COVID-19: Payout for Jobs Support Scheme (JSS)

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Apr 13, 2020

UPDATED: 10 June 2021

Due to some sectors facing an additional week of closure after 13 June 2021, the current enhancements to the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) for these sectors will be extended to 20 June 2021. They will also receive 10% JSS support from 21 to 30 June.

The industries that are applicable for this extension are F&B establishments, gyms and sport facilities, performing arts organisations and arts education centres,

UPDATED: 31 May 2021

Due to Singapore returning to Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) status from 16 May to 13 June 2021, the JSS was enhanced for affected businesses and workers during this period of time.

From 16 May to 13 June 2021, firms in the food and beverage, performing arts and arts education, and sports sectors will have their JSS support increased to 50%.

For sectors that are not required to suspend operations but are significantly affected, wage support will be increased to 30%. These are companies in the retail sector, museums, art galleries, historical sites, cinemas, indoor playgrounds, and other family entertainment centres.

UPDATED: 17 February 2021

The Jobs Support Scheme has been extended once more, as announced during Budget 2021.

For businesses in the Tier 1 sector – Aviation, Aerospace, and Tourism – the JSS will be extended by a further six months. From April to June 2021, these businesses will receive 30% support for wages paid, which will subsequently be lowered to 10% from July to September 2021.

Those in Tier 2 sectors, such as Retail, Arts and Culture, Food services and Built environment sectors, will have the JSS extended at 10% for three months, covering wages paid up to June 2021. This excludes segments like supermarkets.

UPDATED: 18 August 2020

The Jobs Support Scheme payout will be extended for another seven months from September 2020 to March 2021.

The Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) was launched in Budget 2020 to provide wage support for employers to help them retain their local employees (Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents) by relieving their cash flow. JSS was then further enhanced in the Resilience and Solidarity Budgets when the Covid-19 situation worsened and many businesses and jobs are faced with extreme challenges that threaten their survival

How Does JSS Work?

The Government will co-fund the first S$4,600 of gross monthly wages paid to each employee for 10 months, with the level of support varying for different sectors - 75% (Tier 1) for Aviation, Accommodation and Tourism sectors, 50% (Tier 2) for Food & Beverage sector, and 25% (Tier 3) for all other sectors.

(**UPDATED: JSS now includes shareholders-directors with Assessable Income of S$100,000 or less for Year of Assessment 2019. They will be qualified for May 2020 and subsequent JSS payouts. The May 2020 payout will also include back-payment for these qualifying shareholders-directors whose wages were excluded from the first JSS payout in April. On 26th May during the Fortitude Budget Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat announced that JSS will be extended for another month for all firms. This will be computed based on the wages paid in August, and will be paid out together in the October JSS payout.

*Post-circuit breaker, the 75% wage support will continue until firms are allowed to resume operations, or until August 2020, whichever is earlier. Following which, the level of wage support will revert to the base tier. Pro-ration will be applied if operations resume in the middle of the month, i.e. an employer that resumes operations on 5th July 2020 will continue to receive 75% wage support for the first 4 days of July, and its base tier of support thereafter.

Only for the month of April 2020 (**UPDATED: for the months of April and May 2020), all firms will receive a wage subsidy of 75% of gross monthly wages on the first S$4,600 of wages paid during the “Circuit Breaker” period for each local employee.

All employers will qualify for the payout as long as CPF contributions for local employees are made.

To find out your eligibility on which tier of co-funding, please enquire via JSS Additional Tier eligibility, or call 1800-352-4728 (8am to 5pm from Monday to Friday).

When Will Employers Receive The JSS Payout?

Employers will start to receive the JSS payouts in four tranches - April, May, July and October 2020. The first payout in April will be computed based on the wages paid in October, November and December 2019, and CPF contributions must be made by 14 February 2020. The first payout will also include the top-up to 75% wage support for April 2020 wages, computed based on October 2019 wages.

The Special May 2020 payout will be computed based on November 2019 wages.

The third payout on July 2020 is based on wages paid from February to April 2020, with CPF contributions made by 14 May 2020.

And the fourth payout on October 2020 will be based on wages paid from May to August 2020, with CPF contributions made by 14 September 2020.

The July 2020 and October 2020 payouts will be adjusted to account for the difference between April 2020 and October 2019 wages, and May 2020 and November 2019 wages respectively. The table below shows examples of the JSS payouts under different scenarios:

Month of Payout	Payout Details	Tier 1 Aviation and Tourism	Tier 2 Food services	Tier 3 Others
Month of Payout	Payout Details	Computation of Payout Capped at first $4,600 of gross monthly wages Based on:
Apr 2020	Payout 1	+ 75% of Oct 2019 wages + 75% of Nov 2019 wages + 75% of Dec 2019 wages	+ 50% of Oct 2019 wages + 50% of Nov 2019 wages + 50% of Dec 2019 wages	+ 25% of Oct 2019 wages + 25% of Nov 2019 wages + 25% of Dec 2019 wages
Apr 2020	Top-up as advance for Apr 2020 wages		+ 25% of Oct 2019 wages	+ 50% of Oct 2019 wages
May 2020	Advance for May 2020 wages	+ 75% of Nov 2019 wages	+ 75% of Nov 2019 wages	+ 75% of Nov 2019 wage
Jul 2020	Payout 2	+ 75% of Feb 2020 wages + 75% of Mar 2020 wages + 75% of Apr 2020 wages	+ 50% of Feb 2020 wages + 50% of Mar 2020 wages + 75% of Apr 2020 wages	+ 25% of Feb 2020 wages + 25% of Mar 2020 wages + 75% of Apr 2020 wages
Jul 2020	Adjustment for Apr 2020 advance		– 25% of Oct 2019 wages¹	– 50% of Oct 2019 wages¹
Oct 2020	Payout 3	+ 75% of May 2020 wages + 75% of Jun 2020 wages + 75% of Jul 2020 wages +75% of Aug 2020 wages	+ 75% of May 2020 wages + 50% of Jun 2020 wages + 50% of Jul 2020 wages + 50% of Aug 2020 wages	+ 75% of May 2020 wages + 25% of Jun 2020 wages + 25% of Jul 2020 wages + 25% of Aug 2020 wages
Oct 2020	Adjustment for May 2020 advance	– 75% of Nov 2019 wages²	–75% of Nov 2019 wages²	– 75% of Nov 2019 wages²

Source:https://www.iras.gov.sg/irashome/Schemes/Businesses/Jobs-Support-Scheme--JSS-/

However, do note that if you have reduced your worker’s wages, retrenched your worker or put your worker on no-pay leave during this period, this will affect the amount of wage subsidies you receive.

There is no need to apply for JSS. The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) will notify eligible employers by post of the tier of support and the amount of JSS payout payable to you.

You can also check out the important Government forms that we have collated.

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