SINGAPORE – Foreign worker levy increases will be deferred for one year in the marine and process sectors due to challenging business conditions and the reduction of Work Permit holders in these sectors.
Levies will also remain unchanged for another year in manufacturing, Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat said in his Budget speech on Thursday (March 24).
The Government will proceed with levy increases in the services and construction sectors, as announced in Budget 2015.
In construction, the levy rate for Basic Tier R2 workers will be raised from $550 currently to $650 on July 1 this year, and to $700 on July 1 next year.
The minimum experience requirement for man-year entitlements (MYE)-waiver workers will be raised from two to three years from July 1 next year to encourage firms to retain their more experienced workers to support productivity.
For the services sector, levy rates for R2 workers will be raised from $300 to $450 for the basic tier, $400 to $600 for Tier 2 and $600 to $800 for Tier 3.
The levy rates for S Pass holders will also go up on July 1. The Basic Tier rate will be raised from $315 to $330, while the Tier 2 rate will be increased from $550 to $650.
This article was first published on March 24, 2016.
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