Wage offsets of up to 40% for eligible persons with disabilities, up to 20% for ex-offenders
Elysia Tan
SOME groups “may need more support to achieve their full potential in the workforce”, said Minister of State for Manpower Gan Siow Huang on Wednesday (Mar 1), giving details of new and enhanced employment credit schemes announced in Budget 2023.
The updates, which apply from April 1, aim to encourage the employment of persons with disabilities and ex-offenders, she said at the ministry’s Committee of Supply debate in Parliament. Both employment credit schemes are for workers earning below S$4,000 a month.
The existing Enabling Employment Credit (EEC) provides a permanent offset of up to 20 per cent of wages, capped at S$400 a month, for employers of persons with disabilities.
For persons with disabilities who have been out of work for at least six months, their employers can get an additional, time-limited wage offset of up to another 10 per cent, capped at a further S$200. This additional offset will now be raised to 20 per cent, and the cap raised to S$400.
The additional support, which currently lasts for the first six months of employment, will be extended to span the first nine months.
This means that combined, up to 40 per cent of wage support will be provided for the first nine months of employment, and up to 20 per cent after that. With the enhancements, up to S$8,400 in wage offsets may be paid for the first full year of employment.
BT in your inbox
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
The EEC has also been expanded to include permanent residents (PRs), in addition to Singaporeans.
“The employment rate of resident persons with disabilities has continued to improve, reaching 31.4 per cent in 2021 to 2022,” said Gan, reiterating the government’s target to raise this to 40 per cent by 2030.
A taskforce on supporting their employment is aiming to release recommendations in the second half of this year, she added.
To encourage the employment of ex-offenders, there is the new Uplifting Employment Credit (UEC), which also applies to both Singaporean and PR hires.
This follows the Jobs Growth Incentive salary support scheme, set to end this March, which provided a higher support rate and longer duration of support for the hiring of ex-offenders.
Under the new UEC, employers who hire ex-offenders through Yellow Ribbon Singapore and Singapore Prison Service’s employment programmes will get an offset of up to 20 per cent of wages, capped at S$600 a month, for the first nine months. This amounts to up to S$5,400 for each employee.
The scheme will initially run from April 2023 to December 2025, and is for ex-offenders who were released within three years before the date of employment.
After this period, the scheme will be reviewed to assess its effectiveness in improving ex-offenders’ employment outcomes, such as job retention and wages, Gan said.
Ex-offenders may face challenges such as stigmatisation and limited career opportunities, which can be compounded by low educational qualifications and a lack of industry-relevant skills or recent work experience, she added.
She noted: “The challenges are more acute in the initial years after release, as ex-offenders face problems transiting from prison to the work environment.”
Employment is critical for their successful reintegration into society, she said.
Support is also being offered to encourage employment of senior workers. As announced in Budget 2023, the Senior Employment Credit (SEC) will be extended from 2023 to 2025, for senior workers earning up to S$4,000 monthly.
“The SEC has in fact benefited almost 100,000 employers that hire over 461,000 senior workers since it was introduced,” said Senior Minister of State for Manpower Koh Poh Koon.
However, the extended SEC is for workers aged 60 and above. It will thus no longer cover those aged 55 to 59, who previously qualified.
The amount of support also varies with age, and the age bands will be adjusted in tandem with the re-employment age being raised to 68 last year. The previous “65 to 66” wage band will be widened to ”65 to 67”, and the “67 and above” age band changed to “68 and above”.
In 2023, maximum support levels are 3 per cent for those aged 60 to 64, 5 per cent for those aged 65 to 67, and 8 per cent for those aged 68 and over. These levels will also be lowered in 2024, by one percentage point for each band.
Copyright SPH Media. All rights reserved.
