Public healthcare workers can cash in leave they're unable to take

Singapore

IN an unprecedented move, the civil service and public healthcare institutions have tweaked this year's approach to unconsumed annual leave.

Parts of the public sector have green-lit a one-off encashment and enhanced rollover of unconsumed leave amid the deadly Covid-19 pandemic.

And, while not all private companies followed suit on encashment, extra carried-over leave appears to be a popular move in the finance industry.

Still, staff costs associated with annual leave might pose a balance-sheet concern, as businesses grapple with the economic fallout of the plague.

In a sign of the times, the civil service has made what a Public Service Division spokesperson called "a one-time concession" to let officers carry forward half of last y…