29 January 2021
1 The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) announced today the creation of new job and training opportunities for persons with disabilities, as part of the workstream under the National Jobs Council. Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli announced the plans after a visit to PARKROYAL COLLECTION Marina Bay, managed by the Pan Pacific Hotels Group (PPHG). PPHG employs more than 25 persons with disabilities in Singapore, in various roles from housekeeping to administrative work, across PPHG’s hotels, serviced suites and corporate office.
2 The new opportunities fall under three types of programmes and will complement existing efforts under the Open Door Programme (ODP) (For details on the ODP, visit bit.ly/SGEemployergrants) to provide employment and training opportunities for persons with disabilities. In total, MSF and SG Enable aim to create 1,200 employment, traineeships and skills upgrading opportunities for persons with disabilities in 2021. The programmes, which will support 150 opportunities for a start, are
a. Place-and-Train (PnT) programmes, where persons with disabilities will be placed with employers and trained for new full-time or contract roles. Employers on the PnT will receive 90% of salary support1 from the Government for the placements of these persons with disabilities. In addition, employers offering PnT can tap on the ODP Job Redesign Grant (JRG) to defray the cost of making workplace accommodations for persons with disabilities, such as through equipment purchase, workplace modifications and job redesign.
b. Attach-and-Train (AnT) programmes, where persons with disabilities will receive on-the-job and structured training by host companies, in temporary attachments and/or traineeships. Persons with disabilities on AnT will receive an allowance benchmarked at 80% of the salary for similar roles. The government will support 70% and the host company the remaining 10% of the allowance. In addition, host companies offering AnT can tap on the ODP JRG to defray the cost of making workplace accommodations for persons with disabilities, such as through equipment purchases, workplace modifications and job redesign.
c. Skills Development Programmes (SDP), where persons with disabilities can attend customised training courses to upskill themselves. Persons with disabilities who attend SDPs will be given a monthly allowance of up to $640 for the duration of the training.
3 Persons with disabilities who participate in any of these programmes will benefit from a 90% course fee subsidy for courses that they attend, i.e. they need only pay 10% of the usual course fees. The programmes will provide between six and 12 months of support, depending on the length of individual programmes.
4 Through these efforts, MSF and SG Enable seek to enhance access to training, employment and other related opportunities for persons with disabilities amid the continued impact of COVID-19 on Singaporeans, as well as to lower the costs for employers, host companies and training providers in offering these new programmes to persons with disabilities.
5 SG Enable will engage and encourage employers, host companies and training providers to offer the new programmes. Interested partners and persons with disabilities are invited to find out more at bit.ly/SGEemployergrants and register their interest with SG Enable.
1Wage support across the PnT, Jobs Growth Incentive (JGI) and Enabling Employment Credit (EEC) will be capped at 95%.
ISSUED BY
MINISTRY OF SOCIAL AND FAMILY DEVELOPMENT