Employers to receive more wage support when hiring ex-offenders

Employers hiring former offenders will receive more government support in the form of wage offsets through the Jobs Growth Incentive (JGI) scheme, Manpower Minister Josephine Teo said in a Facebook post yesterday.

"For employers that include ex-offenders in their workforce expansion, we will provide the higher level of wage support of 50 per cent, regardless of age," she said.

The JGI is a scheme introduced by the Government in August to support the hiring of more local workers. It is part of the Government's efforts to deal with the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

It is a two-tiered system in which employers will receive either a 50 per cent or a 25 per cent wage offset for local employees.

It will be applied to the first $5,000 of their salaries, and lasts for 12 months from the date they are hired. This means that an employer with a worker who qualifies for the 50 per cent wage offset and is drawing $2,000 per month will have $1,000 refunded each month by the Government for a year.

Employers hiring former offenders will now immediately qualify for the higher tier of 50 per cent wage offset.

Additional support for former offenders through the JGI was first suggested by MP for Bukit Batok Murali Pillai in Parliament in October.

Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat supported the idea at the time, and said that details would be announced by the Ministry of Manpower at a later date.

There are six payout dates for the JGI, the first of which will be in March next year.

Mrs Teo added that the benefit will automatically be applied to employers who have hired former offenders through Yellow Ribbon Singapore, Industrial and Services Cooperative Society (Iscos) or halfway houses in contract with the Singapore Prison Service (Captains of Lives) programme.

All other employers need to apply for the benefit.

Iscos, a cooperative that supports the reintegration of former offenders to society, welcomed the news.

It added that it also hoped additional training would be provided for the former offenders.

"We believe that more training support is beneficial for ex-offenders to upskill and progress in their career. Employers also need to be supportive of their training for that to happen, especially for training that may cut into their working hours," said Iscos executive director Doris Ng, in response to queries from The Straits Times.

She added that employers as well as direct supervisors and co-workers would benefit from training programmes to help them better understand former offenders.

"The fears and emotional upheavals the ex-offenders go through when they are just released from prison is very real."

In her Facebook post, Mrs Teo also emphasised the need to empathise with former offenders.

"Each year, around 10,000 offenders leave our prisons to start a new life. They face challenges, among which is getting back to work. Yet it is so important that they do, to return as full members of society again," said Mrs Teo.

"I urge employers to be inclusive. Give an ex-offender that second chance at rebuilding a new life."