Half-month bonus for civil servants

The Public Service Division just made a press release announcing a half-month bonus for civil servants.

Civil service employees will receive a mid-year Annual Variable Component (AVC) of half a month, and an additional payment of $220 in July 2007.

The AVC, as its name implies, is a variable salary component. It varies according to the economic conditions of Singapore, and is paid out twice every year, once in July and once in December.

The press release said:

"The economy grew by 6.1% in the first quarter of 2007, compared to 6.6% in the last quarter of 2006."

The $220 payment is designed to help low wage workers, as it forms a bigger proportion of their pay (as opposed to it being a smaller proportion for workers with higher pay). This payment "is in line with the call by the National Wages Council for employers to help low
wage workers."

I note that the current mid-year AVC is exactly the same as last year's. In fact, the press releases from both years are identical except for dates and GDP-related values:

This year's press release

Last year's press release

http://www.salary.sg/2007/half-month...ivil-servants/

Eat a third and drink a third and leave the remaining third of your stomach empty. Then, when you get angry, there will be sufficient room for your rage.