidate would then pass the COMPASS scoring requirement.
This demonstrates why employers should assess all applicable criteria before concluding that a candidate cannot pass COMPASS.
Who Is Exempt From COMPASS?
Not every Employment Pass applicant needs to pass COMPASS.
Under MOM’s current framework, a candidate can be exempt from COMPASS in certain circumstances.
One important exemption applies where the candidate earns at least:
S$22,500 in fixed monthly salary.
Other exemptions can apply to qualifying overseas intra-corporate transferees and candidates filling a role for one month or less.
An exemption from COMPASS does not mean that the candidate is automatically guaranteed an Employment Pass.
Other applicable Employment Pass requirements still need to be satisfied.
Does COMPASS Apply to Small Companies?
Yes.
There is sometimes confusion about whether SMEs are exempt from COMPASS.
They generally are not.
However, COMPASS treats smaller organisations differently for C3 and C4.
If the company has fewer than 25 PMET employees, the application receives:
10 points for C3 Diversity
and
10 points for C4 Support for Local Employment
by default.
Therefore:
Small company does not mean COMPASS exemption.
Instead, it generally means default scoring for the two company-level foundational criteria.
COMPASS vs Fair Consideration Framework
COMPASS should not be confused with Singapore’s Fair Consideration Framework (FCF).
They perform different functions.
COMPASS is a points-based framework used in Employment Pass eligibility assessment.
The FCF relates to fair hiring practices, including the requirement for employers to advertise applicable vacancies on MyCareersFuture and fairly consider candidates before submitting an EP application.
A company may therefore need to satisfy the applicable FCF requirements and ensure its candidate passes COMPASS.
One does not replace the other.
COMPASS vs Employment Pass Qualifying Salary
This is another distinction employers should understand.
Think of the process as:
Stage 1
Does the candidate meet the applicable EP qualifying salary?
If no, the candidate does not qualify.
If yes, proceed to Stage 2.
Stage 2
Does the candidate obtain at least 40 COMPASS points?
If yes, the candidate passes the COMPASS requirement.
This means that having 40 COMPASS points cannot compensate for failing the Stage 1 qualifying salary.
Similarly, meeting the qualifying salary does not automatically mean that the candidate passes COMPASS.
Both requirements generally need to be satisfied.
How Can Employers Check Their COMPASS Score?
Employers and appointed employment agents can use MOM’s Self-Assessment Tool (SAT) before submitting an Employment Pass application.
This is highly useful because employers do not need to estimate the entire assessment manually.
Companies can also use MOM’s Workforce Insights tool through the myMOM Portal to understand relevant aspects of their workforce profile, including information relating to C3 Diversity and C4 Support for Local Employment.
Employers planning to hire foreign professionals should check the expected COMPASS outcome before submitting the actual application.
Why Is COMPASS Important for Employers?
COMPASS has changed how Singapore businesses should approach foreign professional recruitment.
Previously, an employer might focus mainly on questions such as:
“What is the minimum Employment Pass salary?”
Today, that question alone is insufficient.
Employers should also consider:
“How many C1 points will this salary produce?”
“Does the candidate qualify for C2 points?”
“What is our C3 diversity position?”
“What is our C4 local PMET position?”
“Is the candidate on the Shortage Occupation List?”
“Does our company qualify for C6?”
This makes workforce planning more important.
Companies intending to recruit multiple foreign professionals should understand that their workforce composition can affect future Employment Pass applications.
COMPASS and Workforce Planning
COMPASS encourages employers to think about their overall workforce rather than viewing each Employment Pass application independently.
For example, companies can benefit from maintaining:
- A strong local professional workforce
- A diverse international workforce
- Competitive salaries
- Appropriate professional roles
- Genuine specialist recruitment
- Development opportunities for local employees
For growing SMEs, this means manpower planning should ideally happen before an urgent foreign hire is required.
Waiting until a candidate has already signed an employment contract before calculating COMPASS may reveal eligibility issues too late in the recruitment process.
Frequently Asked Questions About COMPASS Singapore
What does COMPASS stand for?
COMPASS stands for Complementarity Assessment Framework.
It is MOM’s points-based assessment framework for most Employment Pass applications.
How many COMPASS points are required?
An application subject to COMPASS generally needs at least:
40 points.
What are the four main COMPASS criteria?
The four foundational criteria are:
C1 – Salary
C2 – Qualifications
C3 – Diversity
C4 – Support for Local Employment
There are also two bonus criteria: C5 Skills Bonus and C6 Strategic Economic Priorities Bonus.
Do I need 10 points from every category?
No.
The candidate needs a total of at least 40 points. It is possible to receive zero points under one criterion and compensate through stronger scores elsewhere or applicable bonus points.
Can someone without a degree pass COMPASS?
Yes.
Candidates without degree-equivalent qualifications receive zero points under C2 but can still pass by accumulating at least 40 points through other criteria.
Are SMEs exempt from COMPASS?
No, not simply because they are SMEs.
However, organisations with fewer than 25 PMET employees receive 10 points by default for both C3 and C4.
Does a high salary automatically pass COMPASS?
Not necessarily.
Salary contributes through C1, but COMPASS considers multiple criteria.
Candidates earning at least S$22,500 in fixed monthly salary are currently exempt from COMPASS.
Is COMPASS the same as the Employment Pass salary requirement?
No.
The EP qualifying salary is Stage 1.
COMPASS is Stage 2.
A candidate must first satisfy the applicable qualifying salary and then generally obtain at least 40 COMPASS points unless exempt.
Conclusion
The COMPASS system under MOM Singapore is a points-based framework used to assess most Employment Pass applications.
COMPASS stands for the Complementarity Assessment Framework and was introduced to provide a broader assessment of foreign professionals than salary alone.
Under the current Employment Pass framework, most candidates first need to satisfy the applicable EP qualifying salary.
They must then obtain at least:
40 COMPASS points.
The four foundational criteria are:
C1 – Salary
C2 – Qualifications
C3 – Diversity
C4 – Support for Local Employment
Additional points may potentially be obtained through:
C5 – Skills Bonus
and
C6 – Strategic Economic Priorities Bonus.
One of the most important features of COMPASS is that it assesses both the candidate and the employer.
A foreign professional’s salary and qualifications matter, but the employer’s workforce diversity and support for local professional employment can also affect the final score.
This makes COMPASS particularly important for companies planning their workforce over the long term.
For Singapore SMEs, the framework also provides some predictability. Companies with fewer than 25 PMET employees receive 10 points by default under both C3 and C4, although they still need enough points from the remaining criteria to reach the 40-point threshold.
Employers considering an Employment Pass application should therefore calculate or check their expected COMPASS score before submitting the application.
MOM’s Self-Assessment Tool can help employers and employment agents assess whether a proposed candidate appears to satisfy the Employment Pass requirements.
Ultimately, COMPASS is not simply another application form or administrative requirement. It forms a central part of Singapore’s approach to foreign professional employment by considering the value of the individual candidate alongside the composition and local employment profile of the hiring company.
For employers hiring foreign professionals, understanding COMPASS early can make Employment Pass recruitment and manpower planning significantly more predictable.
This article is intended for general informational purposes and reflects Ministry of Manpower requirements available as of October 2026. COMPASS benchmarks, the Shortage Occupation List and other Employment Pass requirements may be updated. Employers should check the latest MOM requirements before making an Employment Pass application.