<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>$920m in Jobs Credit to be paid end-March
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Goh Chin Lian
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->THE first of four payments under the Jobs Credit scheme goes out at the end of the month to 100,000 employers who have some 1.3 million local workers on their payroll.
This tranche amounts to $920 million.
It will help companies like travel agency Global Travel and its leisure arm Scenic Travel manage staff costs and stave off retrenchments, as ticket sales dropped by a third over the past two months.
Said its chief executive officer Peter Choo: 'Staff payroll is about 75 per cent of our operating cost. Right now we are watching cost in every aspect. With all these cost savings, we should be able to keep our head above water.'
Under the Jobs Credit scheme, the Government gives employers funds for every resident worker on their Central Provident Fund (CPF) payroll - 12 per cent on the first $2,500 of each month's wages for each employee.
Global Travel and Scenic Travel expect to receive $70,000 in the first payment, or roughly 6 per cent of payroll. They employ about 100 workers.
The companies' own measures have included a 3 to 20 per cent pay cut in January. They are also tapping government subsidies to send workers for customer service training.
In a statement yesterday, the Finance Ministry said eligible employers will be notified by March 27 by the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore - the scheme's administrator - about the amount they will receive.
The funds - based on wages they paid from October to December last year - will be credited into their bank accounts or by paid by cheque.
The ministry also extended the deadline for bosses to make CPF contributions for wages paid during that period in order to qualify for the Jobs Credit payment. They have until April 15. These bosses will receive the first and second payments together on June 30. The subsequent payments will be made on Sept 30 and Dec 31.
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Goh Chin Lian
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->THE first of four payments under the Jobs Credit scheme goes out at the end of the month to 100,000 employers who have some 1.3 million local workers on their payroll.
This tranche amounts to $920 million.
It will help companies like travel agency Global Travel and its leisure arm Scenic Travel manage staff costs and stave off retrenchments, as ticket sales dropped by a third over the past two months.
Said its chief executive officer Peter Choo: 'Staff payroll is about 75 per cent of our operating cost. Right now we are watching cost in every aspect. With all these cost savings, we should be able to keep our head above water.'
Under the Jobs Credit scheme, the Government gives employers funds for every resident worker on their Central Provident Fund (CPF) payroll - 12 per cent on the first $2,500 of each month's wages for each employee.
Global Travel and Scenic Travel expect to receive $70,000 in the first payment, or roughly 6 per cent of payroll. They employ about 100 workers.
The companies' own measures have included a 3 to 20 per cent pay cut in January. They are also tapping government subsidies to send workers for customer service training.
In a statement yesterday, the Finance Ministry said eligible employers will be notified by March 27 by the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore - the scheme's administrator - about the amount they will receive.
The funds - based on wages they paid from October to December last year - will be credited into their bank accounts or by paid by cheque.
The ministry also extended the deadline for bosses to make CPF contributions for wages paid during that period in order to qualify for the Jobs Credit payment. They have until April 15. These bosses will receive the first and second payments together on June 30. The subsequent payments will be made on Sept 30 and Dec 31.
