Employers to get payouts under Wage Credit Scheme in March

Employers can look forward to the next tranche of Wage Credit Scheme (WCS) payouts in March next year.

To qualify, they will have to pay the mandatory Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions on this year's wages for their qualifying employees to the CPF Board by Jan 14, said the Ministry of Finance and the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore yesterday.

The move is part of the Government's efforts to support businesses in transformation and share productivity gains with workers.

Singapore citizen employees who receive CPF contributions, including full-time, part-time and hourly rated employees, are covered by the WCS.

More than $2 billion in wage credits have been disbursed to employers during the pandemic so far, said the authorities.

This includes the $940 million in WCS payouts to more than 98,000 employers in March.

Over $1 billion in wage credits was disbursed to more than 95,000 employers last year for wage increases in 2019.

An additional payout was made in June last year, on top of the yearly payout made in March.

For next year's payout, new wage increases given to employees this year, as well as sustained wage increases previously given to employees last year and in 2019, will qualify for WCS payouts.

To qualify for the upcoming tranche, employers must have given Singapore citizen employees, who earned a gross monthly wage of up to $5,000, a wage increase of at least $50 this year, and/or have sustained the salary rise (of at least $50) previously given to employees in 2019 and/or last year.

The payout in March, which marks the 10th payout, will be credited directly to the employers' registered bank accounts through PayNow Corporate or Giro.

Employers who have not set up a PayNow Corporate account or registered for Giro are advised to do so by the end of February next year to receive their payouts in March.

The WCS, which co-funds wage increases, was introduced in 2013 as a three-year scheme and then extended to last year.

It differs from the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS), which co-funds current wages.

The JSS was introduced last year to provide wage support to employers and help enterprises retain their local employees during the pandemic.

In Budget 2021, the WCS was extended by another year at a co-funding level of 15 per cent to further support wage increments and help companies build up their local workforce and emerge stronger from Covid-19.

This followed earlier enhancements to the scheme in last year's first Unity Budget, when government co-funding of qualifying wage increases in 2019 and 2020 was raised by 5 percentage points to 20 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively.

> $2b

Wage credits disbursed to employers in Singapore during the pandemic so far, according to the authorities.

The gross monthly wage ceiling for employees was also raised from $4,000 to $5,000 for both years, enabling more to qualify for the wage credit.