EOR & Compliance Digest, August 21: Singapore Stops Treating Salary as the Only Number That Counts

Every work visa regime on earth runs on one number: fixed monthly salary. Singapore just proposed the first serious exception. The new ONE Pass investment track, announced on 19 August, would let performance-linked pay count toward eligibility for the country’s top-tier work pass. That sounds narrow, because it targets fund managers. However, the principle behind it is not narrow at all. Meanwhile India has 71 days left on a provident fund amnesty most founders have never heard of. The UK switches on electronic strike ballots on 25 August. Malaysia opened its Budget 2027 consultation. Here is what to do about each.

Top story: the ONE Pass investment track breaks the fixed-salary test

What changed

The Monetary Authority of Singapore announced three measures on 19 August 2026 to defend the country’s position as an asset management hub. Two are financial. The third is an immigration change, and it is the one worth your attention.

MAS and the Ministry of Manpower plan a dedicated Investment Management Track under the Overseas Networks & Expertise Pass framework. The MAS media release says the track will “refine how compensation is assessed” by recognising established industry pay structures. Specifically, that means returns linked to investment performance and fund outcomes. In plain terms, carry and performance fees would count.

Today the ONE Pass requires a fixed monthly salary of S$30,000 or more, which MAS benchmarks against the top 5% of Employment Pass holders. That test is blunt by design. It is also badly matched to how senior investment professionals actually get paid, because a large and recurring share of their compensation is variable. Singapore’s asset management sector has grown around 7.5% a year for five years, reaching almost S$7 trillion under management. It employs close to 25,000 people, roughly 80% of them locals, according to MAS.

Why the ONE Pass investment track matters if you are not a fund

Because the same mismatch applies to you. Founders pay early engineers in equity. Sales leaders earn most of their money in commission. Contractors bill on milestones. Every one of those structures is invisible to a fixed-salary immigration test. So the person you want to move fails a threshold on paper, while earning well above it in practice.

Singapore is not doing this out of generosity. It is competing, and it has decided the pay definition is a competitive lever. Once one government concedes that fixed salary is a poor proxy for seniority, other high-skill regimes get asked the same question. As a result, this is worth tracking well beyond fund management.

Two cautions before you plan around it. First, this is a proposal, not a live pass. MAS has not published eligibility criteria, an opening date, or how performance-linked pay will be evidenced. Second, the accompanying tax exemption on qualifying profit-related returns is expected from Year of Assessment 2027. It also remains subject to details at Budget 2027, so it is not settled either.

What to do this week

If you are moving senior talent into Singapore in the next two quarters, do not restructure anyone’s pay on the strength of a press release. Instead, document total compensation properly now, split between fixed and variable, so you can evidence it the moment criteria appear. For everyone else, the practical step is smaller. Review how your Singapore hiring documentation records variable pay, because most offer letters bury it in a schedule that immigration officers never see. Our Singapore work permit and visa guide covers the current pass thresholds that still apply until this track exists.

India: 71 days left to fix missing provident fund enrolments

India’s Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation is running an enrolment amnesty that closes on 31 October 2026. The official notice confirms the campaign covers employees left out of provident fund coverage between 1 April 2009 and 31 March 2026. It ceases with effect from 31 October.

The terms are unusually generous. Where the employee share was never deducted from wages, it is waived. The employer pays only its own share, applicable interest, administrative charges, and a lump sum penal damage of ₹100. The employee must still be alive and engaged with the establishment on the declaration date. After 31 October, EPFO says normal enforcement action and prosecution apply.

Two related windows run alongside it. VISHWAS, 2026 lets employers settle damages and penalty disputes for defaults before 14 June 2024 at recalculated rates. AMNESTY, 2026 regularises legacy provident fund trusts operating without formal exemption. Both took effect on 29 June 2026 and stay open for six months, per EPFO’s announcement. If you hired contractors in India who looked like employees, this is the cheapest correction window you will get. Check the classification questions in our India payroll guide and the practical traps in this provident fund breakdown before you file.

United Kingdom: electronic strike ballots go live on 25 August

Get the date right, because several trade publications printed 31 August. The government’s statutory guidance states plainly that the code and the legislation permitting electronic and workplace voting come into force on 25 August 2026.

From that date, unions can run industrial action ballots, union elections, political fund ballots and merger ballots electronically. Workplace voting becomes available for industrial action ballots specifically. Postal balloting has suppressed turnout for decades, and turnout thresholds are what most industrial action ballots fail on. So expect more ballots to clear the bar, not fewer.

This applies to England, Scotland and Wales. If you employ in the UK and have any recognised union presence, your escalation plan was written for a postal timetable that no longer describes reality. Review notice periods and contingency staffing against the faster cycle, and check the union-related duties landing on 30 October alongside your UK employment law obligations.

Malaysia: Budget 2027 consultation opens before the October tabling

Malaysia’s government published a pre-Budget statement on 18 August 2026. It sets out ten focus areas for public consultation, ahead of the Budget being tabled in Parliament on 9 October 2026. Three matter for employers: turning investment into high-value jobs, equipping workers for a changing economy, and protecting purchasing power.

The employer-facing signals are consistent. Expect more industry-led technical and vocational training. Expect deeper employer involvement in curriculum design and job placements. Expect continued pressure to cut reliance on low-skilled foreign labour through automation. The government also restated a 60% female labour-force participation target, with childcare and flexible work incentives under consideration. Consultation submissions go through the official Budget portal, so if you employ in Malaysia this is a rare open door before rules get written.

Quick hits

• Singapore: MOM published updated COMPASS C1 salary benchmarks in August 2026. They apply to new Employment Pass applications from 1 January 2027 and to renewals of passes expiring from 1 July 2027. Candidates earning at least S$22,500 fixed monthly remain exempt from COMPASS.
• Singapore: changes to the Singapore Arrival Card take effect on 26 August 2026. Brief anyone travelling for interviews or onboarding that week.
• Hong Kong: Hongkong Post is moving new hires from permanent appointments to two-year contracts after probation. It is a public-sector signal on fixed-term hiring worth watching across the region.

Action items by country

• India, by 31 October 2026: audit every worker engaged since 1 April 2009 who was not enrolled in provident fund, then file declarations under the enrolment campaign. The employee share is waived where it was never deducted.
• India, by late December 2026: if you hold open EPFO damages or penalty notices for defaults before 14 June 2024, assess VISHWAS, 2026. If you run an unexempted provident fund trust, assess AMNESTY, 2026.
• United Kingdom, by 25 August 2026: update industrial action contingency plans for electronic and workplace balloting. Then diary the union access and information duties commencing 30 October 2026.
• Singapore, this quarter: record fixed and variable pay separately in offer letters and payroll so you can evidence total compensation if the ONE Pass investment track opens. Separately, re-score any 2027 Employment Pass candidate against the new C1 benchmarks.
• Malaysia, before 9 October 2026: submit views through the Budget 2027 consultation portal if training incentives or foreign labour policy affect your headcount plan.

What this week actually tells you

Four countries, one pattern. Governments are getting more precise about what they measure and when they measure it. Singapore is refining the definition of pay through the ONE Pass investment track. India is pricing a fixed window to confess past gaps. The UK is putting a hard date on a procedural change. Malaysia is asking before it legislates. Each one rewards employers who keep clean, current records of who works where and on what terms. Right now your compliance calendar probably lives in someone’s inbox. Asanify’s employer of record service handles statutory filings, deadlines and local registrations in each country, so these windows do not close on you.

FAQ: the ONE Pass investment track and global hiring

Is the ONE Pass investment track available now?

No. MAS announced it as a proposed track on 19 August 2026 and has not published eligibility criteria or an opening date. The existing ONE Pass criteria still apply, including the fixed monthly salary threshold of S$30,000.

Does the ONE Pass investment track apply outside asset management?

Not as announced. It targets global leaders and senior investment professionals in Singapore’s asset management industry. The wider significance is the precedent of counting performance-linked pay toward a work pass test.

What happens if we miss India’s 31 October provident fund deadline?

EPFO has said employers who do not use the window face normal enforcement action and prosecution under the Act. You lose the waiver of the employee share and the ₹100 lump sum treatment, so the cost of the same correction rises.

Do the UK balloting changes affect employers without a recognised union?

Indirectly. The rules govern how unions run statutory ballots, not how you run your workplace. However, easier balloting lowers the practical barrier to industrial action, and separate union access and information duties commence on 30 October 2026.

Can an employer of record handle these deadlines for us?

Yes for the statutory filing and registration side. An employer of record is the legal employer in country, so it manages payroll contributions, social security enrolment and local filings. Strategic choices such as whether to restructure pay or contest a penalty stay with you.

Not to be considered as tax, legal, financial or HR advice. Regulations change over time so please consult a lawyer, accountant  or Labour Law  expert for specific guidance.