BETTER PROGRESSION, PAY FOR LOWER-WAGE WORKERS
Mr Wong also announced that the Government would maintain the Government’s increased co-funding share for the Progressive Wage Credit Scheme (PWCS).
In June 2022, the PWCS was enhanced by increasing the Government’s co-funding share from 50 to 75 per cent for employees with gross monthly wages of up to S$2,500 in qualifying year 2022. The payout period was in the first quarter of 2023.
The co-funding share had also been increased from 30 to 45 per cent for employees with gross monthly wages above S$2,500 and up to S$3,000 in qualifying year 2022, with the same payout period.
The announcements on Tuesday mean that the Government will in the first quarter of 2024 continue its co-funding share for these same groups of workers in qualifying year 2023.
The increased co-funding share was originally only meant for the qualifying year of 2022.
For this purpose, the PWCS fund will also receive a top up of S$2.4 billion, added Mr Wong.
The PWCS, first introduced in last year’s Budget, was aimed at providing “transitional support” from 2022 to 2026 for employers to adjust to the Progressive Wage moves, and to encourage employers to “voluntarily raise” the wages of their lower-wage employees, stated a factsheet from the Ministry of Finance issued on Tuesday.
SUPPORT TO HIRE PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES, EX-OFFENDERS
To support employers in hiring people with disabilities, the Government will enhance the Enabling Employment Credit to cover a larger proportion of wages and a longer duration for these workers who have not been working for at least six months.
The Enabling Employment Credit is currently paid to employers of Singaporeans with disabilities aged 13 and older, earning below S$4,000 per month.
The employer gets 20 per cent of each eligible employee’s monthly income, capped at a maximum of S$400 per month per employee. There is no cap on the total number of eligible employees.
Employers receive an additional 10 per cent wage offset, capped at S$200 per month per employee, for the first six months of employment, if they hire a person with disability for a job paying less than S$4,000 per month and if this worker has not been working for the past six months before being hired.
“We know many persons with disabilities want to work, and if given the chance, have valuable skills to offer. As a society, we should give them the opportunity to do so,” said Mr Wong.
Firms can also look forward to a “time-limited” wage offset if they employ ex-offenders.
More details on this new Uplifting Employment Credit will be shared at the Ministry of Manpower’s upcoming COS debate. The outcomes of this scheme will be reviewed in 2025.
Mr Wong highlighted that financial incentives are ultimately just “one way we support people with disabilities and ex-offenders”.
“We also need dedicated efforts on the ground, through organisations like SG Enable, Yellow Ribbon Singapore, and their community partners, as well as close cooperation with employers to provide meaningful job opportunities for people with disabilities and ex-offenders,” he added.