Employment Pass renewals are no longer guaranteed—here’s what’s catching companies off guard
Renewals are no longer a formality. And most employers are finding out too late.
The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) quietly changed the rules in September 2023: Employment Pass (EP) renewals now fall under the COMPASS framework.
This one shift has blindsided many HR teams. COMPASS was already complicated for new hires—now, it’s catching out companies that assumed renewals would sail through. They’re not.
The illusion of certainty
Most companies think, “Our EP holders have been with us for years. Surely their renewals are safe.”
That assumption no longer holds. COMPASS doesn’t care about tenure. It evaluates every application—new or renewed—using the same point-based criteria: salary benchmarks, qualifications, diversity, and company support.
One Veremark client was flagged because their renewal application dropped below the required salary threshold—not because they were underpaying, but because MOM had revised the benchmark.
Another company’s application was stalled because their internal team couldn’t prove the applicant’s qualifications matched what was submitted years ago. The original documents were no longer on file.
What’s tripping companies up
We’ve seen three recurring issues across renewal failures:
- Salary misalignment – The required salary threshold for points can change over time. If your renewal doesn’t meet the latest benchmark, your pass is at risk—even if the employee was once well-compensated.
- Missing qualification evidence – MOM is taking a harder stance on documentation. If a degree was submitted five years ago but you can’t retrieve or verify it now, that’s a red flag.
- No diversity strategy – COMPASS gives points for improving nationality diversity. Without an intentional hiring plan, your company may underperform here without realising it.
“Renewals used to be something HR could handle without thinking too much. That’s not the case anymore,” says Fiona Cher, Director of Government Services (Asia) at Veremark. “What we’re seeing is a pattern—companies are caught off guard, not by the rules themselves, but by the fact that they’ve changed without enough warning.”
Where this leads if you don’t act
A rejected renewal doesn’t just disrupt your HR team. It puts key business functions at risk. You might lose a critical employee. Or worse, scramble to reapply under pressure—and still fail.
The worst part? Your leadership may not even know it’s coming until it’s too late.
What you can do now
If you're unsure whether your current process is still fit for purpose, you're not alone.
The first step is to look at how you’re currently assessing EP eligibility. Are you still relying only on salary and education? That’s no longer enough. COMPASS adds more variables into the mix—like sector quotas, nationality targets, and degree recognition. These are all things you can check in advance, but only if you know what to look for.
Start with a pre-check before you extend an offer. It’s faster and easier than dealing with a rejection later—and it shows your candidates you’re taking the process seriously.
Renewals matter too. Just because someone got through a few years ago doesn’t mean they will again. The bar is shifting, and companies that ignore that risk being caught off guard.
If you want to review how you're currently managing this, we're happy to walk you through the checks we’re running for other teams.
👉 Watch the full MOM AMA session
Or get in touch if you'd like to explore how we can help.
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FAQs
FAQs
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Many industries have compliance-related employment check requirements. And even if your industry doesn’t, remember that your staff have access to assets and data that must be protected. When you employ a new staff member you need to be certain that they have the best interests of your business at heart. Carrying out comprehensive background checking helps mitigate risk and ensures a safer hiring decision.
Again, this depends on the type of checks you need. Simple identity checks can be carried out in as little as a few hours but a worldwide criminal background check for instance might take several weeks. A simple pre-employment check package takes around a week. Our account managers are specialists and can provide detailed information into which checks you need and how long they will take.
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In a competitive marketplace, making the right hiring decisions is key to the success of your company. Employment background checks enables you to understand more about your candidates before making crucial decisions which can have either beneficial or catastrophic effects on your business.
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