Singapore’s Public Servants are to receive an end-of-year bonus of one month’s salary, the Public Service Division (PSD) in the Prime Minister’s Office has announced.
Those in junior grades and are to also receive a one-off payment of $S500 ($A511).
The bonus, officially called the annual variable component (AVC), but more commonly known as the 13th month bonus, “recognises the sustained hard work and diverse contributions of officers in the fight against COVID-19,” the PSD said in a statement.
There was no mid-year bonus or year-end bonus for Public Servants in 2020, amid the economic gloom caused by the pandemic.
This year-end bonus is also a significant rise from the year-end AVC of 0.1 month of salary in 2019.
“Over the past year, public officers have continued to dedicate themselves to the national fight against COVID-19 and have worked tirelessly to keep Singapore and Singaporeans safe,” the PSD said in a statement.
The PSD noted that the Ministry of Trade and Industry had updated its Gross Domestic Product forecast to around seven per cent for 2021.
It also cited the economy’s expansion by 7.1 per cent on a year-on-year basis in the third quarter of this year, a rise from the 1.3 per cent expansion in the first quarter.
Taken together with the mid-year AVC, Public Servants have received a full-year AVC of 1.3 months, compared with 0.55 months in 2019.
Deputy Secretary-General of the National Trades Union Congress, Cham Hui Fong said the Congress was appreciative of public officers who had been at the front of Singapore’s fight against COVID-19, putting in hard work and contributing in their respective roles.
As the Public Service is Singapore’s biggest employer, its bonus is closely watched by the private sector, while Statutory Boards and other Government Agencies take their cue from it.
Singapore, 27 November 2021
