WORKERS at DP Information Group, which provides credit and business information, will receive between $200 and $300 from next month to help them cope with inflation.
Its 120 staff will receive the aid in the form of vouchers, such as those from FairPrice, said its managing director, MsChen Yew Nah.
'It's a gesture to ease the short-term pain of inflation,' she added yesterday.
DP Information is among 36 non-unionised companies that are heeding the National Wages Council's (NWC) call last month to give workers a one-off payment to cope with inflation.
Some 38,000 workers employed by the companies will receive the payment - ranging from $100 to $500 per worker. Most of the firms are giving out cash, with some offering food or retail vouchers.
The companies' decision was disclosed by the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) yesterday, when it released the preliminary findings of a survey to find out how many companies are heeding the NWC call.
The SNEF survey had responses from 178 companies, with four in 10 saying they will give the one-off payment.
This works out to 72 companies. However, half - or 36 - are non-unionised.
Companies giving out the payment include Far East Organisation and the Wing Tai group of companies.
SNEF executive director Koh Juan Kiat described the response from the companies as 'positive'.
Some companies, however, are taking a different approach to help their workers.
Of the 178 companies in the SNEF survey, three in 10 said they are giving their workers slightly higher pay rises instead of the one-off payment.
Another two in 10 had yet to decide on the one-off payment, while one in 10 said they cannot afford to do it.
This article was first published in The Straits Times on 28 June 2008.
