Modest year-end payment for civil servants
By S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 26 November 2009 1741 hrs

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SINGAPORE: Singapore's 60,000 civil servants will get a modest one-off year-end payment of 0.25 month, capped at S$750, instead of the Annual Variable Component (AVC).

This is the first time civil servants are not getting their AVC for the full year.

In its statement, the Public Service Division (PSD) said on Thursday that the rank-and-file staff will get the full 0.25 month payment while the S$750 cap will help maintain wage restraint. Civil servants will also receive their 13th month payment.

Singapore's economy is expected to shrink by 2 to 2.5 per cent this year. Although there are signs of recovery, PSD said growth for the whole year is still negative and the outlook remains uncertain.

As such, the one-off payment is in line with the call by the tripartite partners to acknowledge employees' support for wage restraint and the work they have put in to help deal with the recession.

Even with the one-off payment and 13th month payment, the annual salaries of civil servants in 2009 will still fall by 8 per cent to 22 per cent, compared to the annual salaries in 2008. Those in senior positions will see the largest drop.

On top of that, the government will again defer salary adjustments for Administrative Officers, Political, Judicial and Statutory Appointment Holders.

Commenting on the year-end payment, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister in charge of the Civil Service, Teo Chee Hean, said the country's economy has yet to see a sustained recovery. Hence, the government was taking a cautiously optimistic and balanced approach in giving a modest one-off-year-end payment.

He added that the government wants to recognise the willingness of civil servants to accept an overall reduction in annual wages and their hard work during the crisis to help the economy turn around.

Welcoming the move, Singapore's labour movement hopes the private sector will also reciprocate where possible.

The National Trades Union Congress' deputy secretary-general, Halimah Yacob, said: "We hope that the private sector will also follow suit... to recognise workers for their sacrifices, which is good for morale especially for companies that are doing well.

"In some sectors, the labour market is already tightening, so companies should recognise their workers' contributions in bad times to help them get out of the recession."

Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong said: "The important basis is that companies should take into account their own performance, their business prospects, as well as the individual performance of the workers.

"We need to make sure that on the one hand, we need to give recognition to workers who have made contributions; on the other hand, we should not undermine the competitiveness of the company."

At a community event on Thursday, Mr Teo was asked when civil servants could expect better bonuses.

"We will watch the market conditions and we will still maintain the market principle that the pay in the civil service should be market competitive. It has served us well thus far. We've been able to attract, retain and have a good civil service," he said.


- CNA/sf/so