Employment and Training

NTUC, U Live@Work

Mr Ong Sin Tiong
Tel: 6213 8237
Email: ongst@ntuc.org.sg

Ms Anna Koh
Tel: 6213 8252
Email: kohsm@ntuc.org.sg

NTUC, Women’s Development Secretariat (WDS)

Ms Tan Woon Woon
Tel: 6213  8418
Email: woonwoon@ntuc.org.sg

SNEF

Mr Lee Yew Cheong (Workplace Diversity Management)
Tel: 6827 6939
Email: yclee@snef.org.sg

Ms Qorrine Lee (Workplace Diversity Management)
Tel: 6827 6902
Email: qorrine_lee@snef.org.sg

For Employers

Workplace Improvement and Job-Redesign

Age Management Grant

$20,000 per company

This grant helps employers acquire the necessary skills and knowledge on age management practices such as good re-employment practices, performance management and job redesign etc, and encourages employers to take the first step towards implementing these practices.

The Age Management Grant will be disbursed in two tranches:

• 1st tranche of $5,000 will be paid upon fulfilling the following criteria:

1. Submit the following:
   1. Details of company re-employment policy that has been aligned to Tripartite Guidelines, and proof that the policy has been communicated to all staff
   2. i.         Name list of all employees aged 40 and above
2. Offer eligible employees re-employment in line with Tripartite Guidelines.
3. At least one supervisory staff of company to attend a one-day job redesign and process improvement course.
4. HR staff of company to attend a one-day age management course which will cover the following 7 areas of good age management: Fair Employment; Re-employment; Performance Management; Managing a Multi-generational Workforce; Job Re-design; Flexible Work Arrangements and Worker Well-being.

•     2nd tranche of $15,000 will be paid upon fulfilling the following criteria

1. Sign the TAFEP fair employment practices pledge;
2. Organise at least one health programme for mature employees[1];
3. Adopt any two age management practices from Appendix 1. The two practices must be from different categories.

The grants will be disbursed upon submission of documentary evidence that the activities have been conducted to NTUC /SNEF.

Job Redesign Grant

Max. $300,000 per company

The Job Redesign Grant supports the costs of redesigning jobs to help employers recruit and retain mature workers, economically inactive persons, and those  who have been out of work for three months or more.

Supportable items

The Job Redesign Grant can be used to cover the following expenses:

1. Equipment for automation
2. Consultancy costs  for the following enterprise productivity programmes: CPIM, QIANG, OMNI, CPP and Silver Productivity (See Appendix 2 for more information on these programmes)
3. Costs involved in procurement and implementation of mature/older worker-centric HR policies and systems
4. Course fees for Singapore Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) courses, and course fees and absentee payroll for non-WSQ courses, capped at S$1,000 for each newly employed worker
5. Recruitment advertising cost, capped at $10,000[2]

Employers can claim for expenses for items under (d) and (e) only if they have embarked on a job-redesign project.

Sub-caps

There is a sub-cap of $150,000 for Job Redesign projects targeted at benefitting mature workers, and a sub-cap of $150,000 for Job Redesign projects targeted at benefitting economically inactive persons and those who have been out of work for three months or more.

Grant computation

For Job Redesign projects targeted at benefitting mature workers:

1. Maximum claimable amount per project = No. of workers aged 40 and over who benefitted from the job redesign[3] X $3,000, OR 80% of declared project cost, whichever is lower.

For Job Redesign projects targeted at benefitting economically inactive persons and those who have been out of work for three months or more

1. Maximum claimable amount per project = No. of  newly hired workers who have not been working for three months or more, or are economically inactive[4] X $3,000 , OR 80% of declared project cost, whichever is lower.

The grants will be disbursed upon submission of receipts and other supporting documents to NTUC /SNEF.

Work-Life Grant

Max $160,000 per company

The Work-Life Grant provides funding support for the implementation of work-life strategies, particularly flexible work arrangements (FWAs), to help employers attract and retain workers and to better support work-life harmony. The Work-Life Grant consists of 2 components, a Developmental Grant and a FWA Incentive. 

Developmental Grant:

1. A one-time grant of up to $40,000 to defray the developmental costs of implementing work-life strategies, particularly FWAs
2. It co-funds up to 80% for items such as work-life training, work-life consultancy, Personal Work-Life Effectiveness (PWLE) programme, and up to 30% for IT infrastructure (capped at $10,000) for FWAs and selected employer support schemes such as lactation facility  (capped at $10,000)
3. The Developmental Grant replaces the previous Work-Life Works! (WoW!) Fund
4. Requirements:

• Appoint a work-life ambassador from senior management to champion a work-life friendly workplace for the employees and to communicate the organisation’s work-life policies to its employees
• Formalise 2 or more new FWAs and communicate policy to employees
• At least 15% of the organisation’s employees, subject to a minimum of 5 employees must benefit from these FWAs by the completion of the project (maximum duration of project is a year)

FWA Incentive:

1. A grant of up to $120,000 per organisation (disbursed in tranches of up to $40,000 each over three years)
2. The grant computation is based on the number of Singaporean employees benefitting from FWAs. Eligible employers can receive $10,000 for the first 5 Singaporeans employees on FWAs and an additional $1,500 for any additional Singaporean employee using FWAs (from the 6^th Singaporean employee onwards).
3. To receive subsequent tranches of payouts, the organisation must demonstrate continuous improvements to work-life harmony at the workplace
4. The incentive should be put towards efforts to nurture and further workplace cultures supportive of better work-life harmony.
5. Requirements:

• Appoint a work-life ambassador from senior management to champion a work-life friendly workplace for the employees and to communicate the organisation’s work-life policies to its employees
• Have formalised 2 or more FWAs and communicated it to employees
• At least 30% of the organisation’s employees must be utilizing these FWAs on a regular basis throughout each one year period, and half of them must be Singaporean employees, subject to a minimum of 5 Singaporean employees
• No more than 6 in 10 employees counting towards the 30% utilisation requirement can be on the same FWA type

For both components, the FWAs recognised under the Work-Life Grant are flexi-time, flexi-place and/or part-time (other FWAs may be considered on a case-by-case basis). Employees must be working on a regular basis (i.e. not ad-hoc or casual employees).

Organisations may tap on either or both components of the Work-Life Grant. Employers who have previously benefited from the WoW! Fund can receive up to $20,000, provided that they have met all the qualifying criteria and put in place work-life strategies that have not already been implemented or covered in their previous work-life projects funded by the WoW! Fund. 

Recruitment and Retention Incentives

New Hire Retention Incentive (NHRI)

Max $50,000 per company

The New Hire Retention Incentive (NHRI) is aimed at encouraging employers to implement measures to better retain newly-hired workers. It is an added incentive for employers who have tapped on either the Age Management Grant, the Work-Life Grant or the Job-Redesign Grant.

• The NHRI is applicable to the following group of workers:
  • Workers above 30 years of age who have been economically inactive or were out of work for the past three months or more, or
  • Newly hired mature workers aged 40 and over
• The NHRI is only applicable to those who earn a gross monthly wage of up to $4,500 and are hired through the WorkPro employment facilitation touch-points (NTUC, e2i, SNEF, WDA Career Centres and Caliberlink).

1. To be eligible for the NHRI, employers must first tap on the Age Management Grant, Job Re-design Grant or Work-Life Grant.
2. For workers above 30 years of age who have been economically inactive or were out of work for the past three months or more, employers must also assign a mentor to the newly hired worker, send the mentor for a WSQ mentor training programme and award the mentor a mentorship allowance of at least $100[5].
3. Employers will receive a NHRI equivalent to 50% of one-month’s salary, for each new worker hired on permanent or contract positions and retained for at least 6 months. For those retained for 12 months, employers will receive an additional NHRI equivalent to 50% of one-month’s salary.
4. The total amount that an employer can receive per worker is one-month’s salary, capped at $2,000.

• Disbursements will be made at the 6^th and 12^th month mark from the date of signing the Letter of Offer with SNEF or NTUC, or later, depending on whether the claim eligibility terms have been met.

On-the-Job (OJT) Training Allowance

Max $50,000 per company

The OJT Training Allowance is aimed at encouraging employers to conduct OJT for newly hired workers who have been economically inactive or out of work for the past three months or more.

1. Employers will receive an OJT allowance equivalent to 50% of monthly salary for the first two months, capped at $2,000, for each new worker hired and retained on permanent and contract positions for at least 6 months, and placed on a structured OJT programme for at least 2 months.
2. Disbursements will be made 6 months from the date of signing the Letter of Offer with SNEF or NTUC, or later, depending on whether the claim eligibility terms have been met.

For Workers

Assistance for jobseekers

Job Preparation Support

To help prepare individuals to return to work and improve the success rate of their job search efforts, economically inactive persons or those who have  been out of work for the past three months or morewill be entitled to free Job Preparation Workshops.

Through these workshops, individuals will learn the following:

1. Interview techniques, resume preparation, and personal grooming to enhance their job search efforts.
2. Communication skills and teamwork
3. Employment rights and benefits as workers, such as relevant sections of the Employment CPF Acts and WIS. 
4. Information on jobs that are high in demand and other useful facts to aid job-search

Interested individuals can approach SNEF or NTUC to find out more about these workshops and register.

Incentives for recruited workers

Retention Bonus

Max $1,200 per worker

Economically inactive persons and those who been out of work for three months or more who earn a salary of up to $4,500 will receive a Retention Bonus through their employers when they are hired by employers onboard WorkPro. This serves to incentivise these individuals to stay on the job.

The payment of the retention bonuses will be staggered as follows:

1. 1^st tranche of $300 paid at the end of the 3^rd month of employment
2. 2^nd tranche of $300 paid at the end of the 6^th month of employment
3. 3^rd tranche of $600 paid at the end of the 12^th month of employment

Transport Allowance

Max $200 per worker