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Singapore civil servants to receive “modest” year-end bonus on top of 13th month bonus

November 27, 2009 by admin  
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Written by Our Correspondent

Following the emergence of the Singapore economy out of recession, civil servants will be expecting a “modest” year-end bonus of 0.25 month, which will be capped at $750 on top of their usual 13th month bonus.

According to a statement from the Public Service Department, the one-off payment is to make up for no annual variable component (AVC) payment this year, given the forecast that Singapore’s GDP will shrink by 2 per cent to 2.5 per cent this year.

Even with the one-off payment and 13th month payment, PSD said the annual salaries of civil servants will still fall by 8 per cent to to 22 per cent this year.

It is not common for civil servants to get a few months of bonuses in their AVC payments during the “good” years.

A furore erupted earlier  in the year after rumors about 2 staff of Northwest CDC receiving 8 months of bonuses in the previous years were circulated in cyberspace.

The minister in charge of the People’s Association Mr Lim Boon Heng did not confirm or deny the rumors.

Singapore’s civil servants are much more fortunate than their co-workers in the private sector and counterparts in Hong Kong.

Though NTUC has urged employers to increase the salaries of those workers which were frozen or reduced during the economic downturn, many still have not done so.

On the other hand, the Hong Kong Legco will vote for legislation for a civil service pay cut in mid-December.

Under the bill, which is likely to be passed by the Legislative Council, senior civil servants earning more than HK$48,401 a month can expect to have their salaries reduced by 5.38 per cent from January 1.

Hong Kong senior civil servants take home between SGD$100,000 and SGD$120,000 yearly which is less than the pay of Singapore senior civil servants.

Despite their lower pay, the Hong Kong’s civil service is as efficient and capable as Singapore’s as judged by Hong Kong’s performance in many international rankings.

With elections around the corner, the one-off year-end bonus will come in useful to boost support for the ruling party.

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5 Comments on "Singapore civil servants to receive “modest” year-end bonus on top of 13th month bonus"

  1. Anonymous on Fri, 27th Nov 2009 9:46 am 

    AS i said repeatedly before on TR, after APEC will be a special bonus for civil servant ahead of the election.

    ANYONE SURPRISED??????????????????????

  2. stan on Fri, 27th Nov 2009 10:16 am 

    with high paycheques. who need bonuses right?

  3. cy on Fri, 27th Nov 2009 5:42 pm 

    the 2 CDC staff must have gone from heaven to hell in a year’s time

  4. wat? on Fri, 27th Nov 2009 6:27 pm 

    rank and file civil servants don’t earn that much money. So this really helps them. I wonder if TR will actually say anything about that.

    besides that.. the top civil servants probably find the money given as spare change.

  5. qussl3 on Wed, 2nd Dec 2009 3:21 am 

    “Hong Kong senior civil servants take home between SGD$100,000 and SGD$120,000 monthly which is less than the pay of Singapore senior civil servants.”

    Are you sure this is correct?

    The numbers seem abit wonky.