Committee of Supply 2023 debate, Day 4: Gan Siow Huang on support to hire people with disabilities and ex-offenders

The Enabling Employment Credit will be enhanced to encourage the hiring of people with disabilities. Right now, it provides employers of people with disabilities earning under S$4,000 a month with permanent wage offsets of up to 20 per cent. If a worker has been unemployed for at least six months, an employer who hires them gets an additional time-limited wage offset of up to 10 per cent for six months. This will be raised to 20 per cent for nine months, announced Minister of State for Manpower Gan Siow Huang in Parliament on Wednesday (Mar 1). It means employers can get up to 40 per cent in wage offsets for the first nine months of employment, and 20 per cent thereafter - which works out to a maximum of S$8,400 in wage offsets for the first full year of employment. A new incentive will also be introduced to support the hiring of ex-offenders. Under the Uplifting Employment Credit, employers who hire ex-inmates through Yellow Ribbon Singapore and the Prison Service’s employment programmes will automatically qualify for a wage offset of 20 per cent for the first nine months, amounting to up to S$5,400 per employee. This will last from April 2023 to December 2025. The scheme will then be reviewed to assess its effectiveness in improving ex-offenders’ employment outcomes, such as job retention and wages.