National Service (NS) in Singapore is a policy which makes service in the Army or uniformed services compulsory for all male Singaporean citizens and second-generation permanent residents. The period of active service is approximately 2 years full-time, after which they will remain an Operationally Ready National Serviceman (ORNS) and transition into a 10-year training cycle. During this time, they may be called up to participate in up to 40 days of ORNS activities annually.
What is NS Pay?
Service Pay
Service Pay is an allowance paid to full-time NS, and dependent on their rank and vocation. When participating in ORSM activities, teh pay will be pro-rated based on the duration of participation.
Make-Up Pay
Make-Up Pay is the difference between civilian income loss and Service Pay, for the duration of a serviceman’s ORNS activity. If the civilian income loss is lower than the service pay for each ORNS, no make-up pay will be payable.
NS Make-up Pay Claims
A make-up pay claim should be done at least 14 days before ORNS activity begins and the deadline is limited within 3 months from the payment of your employee's NSmen service pay. Any late submission after 3 months will not be accepted. However, if the supporting document is needed and it was not available at the point of submission, they can submit it later.
There are 2 ways of claiming for NS make-up pay:
Registered with DIRECT scheme
In the DIRECT scheme, employers will continue to pay the employee salary in full while submitting the NS make-up claim for their employee. Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) will reimburse the employer directly. In this way, no adjustment of salary is required.
- Employer submits a Make-Up pay claim with MINDEF through corp pass at least 14 days before your employee’s ORNS activity date. The make-up pay claim form is required. Required documents for submission.
- Employer continues to pay the employee his full salary.
- MINDEF will credit both the Service Pay and/or Make-Up pay to the employer.
If you fail to meet the 14 day deadline, still proceed with submission. Late submission is allowed according to the NS Call Centre, however, the Make-Up pay claim will be regarded as “Not Registered with the DIRECT scheme”.
Not registered with the DIRECT scheme
Under the Not-DIRECT scheme, the employer or employee will submit a NS make-up claim for the employee and deduct from their salary. MINDEF will reimburse the employee directly. In this way, salary adjustment is required.
- Employer submits a Make-Up pay claim with MINDEF through corp pass at least 14 days before your employee’s ORNS activity date. The make-up pay claim form is required.
- Required documents for submission.
- The employer continues to pay the employee but deducts the claimed amount.
- MINDEF will credit both Service Pay and/or Make-Up pay to the employee.
Swingvy payroll software supports the management and deductions of NS Pay. Find out more about the payroll platform and speak to our team for more information: https://www.swingvy.com/sg/products/payroll
