Singapore employers to receive S$4 billion to pay wages

140,000 employers will be receiving the payout which will add up to a total of S$15 billion disbursed since the first round of support packages.
By: | July 20, 2020
Topics: Asia-Pacific | Compensation and Benefits | News | Singapore | Southeast Asia

The Singapore government will be paying out over S$4 billion to employers to help them pay the wages of 1.9 million local workers as part of the Job Support Scheme (JSS), the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said on July 19.

A total of 140,000 employers will be receiving the payout from July 29.

With this latest round of payouts, the total amount disbursed will add up to over S$15 billion since the JSS was introduced in the first round of the support packages announced by Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat in February.

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Under the scheme, firms can get up to 75% of the first S$4,600 of gross monthly wages for each local worker subsidised.

Sectors more badly hit by the pandemic, such as the aviation and tourism sectors, will get more support under the scheme.

In addition, all employers will also get 75% support for wages paid during the ‘circuit breaker’ period in April.

Part of this support has already been given as an advance that month “to provide immediate cash-flow support”, the authorities said.