On 17 August, DPM Heng released a ministerial statement to continue to support jobs and create new ones and provide further support for sectors which are hit the hardest. The continued support will cost $8 billion.
Extension of Jobs Support Scheme ("JSS")
Extension of JSS
The JSS will be extended by up to seven months, covering wages paid up to March 2021. This will provide continued support for businesses and workers amidst the protracted economic downturn.
The table below shows an overview of the support level based on the projected recovery of the various sectors.
Notes:
1. Firms that are not allowed to resume on-site operations will receive Tier 1 JSS support for September 2020 to March 2021 wages or until such time that they are allowed to resume operations on-site, whichever is earlier.
2. Firms in the Built Environment sector will receive Tier 1 JSS support for June to October 2020 wages, and Tier 2 support for November 2020 to March 2021 wages.
Extended JSS Support
Under the extended JSS, sectors are supported at the following tiers for wages paid from September 2020 to March 2021:
a) Tier 1 sectors (e.g. Aviation, Aerospace, and Tourism) that are currently receiving 75% JSS support, will receive 50% JSS support
b) Tier 2 sectors (e.g. Food Services, Retail, Marine & Offshore, and Arts and Entertainment) that are currently receiving 50% JSS support, will receive 30% JSS support
c) Tier 3 sectors that are currently receiving 25% JSS support, will receive 10% JSS support
i. This is with the exception of selected Tier 3 sectors (i.e. Financial Services, Information and Communications Technology and Media, Biomedical Sciences, Precision Engineering, Electronics and Online Retail and Supermarkets), which will receive 10% JSS support for wages paid from September to December 2020. JSS support for these sectors will cease after December 2020.
d) Employers in the Built Environment sector that are currently receiving Tier 1 (75%) JSS support for wages paid June to August 2020, will continue to receive Tier 1 JSS support (at 50%) for wages paid in September and October 2020, and thereafter Tier 2 (30%) support for wages paid from November 2020 to March 2021.
e) Employers which are not allowed to resume on-site operations during phased re-opening will receive Tier 1 (50%) JSS support for wages paid from September 2020 to March 2021, or until such time when they are allowed to resume operations on-site, whichever is earlier.
List of Sectors in JSS Support Tier – Tier 1
| Sector | Subsector | Qualifying Criteria |
|---|---|---|
| Aviation and Aerospace | Aviation | Consists of: • Airlines • Airport ground handlers • Airport operators |
| Aerospace maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) operators | They must: • Derive more than two-thirds of their revenue from aerospace MRO; and • Have one of the following accreditations or regulatory approvals: (i) Singapore Airworthiness Requirements Part 145 (SAR145) or SAR21 from the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) (or equivalent from Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)/ European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)); or (ii) National Aerospace and Defense Contractors Accreditation Program (Nadcap); and • Be classified under SSIC 30302. |
|
| Aerospace manufacturing operators | They must: • Derive more than two-thirds of their revenue from aerospace manufacturing; and • Either: be a manufacturing facility of aerospace original equipment manufacturers (OEMs); or have certificates of approved supplier status from aerospace companies; or have the following accreditations or regulatory approvals: (i) SAR145 or SAR21 from CAAS (or equivalent from FAA/EASA); or (ii) Nadcap; and • Be classified under SSIC 30301. |
|
| Major suppliers of parts and services for aerospace MROs and manufacturers | They must: • Carry out one or more of these activities: (a) machining and assembly; (b) tooling; (c) secondary processes; (d) engineering; (e) repair; (f) customised kitting; and (g) inventory management on behalf of aerospace companies and airlines; and • Derive more than two-thirds of their revenue from aerospace companies and airlines; and • Either: have certificates of approved supplier status from aerospace companies; or have the following accreditations or regulatory approvals: (i) SAR145 or SAR21 from CAAS (or equivalent from FAA/EASA); or (ii) Nadcap. |
|
| Airline fleet management services operators | They must: • Derive more than two-thirds of their revenue from aerospace companies, airlines and fleet owners; and • Have the following regulatory approvals: (i) SAR145 or SAR21 from CAAS (or equivalent from FAA/EASA); or (ii) Continuing Airworthiness Management Organization (CAMO) from EASA (or equivalent). |
|
| Operators providing training for pilots and crews | They must: • Be a CAAS-approved Type Rating Training Organisation (or equivalent from FAA/EASA); and • Derive more than two-thirds of their revenue from airlines. |
|
| Tourism, Hospitality, Conventions and Exhibitions | Qualifying licensed hotels | They must be a licensed hotel classified under SSIC 551. |
| Qualifying licensed travel agents | They must have more than two-thirds of their revenue from their travel agency business, based on the Annual Business Profile Returns submitted to the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) in 2018. | |
| Qualifying gated tourist attractions | They must: • Have more than 30% visitorship from tourists, and • Be classified under SSICs 91021, 91022, 91029, 91030, 93201, or 93209. |
|
| Cruise | They must be a cruise line or cruise terminal operator. | |
| Meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions venue operators (MICE) | They must be purpose-built MICE venue operators. | |
| MICE and tourism event organisers | They must: • Be impacted by the deferment/cancellation/loss of sales of at least one MICE/leisure event with at least 20% foreign attendees (residing outside Singapore) and originally scheduled in Singapore between 1 Feb 2020 to 31 Dec 2020; and • Derive more than two-thirds of their revenue from MICE/leisure events with at least 20% foreign attendees (residing outside Singapore); and • Be classified under SSICs 82301, 82302 or 82303. |
|
| Money changers | They must: • Be licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) as either “money-changing licensee” or “major payment institution licensee”; and • Derive more than two-thirds of their revenue from money-changing services. |
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| Regional ferry operators | They must: • Be licensed by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) as a Regional Ferry Services Operator; and • Be classified under SSIC 50013. |
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| Central refund agencies | They must be central refund agencies certified by the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS). |
List of Sectors in JSS Support Tier – Tier 1 (only for June 2020 to October 2020 wages); Tier 2 thereafter
| Sector | Subsector | Qualifying Sector |
|---|---|---|
| Built Environment | Built Environment contractors | They must be classified under SSICs 41, 42, or 43. |
| Built Environment consultants | They must: • Be registered with the Public Sector Panel of Consultants; or • Be classified under SSICs 71111, 71113, 71121, or 71125. |
List of Sectors in JSS Support – Tier 2
| Sector | Subsector | Qualifying Criteria |
|---|---|---|
| Food Services | Licensed food shops and food stalls (including hawker stalls) | They must be classified under SSICs 56, or 68104. Licensees registered as individuals will also be included if they make mandatory CPF contributions for their employees. |
| Retail | Qualifying retail outlets | They must: • Hold a valid Film Exhibition licence from the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA); and • Be classified under SSIC 5914. |
| Arts and Entertainment | Cinema operators | They must: • Hold a valid Film Exhibition licence from the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA); and • Be classified under SSIC 5914. |
| Film distributors | They must: • Have transacted with IMDA to classify films for exhibition in cinemas between 1 Apr 2019 to 31 Mar 2020; and • Be classified under SSICs 59131 or 59139. |
|
| Arts and Culture organisations | They must: • Meet at least one of the conditions of being a: (i) participant in a project, activity, programme or festival supported by the National Arts Council (NAC) or National Heritage Board (NHB) between 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2020; (ii) Museum Roundtable member before 31 March 2020; or (iii) accredited Arts Education Programme (AEP) provider listed in the 2019-2021 NAC-AEP Directory; and • Be classified under SSICs 85420, 90001, 90002, 90003, 90004, 90009, 91021, 91022, or 91029. |
|
| Land Transport | Rail operators | They must: • Hold a Land Transport Authority (LTA) New Rail Financing Framework licence; and • Not receive service payments from the Government for the operation of rail services; and • Derive more than two-thirds of their revenue from rail-related activities. |
| Point-to-Point (P2P) transport operators | They must hold an LTA taxi service operator licence; or an LTA third-party taxi booking service operator licence. | |
| Private bus and limousine operators | They must: • Have “P” plate buses or sedans/multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs) registered as Z10, Z11, R10, R11 vehicles; and • Be classified under SSICs 49212, 49219, 77101, or 52299. |
|
| Marine and Offshore | Marine and Offshore | They must: • Derive more than two-thirds of their revenue from the following activities: (i) manufacture and repair of oil rigs; (ii) building of ships, tankers and other ocean-going vessels (including conversion of ships into off-shore structures); (iii) repair of ships, tankers and other ocean-going vessels; (iv) manufacture and repair of marine engine and ship parts; and/or (v) manufacture and repair of oilfield and gas field machinery and equipment components (e.g. derricks, tool joints, process modules and packages); and • Be classified under SSICs 30110, 28112, 28241, or 28242. |
List of Sectors in JSS Support – Tier 3B: Sectors that are managing well (JSS support until December 2020 wages, discontinued thereafter)
| Sector | Subsector | Qualifying Criteria |
|---|---|---|
| Biomedical Sciences | Biomedical Sciences | They must be classified under SSICs 21011, 21012, 21013, 2102, 2103, 266, 325, 46461, 46592, 72101, 72107, or 72109. |
| Precision Engineering | Precision Engineering | They must be classified under SSICs 22191, 22192, 22193, 22199, 22211, 22214, 22215, 22216, 22218, 22219, 2222, 25113, 2513, 2591, 2592, 2593, 2594, 25951, 25959, 25993, 25995, 25997, 25998, 25999, 26127, 2651, 2652, 2670, 271, 273, 28111, 2812, 2814, 2815, 2816, 2818, 2819, 2822, 28243, 28249, 2825, 2826, 2827, 2829, or 283. |
| Electronics | Electronics | They must be classified under SSICs 2611, 26121, 26122, 26123, 26124, 26125, 26126, 26129, 262, 263, 264, or 26801. |
| Financial Services | Financial Services | They must: • Be classified under SSICs 641, 643, 649, 65, and 66; or • Be MAS-regulated firms classified under SSIC 642. |
| Information and Communications Technology and Media | Information and Communications Technology | They must be classified under SSICs 4651, 46521, 46523, 46591, 58202, 61, 62011, 62013, 62014, 62019, 6202, 6209, 631, 63909, 72105, 74111, 77341, 78101, 822, or 9511. |
| Media | They must be classified under SSICs 46444, 581, 58201, 60, 62012, 63901, or 9101. | |
| Postal and Courier | They must be classified under SSIC 53. | |
| Retail | Supermarkets and Convenience Stores | They must be classified under SSICs 4711, or 47192. |
| Online Retail | They must be classified under SSIC 4791. | |
| Tier 3A: Others (JSS support till March 2021) | ||
| Others | All other employers | N/A |
For more information, please click here to visit the IRAS JSS website.
Extension of Workfare Special Payment ("WSP")
As part of the Care and Support Package announced at Budget 2020, all Singaporean employees and Self-Employed Persons (SEPs) who received Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) payment for Work Year (WY) 2019 are receiving a $3,000 Workfare Special Payment (WSP) in 2020. The first payment of $1,500 was made to eligible Singaporeans in July 2020. They will receive their next and final tranche of WSP ($1,500) in October 2020.
The WSP has been extended to include lower-wage workers aged 35 and above in 2020 who received WIS payment for WY2020, and who have not already qualified for WSP previously (see Table 1). A one-off payment of $3,000 will be given to eligible individuals from October 2020 onwards.
Click here to find out more on the Care and Support Package can be found at the Care and Support Package.
Jobs Growth Incentive ("JGI")
There are bright spots amidst the severe economic situation especially in healthcare, F&B, manufacturing, biomedical sciences, financial services, and ICT sectors where they are constantly needing more workers. To support hiring in growing sectors, the Jobs Growth Incentive, or JGI will be launched. The JGI supports the Government’s efforts to create new jobs for workers, with a special focus on mature workers. $1 billion have been set aside to support firms to increase their headcount of local workers over the next six months.
For each new local hire, Government will provide wage subsidy for 12 months:
• Up to 25% for those below 40 years old, subject to cap
• Up to 50% for those aged 40 and above, subject to cap
More details about this programme will be released later this month.
COVID-19 Support Grant
The Covid-19 Support Grant (CSG) was introduced in May to complement the ComCare scheme in these extraordinary times. More than 60,000 residents have benefited, with more than $90 million disbursed so far.
• The application period has been extended up to December 2020
• Open to both existing CSG recipients and new applicants from 1 October 2020
• Unemployed applicants must demonstrate job search or training efforts to qualify
The Ministry of Social and Family Development will share more details in early September.
Preserving Core Capabilities
Further support for hardest-hit sectors such as aerospace, aviation, and tourism to retain core capabilities.
• $187 million to extend support measures in the Enhanced Aviation Support Package up to March 2021. This package includes cost relief to our airlines, ground handlers, cargo agents and airport tenants so as to support local carriers to regain Singapore’s air connectivity to the world.
• Temporary redeployment programme scaled up for workers in the aviation sector
• $320 million to boost domestic tourism through tourism credits for Singaporeans (SingapoRediscovers Vouchers)
Startup SG Founder programme
To continue to spur innovation and entrepreneurship, up to $150 million has been set aside. The government will raise the startup capital grant and continue to provide mentorship.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry will provide more details about the StartupSG Fouder Programme later this week.