Administered By	Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF)
Key Agency	Ministry of Community Development, Youth & Sports (MCYS)
Supported By	Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA)
Launch Date	May 2007

Aims

• The Open Door Fund (ODF) encourages businesses to hire persons with disabilities by providing subsidies to implement job redesign and workplace modification, or run integration or apprenticeship programmes for persons with disabilities.
  

For who?

• Singapore-registered or Singapore-based companies committed to hiring at least 1 person with disability:
  
  
  • who are Singapore Citizens or Permanent Residents; and
  • on at least 1-year employment contracts or longer
    

• You can use the funds to defray costs that make it easier for your company to hire or employ those with disabilities. Projects that may be funded include:
  
  
  1. Projects to redesign job scope or work processes to make them more suitable for persons with disabilities
     Example: You can use the funds to hire an occupational therapist to redesign a particular job for someone who has suffered a stroke.
     
     
  2. Projects to make workplaces suitable/accessible for persons with disabilities by building modifications/installing equipment
     Example: You can use the funds to build a ramp for wheelchair access or alter workplace height/length for optimal performance.
     
     
  3. Integration programmes for managers and co-workers to interact and work with persons with disabilities
     Example: You can use the funds to send staff to attend sign language courses to facilitate better interaction with employees who are hearing-impaired.
     
     
  4. Apprenticeship programmes to provide job-specific training for person with disabilities
     Example: You can use the funds to implement an apprenticeship training programme for a hearing-impaired apprentice before hiring him full-time.
     

How much?

• Up to 90% for the following costs:
  
  
  • Intellectual Property and Rights (e.g. licensing and royalties for processes etc)
  • salaries of company staff engaged in job redesign and consultancy fees paid to third parties for related job redesign
  • actual cost of leasing (up to 12 months) or purchase of equipment (specifically for persons with disabilities) and physical/building modifications
  • other items, e.g. adjustment programmes to integrate the persons with disabilities into the company
    
    
• Up to 60% of actual apprenticeship allowance paid per person with disability per month for a maximum of 6 months, capped at S$600 per month.
  

Fund Disbursement Schedule

• Funds are disbursed in 3 parts. If you did not run any apprenticeship programme, you will only receive the first and third disbursement.
  
  The maximum amount you can claim for all 3 disbursements is S$100,000.
  
   

  How Much Disbursement	What You Must Do To Get Disbursement
  1st Disbursement
  Up to S$20,000 for workplace modification and job redesign.	1. Submit a copy of Letter of Appointment stating terms of apprenticeship / employment. 2. Submit copies of certificates of staff who have completed the Diversity Management Workshops. 3. Submit all invoices relating to the Job Redesign project.
  2nd Disbursement
  Up to 6 months of apprenticeship allowance. There are 3 payouts at this stage: First payout (first 2 months of apprenticeship allowance) in 4th month of apprenticeship. Second payout (3rd and 4th months of apprenticeship allowance) in 6th month of apprenticeship. Third payout (final 2 months of apprenticeship allowance) after the 2nd month of apprentice’s official employment.	For the first and second payouts: Submit an individual assessment report of the persons with disability in the 2nd and 4th month of apprenticeship. For the third payout: Continue to hire at least 60% of the persons with disability for at least 2 months from the date their apprenticeship ended and official employment commenced.
  3rd Disbursement
  Balance of workplace modification and job redesign costs (up to 90% of actual expenditure).	1. Complete your job redesign project. 2. Continue to hire the same persons with disability for at least 6 months from the date they officially started employment.

• Persons with disabilities are classified under four broad categories of disabilities:
  
  
  1. Sensory disabilities (hearing and visual impairment)
  2. Intellectual disabilities (with an IQ of 70 and below)
  3. Physical disabilities (e.g. amputee, polio), and
  4. Other global developmental delays (e.g. Autism Spectrum Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder).
     

How to apply

• Please contact the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF):
  
  Tel: (65) 6827 6944
  Fax: (65) 6737 7587
  Email: opendoor@snef.org.sg

For more info

Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF)
Tel: (65) 6827 6944
Fax: (65) 6737 7587
Email: opendoor@snef.org.sg