Foreign worker levy rebate for 3 sectors extended till June

The current foreign worker levy rebate for construction, marine shipyard and process (CMP) work permit holders will be extended for another three months, at $250 a month for April and May and $200 for June.

The Ministry of National Development (MND) and Manpower Ministry (MOM) announced this yesterday as part of the extension of several support measures that were put in place to help alleviate the pressures of continued manpower shortages and high business costs for the CMP sectors.

These measures were set to expire at the end of this month, including the foreign worker levy rebate. Introduced in 2020, the rebate was to help businesses amid challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

In the joint release, the ministries said that the lower foreign worker levy rebate for June this year reflects the improving manpower inflow for the CMP sectors, with manpower costs expected to moderate accordingly.

"The Government will continue to monitor the situation before deciding closer to June 2022 whether an extension of the rebate is necessary," said the statement.

"As the foreign worker levy rebate is meant to be a temporary support, we encourage firms to press on with longer-term productivity improvements to be more manpower-lean and resilient against future manpower disruptions."

A provision under the Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) Act - allowing contractors to seek a determination from an assessor to adjust the contract sum, to take into account an increase in foreign manpower salary incurred due to reasons relating to Covid-19 - will also be extended. Meant to expire at the end of this month, the relief period under this provision will be extended for three months, till June 30.

MND and MOM said this relief, provided to the built environment sector, is meant to be time-limited.

The Government will also permanently remove the minimum period of employment requirement to qualify for the man-year entitlement (MYE) waiver. The MYE is a work permit allocation system for workers in the construction and process sectors, where allocation was based on the value of projects or contracts awarded.

The removal of the minimum period of employment requirement was first introduced on Oct 1 last year amid the pandemic to support the need for workers in the construction and process sectors, and help the industry retain skilled and experienced workers.

Before this, there was a minimum requirement of three years for workers in the construction sector, and two years for workers in the process sector, if their employers wanted to qualify for the waiver.

This temporary measure was set to expire at the end of this month.

"As the sector continues to recover and Singapore shifts towards living with Covid-19, firms will need to partner one another even more closely to ensure business sustainability and longer-term resilience of the built environment sector," they said.

Correction note: The Ministry of Manpower has clarified that the minimum period of employment requirement for the man-year entitlement waiver used to be three years for workers in the construction sector and two years for those in the process sector.