Singapore Civil servants to get 0.1 month year-end bonus
Singapore’s Public Service Division said most civil servants will get a year-end bonus of 0.1 month this year, with a one-off lump sum payment of S$250 to S$1,500. Civil servants in the lower pay grades will receive a higher lump-sum bonus, with around 2,200 operations support officers receiving the highest amount of S$1,500. Senior civil servants in superscale grades will receive a one-off payment of S$400 in place of the year-end bonus or Annual Variable Component (AVC). This will affect about 1,700 officers in senior leadership positions.
All civil servants will also receive one month’s salary as their 13th month bonus. This will be paid in December along with the year-end AVC and lump-sum payments. In July this year, civil servants received a mid-year AVC of 0.45 month and a one-off lump sum payment of S$200, with a higher lump sum of S$300 for those at lower pay grades. The combined 1.55-month bonus civil servants will receive this year is the lowest since 2009, when they received a 13th month bonus and a one-off payment of 0.25 month. This is also a sharp dip from the 2.5-month total bonus last year.
The PSD said it “will exercise restraint” for bonus payments this year due to “prevailing economic uncertainties”. Singapore’s economy is forecast to expand by 0.5 per cent to 1 per cent this year, with growth for the fourth quarter expected to remain modest, according to official data. The Monetary Authority of Singapore in its annual Financial Stability Review last week urged local companies, banks and households to remain vigilant, amid increased uncertainties and expectations for prolonged sluggishness in global growth.
PSD said that this approach was agreed upon in consultation with the public sector unions. “For this year, while we moderated the overall annual AVC for all civil servants, we will extend greater support for our officers in the junior grades. I am glad that our public sector unions supported this move,” said Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing. “I am confident that with the right values and continued hard work, we will ride out the choppy waters together.”
Source: CNA
