Workfare Skills Support (WSS) Scheme
From 1 July 2020, the Workfare Skills Support (WSS) Scheme will replace the Workfare Training Support (WTS) Scheme. There will be no course fee subsidies for WSS.
To qualify for the scheme, individuals must fulfil the following criteria:
- Singapore citizen
- Aged 35 years old or above on 31 December of the work year
- For Persons with Disabilities, the age criterion is 13 years old or above
- Employed and earning a gross monthly income1 of not more than $2,300 for the month worked2 ; and
- Fulfils the WIS eligibility criteria of housing annual value (AV), property ownership and spousal income. The WIS criteria of housing AV, property ownership and spousal income are as follows:
- Owns less than two properties
- If the individual is married:
- The individual and his/her spouse own less than two properties together; or
- The assessable income of the individual’s spouse for the preceding Year of Assessment is $70,000 or less.
- If the individual is a Self-Employed Person, s/he must have also declared his/her net trade income for work done in the Work Year and made Medisave contributions.
1 Gross monthly income includes basic salary and additional wages such as overtime pay and bonus - Lives in a property with an annual value of $13,0003 or less assessed as at 31 December of the preceding year
2 In addition, you must earn an average gross monthly income of not more than $2,300 in the past 12 months.
3 Annual value is the estimated gross annual rent of the property if it were to be rented out, excluding furniture, furnishings and maintenance fees. It is determined based on estimated market rentals of similar or comparable properties.
Components under WSS Scheme:
1) Absentee Payroll (AP) and Training Allowance (TA)
- For employer-sponsored trainees:
- Employers will be eligible for AP support at 95% of the hourly basic salary.
- Only certifiable courses listed on the MySkillsFuture portal will qualify for AP.
- For employers to be eligible for AP, their sponsored trainees must pass their course with an attendance rate of at least 75%.
- For self-sponsored trainees (i.e. paying for their own training):
- Trainees will receive TA of $6 per training hour.
- The TA applies only to selected courses under the cleaning, security, landscape and lifts sectors. Please visit WSG’s website for more details.
- To qualify for TA, individuals must pass their course with a minimum attendance rate of 75%.
- Trainees under the WSS Scheme may claim up to 180 hours of TA during their WSS eligibility period.
2) Training Commitment Award (TCA)
TCA is a cash award given to eligible workers after achieving the required certifications. No application is required by the trainees.
For more information about the WSS Scheme, please visit WSG website or call 1800 536 8333.
