You will probably notice a trend in Singapore, where the participation rate of senior workers above 65 years old in the workforce has been increasing every year. While not all senior workers are postponing their retirement or re-entering the workforce after retirement to support themselves, many are looking at earning extra income during their free time.
Due to the common misconception that senior workers are considered a liability to the company, many senior workers find it harder to secure employment or often find themselves as subjects of company retrenchment. With that, the Singapore government is looking at providing additional incentives to increase their employability and encourage the retention of the senior workers so that they are able to continue working if they wish to.
*Infographic from https://e2i.com.sg/businesses/senior-worker-early-adopter-grant-and-part-time-re-employment-grant/
There are currently two types of grants are available for companies to tap on - Senior Worker Early Adopter Grant (SWEAG) and Part-time Re-employment Grant (PTRG). Both grants provide funding support of up to $125,000 (maximum 50 senior workers) for employers to increase their retirement and re-employment ages ahead of the legislative schedule. The funding quantum is based on the number of resident senior workers at $2,500 per resident senior worker.
To qualify for the grant, companies must be willing to adopt the Tripartite Standard on Age-Friendly Workplace Practices (TS-AWP). For PTRG, companies will also need to commit to a part-time re-employment policy for its eligible senior workers.
Companies may apply for both grants. However, the employer is only allowed to apply once for each senior worker.
*Do note that only companies with at least 1 senior worker aged 60 years and above will be eligible for the grant.
Before claiming for the funding support, employers must ensure that they have adopted/adjusted their current employment policy to TS-AWP requirements. The new policy will also need to communicate to all employees and individually addressed to the senior workers.
Do you find the claims process lengthy and complicated? Or Perhaps have your application been rejected by the programme partner due to insufficient or wrong documentation? Contact K.Merleone at +65 8010 1470 or email us at info@kmerleone.com now for a free consultation session!
At K.Merleone, we provide specialized grant advisory and have helped clients achieve high approval rates for grant submissions. Chat with us now to find out how we can make your life easier so that you can spend more effort on other aspects of your business that matter.