Civil servants to get 0.1 month year end bonus and one-off lump sum payment of $250 to $1,500

The Public Service Division (PSD) has announced that all civil servants below superscale grade will receive a year-end annual variable component (AVC) of 0.1 month and an additional one-off lump sum payment of $250 to $1,500.
This announcement was made on Monday to the media.
PSD explains the lower year-end bonus as being the Government’s exercise of restraint in consideration of the prevailing economic uncertainties.
Civil servants in the lower pay grades will receive a higher amount while senior civil servants in superscale grades will receive a one-off payment of $400 in place of a year-end annual AVC.
The year-end civil service AVC is the lowest since 2009, during the global financial crisis. Amid negative growth that year, civil servants received a one-off year-end payment of 0.25 month, capped at $750.
This year’s year-end payment for civil servant is also the first time in ten years or more that is being announced in December. The PSD had announced the figures in the last week of November for all the past ten years.
Including the mid-year AVC of 0.45 month that was paid out in July this year, civil servants will receive a total of 0.55-month bonus (this is excluding the 13-month bonus).
In comparison, civil servants were given a total of 1.5-month bonus for last year which consists of 0.5 month mid-year AVC and year-end AVC of 1 month.
In a statement to the media that is not made public on its website, the PSD said: “Taking into account the prevailing economic uncertainties, the Public Service Division, in consultation with and with the support of the public sector unions, will exercise restraint for the year-end bonus payment.”
According to official data released by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) on 21 Nov, Singapore narrowed its annual forecast for economic growth to between 0.5% to 1%. This is because the economy for the third quarter is slowly improving. It was previously marked to be between 0% to 1%.
National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) assistant secretary-general Cham Hui Fong was quoted by Straits Times, to state that the outlook remains uncertain.
The public sector unions, comprising the Amalgamated Union of Public Daily Rated Workers and the Amalgamated Union of Public Employees (AUPE), thus agreed on a calibrated approach and to give more to lower-grade officers, she said.
The NTUC and public sector unions will work closely with the public sector to train workers and improve their employability, as well as ensure that they stay up to date on how the public sector is transforming itself, she added.