The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), on sunday, April 19, announced that self-employed people can apply for the Self-Employed Person Income Relief Scheme (Sirs) from April 27 and check online if they are automatically eligible.

Those who are aged 37 and above as on Dec 31 2020 and  who meet the eligibility criteria need not apply as they will be notified automatically via SMS and a letter from the CPF Board. People who miss out can submit appeals through the NTUC.

The following are the eligibility criteria for the Sirs scheme:

• The scheme is open to self-employed people who have an annual net trade income of no more than $100,000, who live in a property with an annual value of no more than $21,000 and do not own two or more properties.
• If they are married, they and their spouse together must not own two or more properties and the spouse's assessable income must not exceed $70,000.
• The scheme initially had a rule that an applicant must have started self-employment on or before March 25 and must not earn any income as employees. But an enhancement by the MOM now means that it can include self-employed people with an income of no more than $2,300 a month from employment.

So far 100,000 self-employed people are automatically eligible.

The Sirs scheme will disburse three quarterly cash payouts of $3,000 - in May, July and October - to help  people with the loss of income stemming from the COVID-19 outbreak.

While the Ministry of Manpower (MoM) oversees the scheme, the NTUC will help administer applications and appeals for those who do not automatically qualify.

Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat on Thursday (March 26) had announced that a substantial chunk of the more than $48 billion Supplementary Budget will go to supporting workers and saving jobs in this time of the coronavirus. 

The Jobs Support Scheme, introduced in Mr Heng's Feb 18 Budget speech would help retain local workers, enhanced and extended, bringing the total support to $15.1 billion for over 1.9 million employees.

Another $48 million will go towards extending the Self-Employed Person Training Support Scheme till the end of the year, with hourly training allowances increased to $10 from $7.50.

The Workfare Special Payment announced in the Feb 18 Budget for lower-income workers - including those self-employed - will be increased to $3,000, in cash.

A new SGUnited Traineeships programme will support up to 8,000 opportunities for first-time job seekers to get work experience, across large and small enterprises. Workforce Singapore will co-share the manpower costs.

Mr Heng will set aside $145 million to help the unemployed through the social service offices (SSOs) and community centres. This will include greater flexibility for ComCare applications, and a temporary relief fund to be set up in April for families that need urgent help.

A new COVID-19 Support Grant will also be administered by the SSOs from May to September. This will give $800 per month for three months for those who lost their jobs while they find new work or seek training.