Covid-19: Civil servants, healthcare workers get more time to clear unused annual leave or encash up to 9 days, says PSD

SINGAPORE — To recognise the hard work civil servants and healthcare workers have put in to support the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, more time has been given to allow them to clear their unused annual leave.

And in the event that they are still unable to do so, they will be able to encash a portion of it, said the Public Service Division (PSD) and Ministry of Health (MOH) in response to TODAY’s queries.

The PSD said on Wednesday (Nov 6) that this one-off move will allow some 85,000 civil servants to carry forward half of their 2019 vacation leave into 2021, and to encash up to nine days of the remaining vacation leave that remains unconsumed by the end of this year.

Currently, civil servants who have untaken leave by the end of a calendar year are allowed to carry forward the unused days to the following year — however, it will be forfeited if it still remains unused.

Under the prevailing leave scheme, the spokesperson said civil servants are eligible for up to 18 days of vacation leave a year, though this is bumped up to 21 days for those who have served for more than 10 years.

Meanwhile, a MOH spokesperson said on Thursday that it has adopted a similar approach for some 60,000 healthcare staff in public healthcare institutions.

The spokesperson said healthcare workers who still have unused annual leave from 2019 by the end of this year will have the option of either encashing all of it, or carrying it forward to 2021. 

As for their annual leave entitlement for 2020, MOH said they will be allowed to carry forward any unused days — however, they will only be allowed to encash up to a third of it. 

Both MOH and PSD said that these measures were introduced to recognise the efforts of civil servants and healthcare workers in tackling the Covid-19 situation, which may mean they are unable to consume their accumulated vacation leave as a result.

“Since the start of Singapore’s fight against Covid-19 in January this year, our public healthcare workforce has been working tirelessly at the frontline to care for patients and support Covid-19 operations,” said MOH. 

As for civil servants, the PSD said its public officers have been working hard in the fight against Covid-19, with many taking on additional or expanded roles to support workers, businesses, and Singaporeans. 

The PSD spokesperson added that while civil servants are encouraged to utilise their vacation leave to rest and take care of personal matters, the PSD acknowledges that some are unable to do so owing to increased operational demands required to manage the Covid-19 situation.

“Statutory boards are strongly encouraged to adopt similar measures for their officers too,” said the spokesperson.

TODAY has sought comment from the Ministry of Health regarding its annual leave policy for the healthcare sector.