Additional payout reflects optimism on the economy
The nation’s largest employer is giving staff a bigger end-of-year bonus, thanks to the improving economy.
The Public Service Division confirmed this week that it will be giving all 84,000 civil servants a year-end Annual Variable Component (AVC) of one month's pay – double the 0.5 month bonus they received in 2016.
The year-end AVC is added to what is commonly known as the 13th-month payment to make up the full year-end bonus.
The announcement comes against the backdrop of the economy growing by 5.2 per cent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2017, compared to 2.9 per cent in the previous quarter.
The economy is projected to grow by 3 per cent to 3.5 per cent for the whole year.
"The AVC payment is in line with the more optimistic economic outlook for 2017 compared with 2016," said the PSD.
"We are heartened to see that working people will be able to reap the benefits of this positive outlook,” said National Trades Union Congress assistant secretary-general Cham Hui Fong.
Lower-wage civil servants, numbering 1,490, whose salaries are below $1,800 will get a $1,800 AVC anyway, the PSD announced. An officer, for instance, who earns a monthly salary of $1,500 will get $300 more than he would otherwise get.
"This signals the Government's continued commitment to help low-wage workers," said the PSD in a statement.
Civil servants will receive a full-year AVC of 1.5 month this year, which includes the mid-year bonus of 0.5 month they received in July.
The payment, including the minimum payment, was decided in consultation with the public sector unions, according to the PSD.
"This is a particularly rewarding sum that will definitely ease their year-end necessities such as back-to-school spending, plus a little bit more for the coming festivities,” said Mr G Muthukumarasamy, the general secretary of the Amalgamated Union of Public Daily Rated Workers.
“This year's bonus payout is a sign that things are looking better."
"AUPE is appreciative of the Government's efforts to reward our civil servants, especially as they have always put in their utmost efforts behind government programmes and initiatives to serve the people in Singapore,” said Yeo Chun Fing, general secretary of the Amalgamated Union of Public Employees.
