Employers to get next tranche of Wage Credit Scheme payouts in March 2022
Office workers in the financial district of Raffles Place on Sep 6, 2021. (File photo: CNA/Gaya Chandramohan)
SINGAPORE: Employers will receive the next tranche of Wage Credit Scheme payouts in March next year, said the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) on Friday (Dec 17).
The payouts are for qualifying wage increases in 2021.
Under the scheme, the Government co-funds 15 per cent of qualifying wage increases of Singaporean workers earning a gross monthly wage of up to S$5,000. To qualify for the upcoming tranche, employers must have given them a pay rise of at least S$50 and/or have sustained the salary increase (at least S$50) previously given to employees in 2019 and/or 2020.
Employers are also required to pay the mandatory CPF contributions on 2021 wages for their qualifying employees to the CPF Board by Jan 14.
The Wage Credit Scheme was introduced in 2013 as a three-year initiative to support businesses in their transformation and share productivity gains with workers.
It was later extended, most recently at Budget 2021.
About S$2 billion in wage credits have been disbursed during the COVID-19 pandemic, including S$940 million in payouts that were given out in March to more than 98,000 employers.
Employers do not need to apply for the payouts.
Those who are eligible will automatically be notified of the amount to be received by end-March 2022, said MOF and IRAS.
The March 2022 payouts will be credited directly to employers’ registered bank accounts through PayNow Corporate or GIRO.
Employers who have not already set up a PayNow Corporate account or registered for GIRO are advised to do so by the end of February 2022 to receive their payouts by end-March.
