Civil servants to get half-month mid-year payment, one-off lump sum of at least S$300

SINGAPORE — All civil servants will receive a mid-year payment — in the form of the annual variable component — of 0.5 month in July, said the Public Service Division (PSD) on Tuesday (June 19).

While the mid-year component is the same as last year’s, civil servants will also receive a one-off lump sum payment of S$300, with lower-wage civil servants in Grades IV and V of the Operations Support Scheme to receive a higher lump sum of S$500.

Civil servants in Grade V of the Operations Support Scheme will get a built-in wage increase of $20, in addition to the annual increments, the PSD said in its media release.

Around 1,450 civil servants will benefit from the higher lump sum payment.

The payments come on the back of Singapore’s economy growing by 4.4 per cent in the first quarter of the year. Unemployment rates and retrenchments declined while total employment grew slightly.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry expects the economy for the full year to grow by between 2.5 and 3.5 per cent.

"The… mid-year payments signal the Government's continued commitment to support our lower-wage civil servants," the PSD said. They also took into consideration the National Wages Council’s recent recommendations and were in close consultation with public sector unions.

Late last month, the National Wages Council had proposed a one-off bonus for workers, following robust economic growth and improved labour productivity last year. Labour productivity grew by 4.5 per cent last year from 1.6 per cent in 2016. Workers earning a basic monthly wage of up to S$1,300 should receive between S$300 and S$600, the council said.

Responding to the PSD's mid-year payments announcement, National Trades Union Congress' assistant secretary-general Cham Hui Fong said the payout package "signals the PSD's recognition of the hard work and effort put in by our civil servants over the last few years".

Ms Cham hopes private companies will take the cue to reward their workers “duly and fairly”.

Mr G Muthukumarasamy, general secretary of the Amalgamated Union of Public Daily Rated Workers, said he was happy about the mid-year payments and urged union members to spend the money wisely and save up for rainy days.

The Government will decide on the year-end annual variable component for civil servants after taking into consideration Singapore’s economic performance in the second half of 2018, said the PSD. Last year, this year-end component was one month, with a minimum of S$1,800 for lower-wage civil servants.