SINGAPORE - Bosses who find it tough restructuring their firms amid a tight labour market can expect some relief in March 2015 when they will receive the second tranche of Wage Credit Scheme (WCS) payouts.

Introduced in last year's Budget, the scheme is part of a three-year transition support package to help firms cope with rising wage costs, by co-funding 40 per cent of pay rises for Singaporean workers earning less than $4,000 a month.

Qualifying employers do not have to apply for this scheme as the payouts are automatic.

However, they are required to make the full Central Provident Fund contributions to their employees by Jan 14, 2015 to receive the payouts.

Employers must also have given employees a minimum wage increase of at least $50 this year to qualify for the co-funding.

Eligible employers will receive letters from the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore by March next year informing them of the amount that will be disbursed to them.

The payouts will be credited directly into employers' bank accounts or issued as cheques.

In March this year, more than 74,000 employers received a total of $800 million from the first WCS payout.

The Government is spending $3.6 billion on the WCS over three years.