The Public Service Division (PSD) announced on 19 June 2018 that all civil servants will get an Annual Variable Component (AVC) of 0.5 month and a one-off lump sum of $300.
Lower-wage civil servants in Grades IV and V of the Operations Support Scheme (OSS) will receive a higher lump sum of $500.
Those in Grade V of the OSS will also get a built-in wage increase of $20 in addition to their annual increment. An example of a staff under the OSS is an office attendant.
PSD said that the mid-year payments signalled the Government’s continued commitment to support lower-wage civil servants. Around 1,450 civil servants will benefit from the higher lump sum payment.
The Government took into account Singapore’s economic performance, the National Wages Council’s recent recommendations and consulted the public sector unions before making a decision on the mid-year AVC.
Economic Performance
The quantum of bonus payment each year depends on the country’s economic performance. The year-end bonus will depend on how the economy performs in the second half of this year.
Preliminary estimates show that the Singapore economy grew by 4.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2018.
The economy is expected to grow by 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent for the whole year.
The labour market also improved slightly in the first quarter of 2018.
Unemployment rates and retrenchments declined, while total employment grew slightly.
Labour Movement’s Response
Several representatives from the Labour Movement welcomed the mid-year bonus announcement by the Public Service Division.
“With the strong economic forecast for 2018 and the stark improvement in our workers’ productivity from 1.8 per cent in 2016 to 4.5 per cent in 2017, the payout package signals the Public Service Division’s recognition of the hard work and effort put in by our civil servants over the last few years,” said NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Cham Hui Fong.
“To our workers, we hope that this AVC [Annual Variable Component] will encourage them to continuously strive for higher productivity and provide better services to the public. We also hope that our private sector companies will take cue to reward their workers duly and fairly,” she added.
General Secretary of the Amalgamated Union of Public Daily Rated Workers G Muthukumarasamy commended the lump sum payment to lower-wage workers. He urged the union’s members to spend the AVC wisely and save for rainy days.
General Secretary of the Amalgamated Union of Public Employees (AUPE) Yeo Chun Fing added that with the continued positive outlook, workers can look forward to even better outcomes at the end of the year.
