Extra help for workers badly hit by pandemic

Lower-to middle-income workers who have been hit hard by the ongoing pandemic will get extra help from next year under a scheme announced yesterday.

The Covid-19 Recovery Grant (CRG) will also cushion the impact from other financial support schemes drawing to a close by the end of this year. Meanwhile, cabbies will get help through the new Covid-19 Driver Relief Fund.

In a statement yesterday, the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) noted that some people remain "significantly affected" by job or income losses as the pandemic wears on. Targeted support will therefore be given to this group through the CRG, said the ministry.

The new grant is different from the existing Covid-19 Support Grant or Self-Employed Person Income Relief Scheme (Sirs), both of which are coming to an end. Applications for the Covid-19 Support Grant will close by Dec 31, while Sirs will lapse by the year end.

Under the new grant, two groups of people will be able to get up to $700 a month for three months.

These are people who are unemployed - either on account of retrenchment or because their contracts were terminated - or those who have been placed on involuntary no-pay leave for at least three consecutive months.

Other groups will get up to $500 a month for three months under the CRG. These are:

•Employees who are facing salary losses of at least 50 per cent on average for at least three consecutive months; and

•Self-employed people facing an average loss in net trade income (NTI) of at least 50 per cent over a period of at least three consecutive months, compared with their average monthly NTI last year or this year.

All these losses must have occurred after Jan 23, when the first case of Covid-19 was found in Singapore. The applicants must still be suffering such losses at the point of application.

In its statement, MSF said the grant is aimed at people with a lower household income, as well as those who have suffered more significant income losses.

Applicants must have had a gross monthly household income of $7,800 or less, or a monthly per capita income of $2,600 or less before being affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

They should have been economically active before the pandemic hit Singapore.

To qualify for the grant, applicants will also need to show proof that they have been searching for jobs or seeking to upgrade their skills through government-linked portals, attending job interviews, or participating in career coaching at specific government-linked career centres.

Meanwhile, the Land Transport Authority, which announced a new $133 million relief fund for taxi and private-hire car drivers, noted that ridership in this sector remains muted and fares per trip tend to be lower as a result of shorter commutes.

The new fund, which will give drivers $600 per vehicle every month between January and March, is meant to help with this, it said. The payout will be reduced to $450 a month between April and June.

Its new scheme replaces the existing Special Relief Fund, through which drivers have been getting payouts since February. About 52,000 drivers eligible for the Special Relief Fund will automatically qualify for the new fund.

However, drivers who get payouts under the Covid-19 Driver Relief Fund will not be eligible for the Covid-19 Recovery Grant.