SINGAPORE — All civil servants in Singapore will receive a 1.1-month year-end bonus this year, slightly higher than the one-month bonus they got last year.

The Public Service Division (PSD) said in a statement on Thursday (Nov 24): "This year-end payment takes into consideration the economic outlook while recognising the hard work of public officers." 

It added that the payment is on top of the one-month “13th month” bonus called the Non-Pensionable Annual Allowance that the Government will continue to pay all of its civil servants.

Civil servants in junior grades — equivalent to MX15 and below — will receive an extra one-time payment of S$700.

Earlier in June, all civil servants had received a 0.35-month mid-year bonus. Back then, officers in more junior grades also received a one-time payment of either S$200 or S$400, depending on their grades.

Taken together with the mid-year bonus, civil servants here will receive a total of 2.45 months’ bonus this year. This does not include individual performance bonuses.

PSD — a division within the Prime Minister’s Office — said on Thursday that the Singapore economy expanded by 4.1 per cent on a year-on-year basis in the third quarter of the year, easing slightly from the 4.5 per cent growth recorded in the previous quarter.

“While gross domestic product (GDP) growth was sustained for 2022, the outlook for outward-oriented sectors has weakened due to the deteriorating global economic environment, and downside risks in the global economy remain significant.

“Therefore, the Ministry of Trade and Industry has updated Singapore’s GDP growth forecast to ‘around 3.5 per cent’ for 2022, from ‘3.0 per cent to 5.0 per cent’ in May and ‘3.0 per cent to 4.0 per cent’ in August,” PSD added.

It noted that on the labour market front, total employment here continues to expand, though there had been a slight upticks in the unemployment rates in September, and that retrenchments rose over the quarter.

It is against this backdrop that the Government had decided to pay all of its civil servants a year-end annual variable component (AVC) of 1.1 month, PSD added.

“In line with the National Wages Council’s recommendations to uplift the wages of lower-wage workers, the Government will continue to adopt a progressive approach in determining the AVC for civil servants.” 

Ms Cham Hui Fong, deputy secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress, said that it had a “good discussion” with PSD this year to recognise the good work of public sector employees.

“In view of the reasonably good economic growth this year albeit looming uncertainties ahead, the year-end payment of 1.1 month recognises their good work, and the additional lump sum signifies the Government’s progressive support to the lower-grade officers."

Mr Sanjeev Kumar Tiwari, general secretary of the Amalgamated Union of Public Employees, said that the year-end annual variable component is a “fair payment in recognition of the good work of our officers, while progressive in ensuring our lower-income officers are able to cope with the effects of inflation and rising costs of living”.

“As the economic outlook remains uncertain, we are happy of the Government’s recognition of the sustained hard work and contributions of our civil servants. (The union) remains committed to our civil servants being relevant and contributing effectively,” he said.