570K+ Singaporean employees to benefit from Job Support Scheme
The Ministry of Finance (MOF) and Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) recently announced that employers covered under the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) will receive more than S$900 Mn payouts from 30th September.
In this initiative, more than 43,900 employers will be the beneficiaries of the JSS payouts to support the salary income of more than 570,000 local employees.
The government claimed that "With this payout, more than S$27.6 billion of JSS support would have been disbursed since the introduction of the scheme at the Unity Budget in February 2020.”
The employers who qualified for the JSS payouts are those who made contributions in the Central Provident Fund (CPF) mandatorily for their local employees from April to July 2021 adhering to the stipulated deadlines.
The employee wages from April to July will be covered in the September payout. This will also include the enhanced JSS payout during the Phase 2 and 3 (Heightened Alert) period. To assist businesses and firms reeling under the economic distress caused by the protracted crisis, the cash flows in the four month coverage is higher than the regular three month payout coverage. The disbursement of payouts for wages paid after 31st July will take place in December.
JSS payouts will be given to different sectors of the economy
Closed sectors with tightened and high safety management protocols like F&B and gyms and fitness studios will receive no subsidy for April 1 to May 15, 50% for May 16 to Jul 11, 10% for Jul 12 to Jul 21, and 60% for Jul 22 to Jul 31.
Worst affected sectors due to COVID-19 like retail, cinemas and family entertainment sectors will get no subsidy for Apr 1 to May 15, 30% for May 16 to Jul 11, 10% for Jul 12 to Jul 21, and 40% for Jul 22 to Jul 31.
The tourism, hospitality, conventions and exhibitions sectors will be beneficiaries of 30% subsidies for Apr 1 to Jul 11, 10% for Jul 12 to Jul 21 and 40% for July 22 to Jul 31.
The airline and money changers industries will get JSS support of 30% for April to June and 10% for July.
The environment, firm distributor, land transport and marine and offshore sectors will receive 10% subsidies for April to June and no subsidies for July.
Eligible employers will be apprised about the payout amount through post this month. The employers who have completed the registration process for PayNow Corporate as of Sep 24 or have existing GIRO arrangements with IRAS can expect to receive the payouts from Sep 30. The rest of the employers will receive their cheques from Oct 15.
S$23 Mn in payouts were withheld from 500 employees for review
To check the validity of employers’ eligibility for JSS, the September payouts of about S$23 Mn were withheld from 500 employers. Their documents will be reviewed by the IRAS to ensure the veracity of their JSS claims. This is being done to ensure that payouts are “fairly and correctly” disbursed. They will receive their payouts once the IRAS is certain about the authenticity of their documents.
"Their payouts would be adjusted or denied if issues are found during the review," said the authorities. The IRAS also warned anyone attempting to abuse the JSS will be severely penalised. The offenders can face a trial for aggravated cheating under Section 420 of the Penal Code, where they may face a jail term of up to 10 years and a fine.
In an effort to protect jobs of Singaporeans at uncertain COVID-19 times, the JSS wage support is given to employers so that they can retain local employees(Singapore citizens and Permanent Residents) and help them in alleviating the financial crunch due to COVID-19 crisis.