Dear readers, we have come to November, a month where the government will typically announce news of the Civil Service Year End bonus (2020 Year End Civil Service Bonus for this year) including the 13th month bonus.
I look forward to the 2020 Civil Service bonus announcement since I always believe that the private sector here will take some reference from the quantum of bonuses paid to civil servants in order to determine how much bonus to pay to their staff as well.
Remember, we are in a Covid-19 year and there are no mid-year bonus at all for Civil Servants this year (though I have thought that there would be). Hence I believe the Year End 2020 Civil Service bonus will be similarly reduced as well. I do not discount that there will be zero year end bonus or 13th month bonus at all for civil servants this year but I think there will still be some year end bonus (including 13th month bonus) for civil servants for three reasons.
One, there is no mid-year bonus for civil servants this year. Hence, I believe the government may just give some Year-end bonus to civil servants as a token of recognition to recognise the work of civil servants this year, especially for those serving on the front line against Covid-19.
Second, the government may give some year-end bonus to civil servants to signify the confidence of Singapore’s economy for the year ahead.
Third, the government may want to give some year-end bonus to civil servants to encourage the private sector to do so, in a year where a number of people have lost their jobs or have their salaries reduced.
I would think the Year-end bonus that could be given will be of the following format:
0.50 (half) of the 13th month bonus (with no other year-end bonus)
Let us see whether my forecast of the 2020 Year end Civil Service bonus is correct. Thereafter, I think the private sector may take into consideration of what the Civil Service bonus is like in determining how much year-end bonus to give to their employees.