The National Wages Council is seeking feedback on wages and employment-related issues from the general public as it pushes on with the task of developing annual guidelines on these matters.

The council which includes employer, worker, and government representatives will meet in April and May to develop these guidelines. The feedback needs to be shared by April 15 for it to be considered.

In its deliberations on wage recommendations, the council considers factors such as Singapore's economic performance, as well as the domestic and global economic outlook, as per a release by the Manpower Ministry. It also takes into account Singapore's economic competitiveness, labour market conditions, inflation and productivity growth are also taken into account, it said.

Last year, the council had raised the basic monthly pay threshold for workers it gives quantitative guidelines for to SGD1,300, up from SGD1,200. It had also recommended that this group be given built-in wage increments of between SGD50 and SGD70.

In addition, it also proposed for the first time that companies with productivity gains in the previous year give these workers a one-off bonus of between SGD300 and SGD600, either in a lump sum or over several payments.

The guidelines followed a healthy growth in the Singapore economy of 3.6 percent in 2017. Labour productivity also rose 4.1 percent in that year. Meanwhile, last year, Singapore's economy grew 3.2 percent, and labour productivity grew 2.5 percent. According to Monster Employment Index, though Q4 projections were not met in nations across Southeast Asia, the growth in the region is stable thanks to the expansion of multinational companies and increased foreign investment into the region.