No more pensions for Singapore’s civil servants

Civil servants in the elite Administrative Service and in judicial and key statutory appointments will no longer receive pensions, according to Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean in Parliament Monday.

Teo’s answer was in response to a question by Tampines GRC MP Mr Baey Yam Keng on the completion of the review of salaries of such civil servants by the Public Service Division. The Administrative Service covers 15 ministries and nine organs of state.

Teo said in Parliament that the pensions will be replaced with a long-term retention package for officers in the Admin Service. This would help keep these officers to ensure the policies they are working on have a sense of continuity.

Teo said that a gratuity plan would be put in place for judicial and statutory appointment holders, including the Attorney-General, Auditor-General and chairman of the Public Service Commission.

In another key announcement, Teo said bonuses will no longer be pegged to economic growth through the Gross Domestic Product. Instead, the GDP bonus will be replaced with the National Bonus, the same bonus used in political leaders’ salaries.

The National Bonus is made up of four indicators: GDP growth, real median income growth rate of Singapore citizens, real income growth for the poorest 20 percent in Singapore, and the unemployment rate. Each part accounts for a quarter of the bonus payout.

However, Teo said that salaries are at a suitable level and will be maintained. He stated that some salary ranges and starting pay amounts will be shifted to ease salary progression.

Formula for pay?

When asked by Moulmein-Kallang GRC MP Denise Phua if there was a formula to determine civil servants’ pay, Teo replied that there is a range of pay brackets that are not fixed and determined instead, by the type of comparables and office positions.

Teo said that the civil service has used the 75th and 90th percentiles before, but stated that these are not indicative of overall pay positioning.

Teo assured the House the civil service uses a similar human resources (HR) policy as seen in the private sector, and said that the public service hires HR consultants in the private sector to determine the civil service’s policies.

In another question by Phua over accountability of civil servants, Teo said that the head of the civil service and the officer of the Public Service Commission will assess civil servants annually based on key performance indicators. The two officers will consult the minister of the employee’s ministry if the need arises.

Teo admitted that performance bonuses are given out to civil servants who have met expectations. While these bonuses are on a range of pay brackets and are not fixed, Teo did not go into specifics of how much a certain civil servant was earning.

“How much and how well an officer has performed determines his salary,” said Teo.