COVID-19: Workers on involuntary no-pay leave for 3 months can get up to $800 p/m over same period
SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) on Thursday (30 April) announced that it will expand eligibility for the monthly COVID-19 Support Grant.
This means two additional groups will benefit from the three-month cash grant – full-time or part-time employees placed on involuntary no-pay leave for at least three consecutive months and those who have had their salary reduced by 30 per cent or more for at least three consecutive months.
These changes in employment or salary should have occurred after 23 January, when the first case of COVID-19 was detected in Singapore, said the ministry in a press release.
Previously, the measures applied only to those who have lost their full-time or part-time jobs due to the COVID-19 situation.
Those who have lost their jobs or are placed on involuntary no-pay leave for at least three consecutive months due to the COVID-19 situation will receive up to $800 per month for three months under the grant.
“Grant recipients who have lost their jobs can also receive employment and training support from Workforce Singapore (WSG) or Employment and Employability Institute (e2i). Those on involuntary no-pay leave will have access to relevant courses subsidised by SkillsFuture Singapore,” said the MSF.
Those who have lost 30 per cent or more of their monthly salaries each month for at least three consecutive months can receive up to $500 per month for three months under the grant.
To effectively process the expanded number of applicants, the ministry said that the COVID-19 Support Grant will be open for applications in two phases; from 4 May for those who lost their jobs or were placed on involuntary no-pay leave and from 11 May for those who had their monthly salaries reduced.
Applications are open for five months until 30 September and should be made online at go.gov.sg/CSG from 4 or 11 May onwards.
At the point of application, applicants should be unemployed, on involuntary no pay-leave, or have monthly salaries reduced by at least 30 per cent.
The processing time will take about two to three weeks upon submission of supporting documents showing their employment situation or their previous and current salaries, according to the MSF’s website.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, Minister for Social and Family Development Desmond Lee said that the decision for the extension stems from the recognition “that Singaporeans may need more support after this month”.
He added that the ministry has received more than 500,000 applications for the Temporary Relief Fund. Applications for the fund, which provides a one-off $500 cash assistance to eligible applicants, will close at the end of Thursday.
Separately, beneficiaries on ComCare Short-to-Medium-Term Assistance or Long-Term Assistance schemes, which are ending by July, will have them extended for a further six months without review.
This means they do not need to submit new documents and signatures for the extension, said the MSF.
Families on ComCare whose circumstances have changed during the COVID-19 situation may approach social service offices for a review of their current assistance, it added.
Those who are newly placed on ComCare will receive at least six months of assistance.
To date, Singapore has 16,169 cases of the virus – majority of whom are foreign workers living in dormitories – and 15 deaths.
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