SINGAPORE, Nov 28 — Civil servants will not be receiving their year-end bonus this year due to the prevailing economic uncertainties, the Public Service Division (PSD) said yesterday. Lower-wage civil servants, however, will receive a one-time payment of S$1,200 (RM3,600) to better support them during this period of the Covid-19 pandemic.
These lower-wage workers refer to the 2,400 officers in the public service whose job positions fall in Grades Three to Five of the Operations Support Scheme and equivalent grades, PSD said in a statement.All other civil servants will still get the 13th-month payment — called the Non-Pensionable Annual Allowance — that is equal to one month’s salary.
Civil servants here also did not receive any mid-year bonus earlier this year, meaning that the civil service did not give its employees any Annual Variable Component for the entire year.
In 2019, the civil service gave its employees a year-end Annual Variable Component of 0.1 month and a one-off lump-sum payment of between S$250 and S$1,500, with those in the lower pay grades receiving a higher amount. That was the lowest year-end bonus that civil servants received in a decade.
PSD said yesterday that the latest decision came in close consultation with the public sector unions. ”Our public officers have gone above and beyond the call of duty, and worked tirelessly over many months, in the national fight against Covid-19,” it said.
“The Government deeply appreciates the hard work of all public officers.”
In a separate statement, the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) said that it supports the civil service’s decision.
NTUC’s deputy secretary-general Cham Hui Fong said the union appreciates that the Government has taken its cue from the National Wages Council to extend financial support for low-wage workers.
NTUC and the public sector unions will continue to work closely with PSD to upgrade and upskill its civil servants and work in tandem with government agencies to transform industries affected by Covid-19 to raise workers’ productivity, she said.
Raman Kathavarayan, general secretary of the Amalgamated Union of Public Daily Rated Workers, said that the union is “extremely heartened and appreciative of the Government’s efforts in providing support to our lower-wage civil servants”.
Agreeing, Sanjeev Kumar Tiwari, general secretary of the Amalgamated Union of Public Employees, said the union is appreciative that the Annual Wage Supplement has been maintained for all public officers and more financial support will be provided for lower-wage public officers. — TODAY
