|
By Ian Tan Hanhonn
The Government will be paying all civil servants a year-end bonus of 1.0 month, announced the Public Service Division (PSD) on 25 November 2021.
This will be on top of the Non-Pensionable Annual Allowance of 1.0 month, also known as the 13th month bonus.
Additionally, civil servants in grades equivalent to MX15 and MX16, as well as those in OSS Grades III to V, will also receive an additional one-time payment of $500.
The PSD said that this was to recognise the contributions made by public service officers over the past year in the fight against COVID-19.
Singapore’s economy has remained on track in its recovery for 2021, shared the PSD.
The economy expanded by 7.1 per cent on a year-on-year basis in the third quarter of 2021. The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) updated its GDP growth forecast to “around 7.0 per cent” for 2021.
On the labour market front, resident employment saw a more rapid growth in the third quarter of 2021, particularly in outward-oriented industries.
Meanwhile, unemployment rates have declined for the second consecutive month in September 2021.
NTUC Deputy Secretary-General Cham Hui Fong described the decision to provide the year-end annual variable component (AVC) and additional financial support to junior grade civil servants as fair.
She said: “NTUC is appreciative of our public service who have been at the front of Singapore’s fight against COVID-19, putting in hard work and contributing in their respective roles … As the economy recovers with an improved GDP in 2021, NTUC will continue to stand in solidarity with our workforce and work closely with Government agencies and public sector unions to review and support their organisational objectives and workforce upskilling, leveraging NTUC’s Company Training Committees and Operation & Technology Roadmap tool.”
Ms Cham also called on private sector companies to take cue in appreciating and supporting their workers this year-end.
Amalgamated Union of Public Employees (AUPE) General Secretary Sanjeev Kumar Tiwari said that the union is pleased with the PSD’s decision to accept its proposal on the one-month AVC, and the additional support of $500 for lower-income officers.
“We appreciate that PSD had also taken the NWC guidelines into consideration to provide a built-in wage increase for lower-income officers. This gesture is a much-needed encouragement for our civil servants as Singapore’s economy is still in recovery,” he said.