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Singapore: why confirm a former employee's job?

Every Singapore employer must keep records of former employees with the first and last day of employment, and must give each employee the job title in writing. Confirming the same facts takes a minute and helps the person into their next job. certo asks on their behalf, with their explicit consent.

Law as of 26 October 2026 · Personal Data Protection Act 2012 (2020 Revised Edition), current version as at 26 October 2026; Employment Act 1968 (2020 Revised Edition)

In short

  • The facts are already in your records. An employer must keep employee records for every former employee, showing the first and last day of continuous employment (Employment Act, s 95(1)), for one year after the job ends. The job title is in the key employment terms every employee gets in writing (s 95A(2)). Those are the facts we ask about.
  • It helps the person who worked for you. Singapore law has no certificate of service, so a record confirmed by a former employer is what the next employer can trust. Answering takes about a minute and needs no account.
  • certo asks on their behalf, with their explicit consent. The Personal Data Protection Act lets an organisation disclose personal data about an individual who has given consent (s 13). The person started this check themselves, for these facts and no others.
  • You do not have to answer. No Singapore law obliges an employer to answer certo. Declining is fine.

The Employment Act

Employment Act 1968, 2020 Revised Edition, and the Employment (Employment Records, Key Employment Terms and Pay Slips) Regulations 2016. Quoted from Singapore Statutes Online. We found no provision of the Employment Act 1968 that obliges an employer to issue a certificate of service or a reference, or that limits what an employer may say about a former employee.

Section 95(1): records of former employees too

An employer must make, and keep for the period prescribed (called in this section the record retention period), employee records containing the prescribed particulars for … every former employee of the employer.

The prescribed particulars include:

First day of period of continuous employment

Last day of period of continuous employment (if applicable)

These are the dates we ask about. The Regulations (reg 5) keep them for one year after the last day of employment, so for an older job you may no longer hold them.

Section 95A(2): the key employment terms

An employer must give each employee of the employer a written record of the key employment terms of the employee not later than 14 days after the day that the employee starts employment with the employer

The key employment terms include the job title (Regulations, Second Schedule, item 4). The employee has it in writing; you are asked only whether the title they claim matches yours.

Personal data

Personal Data Protection Act 2012 (PDPA), 2020 Revised Edition.

Section 13: consent required

An organisation must not, on or after 2 July 2014, collect, use or disclose personal data about an individual unless … the individual gives, or is deemed to have given, his or her consent under this Act to the collection, use or disclosure, as the case may be

Section 18: a reasonable purpose the individual knows

An organisation may collect, use or disclose personal data about an individual only for purposes … that a reasonable person would consider appropriate in the circumstances

  • Consent, for a purpose the person set. Consent counts only for a purpose the individual has been told of (ss 14(1) and 20). Here the person set the purpose themselves: confirming this job, to certo, for the facts they chose.
  • Proof of consent. certo records which account asked, when, and for which facts. Write to support@certo.bio and we send you the record for your request.
  • Only the facts listed. You confirm or leave unticked only the facts on the page. Add nothing else: anything beyond them is not covered by the person's consent.

The Act also allows disclosure without consent where it "is necessary for evaluative purposes", which include deciding a person's suitability for employment (s 2(1) and First Schedule, Part 3). We rely on the person's consent, not on that exception.

What this means for your answer

  • Tick only what your HR, payroll or personnel records show.
  • Not sure it is the same person, or no longer hold the records? Press "We can't find a matching record". Never confirm a record you are not sure is theirs.
  • Your policy is not to answer? Press "We do not answer these requests". The record shows your organisation declined, and nobody else there is asked.

Sources

This page is not legal advice. It reflects the law as it stood on 26 October 2026.