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COMPASS firm scores on EP renewal
Firm COMPASS criteria such as local PMET share can drift between EP renewals even when your pay hasn’t changed. Ask HR for SAT screenshots before filing.
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Short answer: Ask HR for SAT screenshots that include the firm criteria before you assume last year's salary clears this renewal. The firm mix can move without you doing anything at all.
Renewal threads on r/askSingapore usually blame the candidate's age-band salary when the real wobble is somewhere else entirely: firm COMPASS criteria that shifted after a hiring spree. Age floors, SAT choreography and S Pass contingency all live on EP renewal strategy, and the candidate-facing vocabulary is on COMPASS explained. This page is the narrower layer about firm scores at renewal time.
Unless you sit in an exemption band, renewals still need 40 COMPASS points. And your C1 salary percentile is not the Stage 1 qualifying-salary floor; those are two different numbers doing two different jobs, and people collapse them constantly. Firm criteria such as diversity or local PMET share can slip even when your own pay cleared comfortably last year, which is what makes this one feel so unfair: nothing about your situation changed.
What "firm score" actually means at renewal
| Lens | How much of it you control | What drifts between cycles |
|---|---|---|
| Stage 1 qualifying salary | You negotiate the fixed monthly pay | Your age band at filing or at expiry. Confirm it with SAT |
| C1 salary points | Your pay against sector and age benchmarks | The benchmark tables, and how your fixed pay is defined |
| Firm criteria, such as diversity or local PMET | Very little. Asking HR is the whole of it | Headcount mix after new EP or S Pass hires, or after local exits |
| Individual criteria, qualifications and skills | Degree proofs, shortage skills | Rarely the surprise on a same-role renewal |
HR owns the firm screens. What you own are the questions, and the time to ask them is before they file rather than after MOM comes back.
What to send HR, in writing
- Please run the Self-Assessment Tool on my renewal profile for the month we intend to file in, and send me the screenshots.
- Are we still clearing 40 COMPASS points after the recent changes to foreign and local PMET headcount?
- Which firm criteria are closest to the edge, on diversity nationality share and on local PMET share?
- Am I in any COMPASS exemption band? Please check the live thresholds rather than going on Slack folklore.
- If the firm scores are soft, what's the plan: a raise, a delayed filing, a role rewrite, or an S Pass contingency?
A soft firm score is not an NOA problem
These four things look similar from where you're standing and belong in completely different lanes.
| What you're seeing | Which lane it belongs in |
|---|---|
| SAT shows firm criteria failing, or scraping 40 | This guide: firm mix, exemption, timing |
| Age-band fixed pay is short | EP renewal strategy, Stage 1 |
| MOM asks for your NOA after filing | EP renewal NOA and documents |
| A mid-pass salary cut was never notified | Salary and occupation changes |
Uploading a random IR8A pack answers a question nobody asked. It doesn't move a firm score.
The rule to work to
Get the SAT screenshots, with firm criteria included, before lease renewals and school-fee deadlines start quietly assuming a stamped card. The renewal calendar itself stays on EP renewal strategy and the framework vocabulary on COMPASS explained. Age-band Stage 1 packaging is a separate problem from firm scores, and it lives on EP renewal age-band salary packaging.
Questions, answered
- Do EP renewals still need 40 COMPASS points?
- Unless you are in a published exemption band, yes — renewals still need 40 COMPASS points. Confirm exemptions and SAT results with HR before assuming last year’s card guarantees this cycle.
- Can firm COMPASS scores drop even if my salary still clears?
- Yes. Firm criteria such as diversity or local PMET share can drift after hiring or local exits even when your personal pay cleared last year. Ask HR for SAT screenshots that include firm criteria.
- Is my C1 salary percentile the same as the Stage 1 qualifying salary?
- No. Stage 1 qualifying salary is the age-band floor for eligibility. C1 salary points are a separate COMPASS criterion against sector/age benchmarks — do not treat them as one number.
- What should I ask HR in writing before an EP renewal filing?
- Ask for SAT screenshots for the intended filing month, whether you still clear 40 points after recent headcount changes, which firm criteria are close to the edge, any exemption band, and the contingency if firm scores are soft.
- If firm scores look soft, should I upload extra IR8A documents?
- No. Soft firm scores are a firm-mix / timing / exemption problem — not an NOA document dump. Escalate raise, delay, role rewrite, or S Pass contingency with HR instead of uploading a random IR8A pack.
Sources & citations
Admin and policy details change. Prefer the official page when making decisions; we cite primary sources for Singapore government and statutory guidance.
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