More than 99,000 employers to get $840m in wage credits by March 31

By the end of the month, more than 99,000 employers will receive $840 million in Wage Credit Scheme (WCS) payouts, the final tranche under the scheme.

For the upcoming payouts, the Government will co-fund 15 per cent of qualifying wage increases given last year, in 2020 and in 2019 to more than 780,000 Singaporean employees earning a gross monthly wage of up to $5,000.

All wage increases and sustained wage increases must be at least $50 to qualify.

The payouts will benefit more than 99,000 employers, said the Ministry of Finance and the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras) yesterday.

This brings the total amount of wage credits paid out during the Covid-19 pandemic to more than $2 billion.

In March last year, about $940 million in WCS payouts was disbursed to more than 98,000 employers.

Singapore citizen employees who receive Central Provident Fund contributions, including full-time, part-time and hourly rated employees, are covered by the scheme.

The WCS was extended by a year in last year's Budget, to support wage increments to help companies build up their local workforce and emerge stronger from the pandemic.

Employers do not need to apply to receive the payouts. Eligible employers will be notified by March 31 informing them of their payout amounts. The payouts will be credited directly to their registered bank accounts through PayNow Corporate or Giro.

Employers who have not set up a PayNow Corporate account or registered for Giro will have their payouts retained until they do so. The payments will be automatically released after they successfully register for either e-payout mode.

Unclaimed payouts will be retained in employers' WCS accounts until Sept 30. They will not be eligible to claim the payouts after that.

Any appeals regarding the payouts must be submitted to Iras by June 30 and will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

The WCS, which co-funds wage increases, was introduced in 2013 as a three-year scheme, and then extended to 2020 as part of the Government's efforts to support businesses in transforming and sharing productivity gains with workers.

It is different from the Jobs Support Scheme, which was introduced in 2020 to co-fund current wages to help employers retain their local employees amid the pandemic.