Jobs Growth Initiative
The Jobs Growth Incentive (JGI) is another scheme under the SG United Jobs & Skills Framework. It provides up to 18 months of salary support of 50 percent of the first $6,000 of gross monthly wages, for each new local person with disability hired by employers from September 2020 to September 2021 (inclusive). Eligible employers will automatically receive their JGI payouts. More details can be found here.
The Open Door Programme (ODP) Grant
Another Government-funded initiative, this time by the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) and the Workforce Singapore (WSG), which is administered by SG Enable, the Open Door Programme encourages employers to hire, train and integrate persons with disabilities by providing grants and employment services to ODP-registered employers.
These grants and services include:
Job Redesign Grant for Employees with Disabilities
This grant helps employers to recruit and retain persons with disabilities by supporting up to 90 percent of the job redesign costs, capped at S$20,000 per employee with disability, whichever is lower. It can be used to defray the cost for the following job redesign initiatives:
To apply for the Job Redesign Grant, employers are to complete the Job Redesign Application Form here and email to opendoor@sgenable.sg. A representative from SG Enable will then follow up on the application.
Training Grant
Employers are encouraged to support their employees with disabilities to upgrade their skills through training. They can then receive funding of up to 95 percent of the course fee. This funding applies to employees with disabilities being sent to training programmes supported by SG Enable.
In addition, funding of up to 90 percent is also disbursed for workshops or courses that employees without disabilities are sent to for the purposes of building confidence in working with colleagues with disabilities.
For more information on the Training grant, one can refer to WSG’s website.
Recruitment, Job Placement, and Job Support Services
Employers who register on the ODP Job Portal, will receive recruitment assistance from SG Enable and its appointed partners. For every person with disability placed by them, up to 1 year of job support will be provided.
To register as an Open Door Employer, one need only login at this website via Singpass. Upon login, select “For Employer” in the side bar and click on “Register Here” to register as a new employer.
Enabling Employment Credit (EEC)
The EEC scheme is to support the employer of persons with disabilities who are aged 13+ and have a monthly income of less than S$4,000. It provides a wage offset of up to 20 percent of the employees’ monthly income, capped at a maximum of S$400 per month for each employee.
On top of that, if the employee with disabilities has been unemployed for the last 6 months, the employer will receive an extra wage offset of 10percent for the first 6 months of the contract. For more information one can click here.
Final Words
We hope you now know everything about employing workers with special needs in Singapore. As a responsible employer, it is important to have an understanding of these laws and what they mean for your business by the time new hires start work. In the same way, your company can also be eligible for government grants when it employs workers with disabilities.