Part-Time Jobs for Students in Singapore
13 October 2026 · Tutor Circle
Part-time jobs for students in Singapore start, legally, at age 13. The work has to match the age, and school time counts when the daily cap for young workmen applies. From 16, retail, food service, events and tuition are the jobs students actually get. Pay above $50 a month can attract CPF for citizens and permanent residents. A Student’s Pass is not permission to work, except in the cases MOM lists.
- Minimum age
- 13. Under 13, employment is not allowed
- 13 to under 15
- Light work in a non-industrial setting. Industrial work only with family
- 15 to under 16
- Non-industrial work is allowed. Industrial work needs MOM notification and a medical report
- Hours, manual labour
- Child: not more than 6 hours a day including school. Young person: not more than 7. No night work 11pm–6am
- CPF
- Citizens and PRs earning more than $50 a month. Exemptions exist for some students
- Foreign students
- Up to 16 hours a week in term, only if the institution is on MOM’s list
Who is allowed to work
The Ministry of Manpower splits this by age, and by whether the workplace is industrial. Industrial examples MOM gives include construction, transportation and manufacturing. A shopping-mall counter is a different setting from a factory floor. The job title on a poster does not decide which column you are in. The workplace does. [1]
| Age | Non-industrial workplace | Industrial workplace |
|---|---|---|
| Under 13 | Not allowed | Not allowed |
| 13 to under 15 | Light work only | No, unless with family members |
| 15 to under 16 | Yes | Yes, if the employer notifies MOM and submits a medical report within 30 days of the start |
| 16 and above | Ordinary employment rules, plus the school’s own rules | Ordinary employment rules, plus the school’s own rules |
MOM also lists work that is unsuitable under 16 even when a job is otherwise open: conditions that may cause injury, moving machinery, uninsulated live electrical equipment, and underground work. [1] A holiday job that asks a 15-year-old to run a machine is the listing to refuse.
Hours, breaks and night work
For children and young persons employed as workmen doing manual labour, MOM states two daily limits, and school is inside the total. A child must not work more than 3 hours without a 30-minute break, or more than 6 hours in a day including school. A young person must not work more than 4 hours without a 30-minute break, or more than 7 hours in a day including school. Night work for that employment is barred from 11pm to 6am. [1] [2]
Daily cap, work plus school, for workmen in manual labour
A Saturday shift does not include school, so the same daily cap is all work. A Tuesday shift does include school. Count both before you accept a weekday evening.
Jobs that fit around a Singapore school week
These are the kinds of work students get. They are not a ranking of employers, and a listing is still subject to the age table above.
| Work | Why students take it | Check first |
|---|---|---|
| Retail, weekends | Fixed roster, a mall near home or school | Standing shifts, and whether you are under 16 |
| Food service | Evening and weekend demand | Heat, closing time, and the 11pm line if you are under 16 and the work is manual |
| Events and banquets | Short bookings around exams | How you get home after the event ends |
| Tuition for a younger student | Uses a subject you have just finished. Hours you choose | Age, and whether you are an employee. See the tutor guide |
| Holiday internship | Arranged by a polytechnic or university | Whether the school treats it as approved training, including for CPF |
Tutoring as the student’s own part-time job
A junior college or university student who has just sat a paper is often the tutor a primary or lower-secondary family wants. The work can be one afternoon a week. It is still work. If a parent or a centre employs you, the age rules and the CPF rules can apply. The practical route into a first assignment is the guide to becoming a tutor, including what to charge and how tax treats the income.
A cooking workshop or a service hour at a school fair is not this list. Those are classes and volunteering. Paid kitchen work is employment, and the cooking class page keeps the two apart.
Pay and CPF
Agree the rate, the day, and whether a trial is paid, before the first shift. For citizens and permanent residents, an employer must pay CPF when total wages are more than $50 a month. Part-time counts. If you earn above $50 and not more than $500, you do not pay an employee’s share, and the employer still pays the employer’s share. [3]
Students are not automatically outside CPF. The CPF Board’s answer is that contributions are payable for citizen and PR students on a contract of service who earn more than $50 a month, and that some classes of student employees are exempt. Approved training and certain school-holiday work are the kinds of cases on that exemption list. [4] Ask the employer which one your job is. A verbal “students don’t pay CPF” is not the list.
International students
A Student’s Pass is for study. During the school term, MOM allows work without a separate work pass only if you are a full-time student at an institution on its list, and either you work at most 16 hours a week, or the work is an industrial attachment that counts toward graduation. Vacation work has its own conditions, including a minimum age of 14 and the same kind of institution rule. Working outside the list is an offence. MOM has cancelled passes and barred students from later employment. [5]
If your school is not on the list, do not take the job. A friend who did is not a precedent you can show an inspector.
School comes first
- Read the student handbook. Some schools require a parent’s letter, or want to know about weekday work during a national exam year.
- Keep one rest day. A roster that touches every evening will show up in the next test, including the PSLE or O-Level year. The exam rules are on the <TextLink href="/psle">PSLE page</TextLink> if that is the year you are in.
- Sleep is still the constraint. The homework page sets out recommended hours and why a full evening of work plus worksheets fails. <TextLink href="/why-students-should-not-have-homework">Why the evening fills up</TextLink>.
- Tell a parent where the shift is and how you are getting home. That is not a legal citation. It is how students stay safe after a closing shift.
If the part-time work you want is tutoring, start with a profile and a subject you can teach. Parents who hire you will pay you for lessons. Tutor Circle does not charge those parents an agency fee.
Questions students ask
Can students work part-time in Singapore?
Yes, from age 13, with limits that get stricter the younger the student is. Under 13, employment is not allowed. From 13 to under 15, light work in a non-industrial setting is allowed, and industrial work is generally not, unless it is with family members. From 15 to under 16, non-industrial work is allowed, and industrial work needs the employer to notify MOM and submit a medical report. From 16, the young-person rules fall away, and school rules and ordinary employment law still apply.
How many hours can a student work?
Where the student is employed as a workman doing manual labour, a child must not work more than 6 hours a day, and a young person more than 7 hours a day, and school time counts inside that total. They also need breaks, and they must not do that work at night between 11pm and 6am. A retail or tuition job may not be “manual labour” in that sense. Read the MOM page for the workplace in front of you before you treat the 6-hour line as a universal cap, or as permission.
Do students pay CPF?
CPF is payable for a Singapore citizen or permanent resident employee earning more than $50 a month, including part-time work. If wages are above $50 and not more than $500, the employer still pays the employer’s share and there is no employee’s share. Some students are exempt, including certain approved training and some students working in the school holidays. Ask the employer, and check the CPF Board’s list, before you assume a deduction or assume there will be none.
Can an international student work part-time?
Only in narrow cases. A Student’s Pass holder may work during term without a separate work pass if they are a full-time student at an institution on MOM’s list, and the work is at most 16 hours a week, or an industrial attachment that counts toward the course. Working outside those rules can mean a fine, cancellation of the pass, and a bar on future work. A part-time job listing that tells a foreign student “everyone does it” is not the rule.
What part-time jobs do students actually do?
Older students commonly work in retail, food service, weekend events, and tuition for a younger child. Polytechnic and university students also take holiday internships arranged by the school. Under 16, the legal category of the workplace matters more than the job title. A cooking class you attended as a child is not a qualification to work a fryer. Check age, hours, and whether the school expects you to tell them.
Can a student earn money by tutoring?
Many junior college and university students tutor. It is one of the few jobs that uses the syllabus they have just finished, and the hours can sit outside school. If a centre or a family employs you, age rules and CPF can apply. Tutor Circle’s guide to becoming a tutor sets out registration, tax and a first assignment. A younger secondary student should confirm they are old enough for the arrangement before they take a paid student.
Sources
Age, hours and foreign-student rules are from MOM and the regulations. CPF rules are from the CPF Board. This page is a guide for students and parents. It is not a ruling on a particular job offer. If the employer’s description and the MOM page disagree, the MOM page is the one to follow, and MOM is the office to ask.
- Ministry of Manpower, “Employing young persons and children.” Under 13: no employment. Ages 13 to under 15: light work in a non-industrial setting only, and industrial work only with family. Ages 15 to under 16: non-industrial work is allowed; industrial work requires MOM notification and a medical report within 30 days. Workmen doing manual labour have daily hour caps and a night ban from 11pm to 6am. Accessed 13 October 2026. https://www.mom.gov.sg/employment-practices/young-persons-and-children
- Singapore Statutes Online, Employment (Children and Young Persons) Regulations. A child below 13 shall not be employed. Where a child or young person attends school, work plus school must not exceed 6 hours (child) or 7 hours (young person) in a day, for the employment those regulations cover, with stated exceptions for approved training. Accessed 13 October 2026. https://sso.agc.gov.sg/SL/EmA1968-RG1
- CPF Board, “Saving as an employee.” Employers pay CPF for Singapore citizens and permanent residents earning more than $50 a month, including part-time employees. Above $50 and not more than $500, there is no employee’s share; the employer’s share is still due. Some students are exempt. Accessed 13 October 2026. https://www.cpf.gov.sg/member/growing-your-savings/cpf-contributions/saving-as-an-employee
- CPF Board, Ask.gov.sg, “Are CPF contributions payable for students?” CPF is payable for citizen and PR students employed under a contract of service and earning more than $50 a month, with exemptions for certain classes of student employees. Accessed 13 October 2026. https://ask.gov.sg/cpf/questions/cm0f52l2x0307pz7a6i1fkaqi
- Ministry of Manpower, “Work pass exemption for foreign students.” During term, eligible Student’s Pass holders at listed institutions may work up to 16 hours a week without a work pass, or on an attachment that counts toward graduation. Other foreign students who work commit an offence. Accessed 13 October 2026. https://www.mom.gov.sg/passes-and-permits/work-pass-exemption-for-foreign-students/