SINGAPORE — More than 140,000 employers will be receiving over S$4 billion in wage payouts under the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) from May 28, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat said in a Facebook post on Sunday (May 17).

The subsidies will cover 75 per cent of the first S$4,600 of each local employee’s salary in May.

Some shareholder-directors will also qualify, said Mr Heng, reiterating an earlier announcement.

First unveiled in February's Budget by Mr Heng, who is also the Finance Minister, the JSS is a wage subsidy programme to help companies retain and pay their workers amid the Covid-19 crisis.

In April, the payouts given to 140,000 employers funded more than 1.9 million local employees’ wages, and had originally totalled more than S$7 billion.

But 32 companies have returned JSS payouts amounting to a total of S$35 million as of May 9, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said last week.

The ministry added that these companies have also pledged to decline future JSS payouts from the Government, and that the S$35 million, which was the companies' payout for April, would be used for future disbursements.

In an earlier Facebook post, Mr Heng said that those companies which have returned the first tranche of payouts and refused future payments include multinational corporations, financial institutions and local enterprises across different sectors.

“Some companies are doing well, and have returned the funds — thank you! I hope the rest which are also doing well will do likewise,” Mr Heng said on Sunday.

He added that the scheme, which the Government has committed more than S$20 billion to, is “very significant” for companies in Singapore

“I urge companies to use the JSS wage subsidies to retain their workers during this difficult period.”

In a joint press release, the MOF and Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore said employers need not apply for the scheme, as the cash grant will be automatically computed based on employees’ CPF contribution as at Feb 14.

However, the agencies encourage employers to sign up for PayNow Corporate by May 22 to receive the payment faster — by May 28. Otherwise, they will receive their cheques between June 3 and 5.