Most civil servants to get yearly $500 'well-being' benefit

Medical and dental subsidies will also be raised for all public officers from Jan

- Wong Pei Ting

From October 2024, eligible civil servants will receive $500 every year that they can use to support their health, well-being and individual growth.

On top of this annual benefit called FlexiGrow, the Public Service Division (PSD) will also raise medical and dental benefits for all public officers starting from Jan 1, 2025.

Public officers’ medical subsidies at private clinics will go up from $20 to up to $50 per visit, while dental subsidies will rise from $120 to up to $250 per year.

Announcing the news on July 10 to applause from the audience at the opening of the Public Service Week at ITE College Central, Minister-in-charge of the Public Service Chan Chun Sing said that operating in an environment of constant change can be unsettling, even exhausting, for public officers.

“We have a saying in MOE (the Ministry of Education) and in the public service: All of you pour your hearts out to serve, but you cannot keep pouring your hearts out to serve if you are not growing, if you are not being taken care of,” said Mr Chan, who is also Education Minister.

“We need to take care of ourselves. We need to take care of each other in this long journey, and this is what our public service is committed to.”

The public service comprises 152,000 public officers working in 16 ministries and more than 50 statutory boards. The civil service is part of the public service. It has about 86,000 officers working in government ministries.

FlexiGrow is intended to empower civil service officers to take charge of their longer-term well-being and growth, based on their diverse needs, while medical and dental benefits have been stepped up to better support public officers’ health, Mr Chan said.

In a statement, the PSD said officers can use their FlexiGrow benefit flexibly, based on their own needs, such as courses for personal development and fitness programmes.