Civil servants to get 0.1 month year-end bonus with lump sum of up to S$1,500

SINGAPORE: Most civil servants will get a year-end bonus of 0.1 month this year, with a one-off lump sum payment of S$250 to S$1,500, the Public Service Division (PSD) said on Monday (Dec 2).

Civil servants in the lower pay grades will receive a higher lump-sum bonus, with around 2,200 operations support officers receiving the highest amount of S$1,500, said PSD.

Senior civil servants in superscale grades will receive a one-off payment of S$400 in place of the year-end bonus or Annual Variable Component (AVC). This will affect about 1,700 officers in senior leadership positions.

All civil servants will also one month’s salary as their 13th month bonus. This will be paid in December along with the year-end AVC and lump-sum payments.

In July this year, civil servants received a mid-year AVC of 0.45 month and a one-off lump sum payment of S$200, with a higher lump sum of S$300 for those at lower pay grades.

The total 1.55-month bonus for 2019 is the lowest in a decade. In 2009, the total bonus was 1.25 months. 

The PSD said it “will exercise restraint” for bonus payments this year due to “prevailing economic uncertainties”.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry has forecast that the economy will grow by 0.5 per cent to 1 per cent in 2019, with the growth for the fourth quarter of 2019 expected to remain modest.

“This approach was agreed upon in close consultation with the public sector unions to give the strongest support to civil servants in the junior grades, in view of the uncertain economic climate,” said PSD.