Foreign cleaners' pay: Tripartite cluster replies

The Tripartite Cluster for Cleaners (TCC) recognises that employers, when hiring foreign workers, have to bear other manpower-related costs such as the foreign worker levy and accommodation costs ("Consider raising pay of foreign cleaners, too" by Transient Workers Count Too; Dec 16).

For this reason, the TCC has recommended that the specific wage levels of the Progressive Wage Model apply only to resident cleaners.

However, the TCC recommendations state that employers should also endeavour to incorporate the key principles of progressive wages, such as salary progression, skills upgrading, productivity improvements and career advancement, into the wage structure of their foreign cleaners.

Very importantly, we urge the industry to practise best sourcing to ensure that our cleaners are paid fairly based on quality of service.

Zainal Sapari
Chairman
Tripartite Cluster for Cleaners

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on December 17, 2016, with the headline Foreign cleaners' pay: Tripartite cluster replies. Subscribe