Employers affected by Singapore's Phase Two (HA) to get fresh support package, including JSS, 22 July onwards: MOF

For employers, they will receive either 60% or 40% JSS support, depending on the extent to which they were affected, rental relief, and more. For workers, they are entitled to COVID-19 Recovery Grant-Temporary (CRG-T).

To help workers and businesses cope with the latest restrictions from Phase Two (HA), Singapore’s Ministry of Finance (MOF) is providing a fresh S$1.1bn support package that will last until 31 August 2021.

This package mainly includes the following:

• Enhanced Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) for affected sectors;
• Rental relief for commercial properties;
• COVID-19 Recovery Grant-Temporary (CRG-T), and
• Market and hawker centre relief fund

“In putting together this support package, the government has taken into account the feedback from workers and businesses, and engaged business and trade association leaders to understand their concerns,” shared the Ministry.

Scroll below to find the specific details about each initiative.

#1 Enhanced Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) for affected sectors

Sectors affected by Phase Two (HA) will receive two more rounds of JSS pay-outs.

From 22 July to 18 August 2021, the following sectors (which MOF labelled as closed sectors or sectors with tightened safe management measures) will receive 60% of JSS support:

• Food and beverage (F&B);
• Gyms and fitness studios; and
• Performing arts and arts education

Within the same period, another group of sectors (which MOF labelled as significantly affected sectors) will receive 40%. They are:

• Retail;
• Cinemas;
• Museums (such as art galleries and historical sites);
• Family entertainment;
• Personal care services; and
• Tourism

From 19 August to 31 August 2021, all aforementioned sectors will receive 10%.

#2 Additional rental relief for commercial properties

Next, with regard to rental relief, MOF said, the government will provide:

• An additional four-week rental waiver for qualifying tenants on government-owned commercial properties.
• An additional two-week rental relief cash payout for qualifying tenant-occupiers and owner-occupiers of privately-owned commercial properties under the Rental Support Scheme (RSS).

“Small and medium enterprises and eligible non-profit organisations with an annual revenue not exceeding S$100mn, who are tenant-occupiers or owner-occupiers of qualifying commercial properties, will be eligible for rental relief,” the Ministry shared.

MOF said that more details on RSS will be made available on the Inland Revenue Authority Singapore’s (IRAS) website in due course.

#3 Extended COVID-19 Recovery Grant-Temporary (CRG-T) for affected workers

The government has also extended the CRG-T until 31 August 2021, according to MOF. Likewise, the CRG-T will provide a payout:

• Of up to S$700 for those who were placed on involuntary no-pay leave, and
• Of up to S$500 for those who lost at least 50% of their income for at least one month due to tightened safe management measures (since 16 May 2021).

“Existing CRG-T recipients who continue to require assistance can apply for a second CRG-T support payout,” the Ministry of Finance shared.

#4 New market and hawker centre relief fund

Additionally, the Ministry shared that the government will support hawkers and market stallholders whose livelihoods have been adversely affected by both Phase Two and Three (HA).

To do so, the government will introduce a new Market and Hawker Centre Relief Fund. Through this initiative,

• All individual stallholders of cooked food and market stalls in centres managed by the National Environment Agency (NEA) or NEA-appointed operators will receive a one-off cash assistance of S$500 per stallholder.

This is an additional support after the previously announced additional one month of subsidies for fees for table-cleaning and centralised dishwashing services, and one month of rental waivers for stallholders in hawker centres and markets managed by NEA or NEA-appointed operators.

Other initiatives include:

Food delivery booster package

Another initiative announced to support the F&B sector is Enterprise Singapore (ESG)’s food delivery booster package to “defray part of food delivery costs via food delivery platforms and third-party logistics partners for transactions made”

Through this package, ESG will:

• Fund five percentage points of the commission cost charged; and
• Fund 20% of the delivery costs for food delivery orders through third-party logistics partners.

This package will last from 22 July to 18 August 2021, according to MOF.

E-commerce booster package

In a similar vein, ESG will also provide grant support for local retailers to have their businesses in local e-commerce platforms (such as Lazada, Mummy’s Market, Qoo10, Shopee, and Zalora) through the E-commerce booster package.

Through this package, retailers will receive:

• A one-time 80% support on qualifying costs for the service fees charged by the platforms, capped at S$8,000.

The E-commerce booster package will last until 16 November 2021.

COVID-19 driver relief fund (CDRF) for taxi and private hire car drivers

Further, the government has extended the CDRF from 22 July to end-September 2021. Under this latest enhancement, eligible drivers will receive:

• An additional S$10 per vehicle per day from 22 July to 31 August 2021;
• An additional S$5 per vehicle per day in September 2021.

The MOF noted that the entire support package will be “funded by reallocation arising from one-off underutilisation due to COVID-19, and fiscal resources set aside earlier in the event of extension of support measures.”

Related news: Singapore reverts to Phase 2 (HA) effective 22 July 2021: Everything to note

Image / Ministry of Finance’s Facebook

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