400,000 Singaporeans to receive first payout of Workfare Special Payment from Jul 28

SINGAPORE: A total of 400,000 lower-income Singaporeans will receive their first Workfare Special Payment payout from Jul 28, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said in a press release on Friday (Jul 24).

The special payment was announced by Minister for Finance Heng Swee Keat under the Care and Support Package in the Resilience Budget on Mar 26, as a step to provide greater assurance and support to Singaporeans who need more help during the uncertain COVID-19 period.

It provides a cash payout of S$3,000 for each eligible recipient, disbursed over two payments in July and October. In all, S$1.2 billion will be given to recipients under the special payment initiative.

Eligible workers with Government-registered bank accounts will have the first S$1,500 payout directly credited into their bank accounts on Jul 28, while the rest will receive the payout by cheques mailed to their residential address by Aug 15.

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Recipients who have not provided their bank account details are encouraged to do so to receive their future payments sooner, said MOF.

Eligible workers who have registered their mobile numbers with SingPass will receive details via SMS on Jul 24, or by letters the following week.

Authentic SMSes will be sent by "SG-Workfare", and recipients will not be asked to respond or provide any information.

In October, a second Workfare Special Payment of S$1,500 will be given, with eligible recipients receiving SMS notifications on Oct 26 or letters by the same week.

October's payout will be credited directly to bank accounts on Oct 28, or by cheques mailed out to residential addresses by Nov 15.

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The Workfare Special Payment will be given to those who are eligible for the Workfare Income Supplement - which targets the bottom 20 per cent of the workforce - before Mar 31, 2021, for their work done in 2019.

Those who qualify for the Workfare Income Supplement for the 2019 work year after July 2020, but before Mar 31, 2021, will receive the Workfare Special Payment in the month that they become eligible for the Workfare Income Supplement.

For example, a citizen who qualifies for and receives the 2019 work year Workfare Income Supplement in December 2020, will also receive the full Workfare Special Payment of S$3,000 that month.

More information on the Workfare Special Payment is available at https://go.gov.sg/csp2020.