FairPrice Group starts Progressive Wage Model ahead of schedule, raises wages of non-executive staff

SINGAPORE - FairPrice Group announced on Thursday that it has started to implement the

Progressive Wage Model (PWM)

for its employees, ahead of the stipulated government schedule of March 1.

About eight in 10 of its over 10,000 non-executive employees have received wage adjustments of up to 7 per cent in 2023.

The initiative is expected to cost the group approximately $90 million, before government subsidies, over a span of three years.

Non-executive employees from its food service business received wage increments last September and in January.

The group also implemented the second phase of the retail PWM in January 2023 for all non-executive employees. It rolled out the first phase last September.

Under the PWM for the food service sector, lower-wage food service workers such as waiters and cooks will benefit from sustained baseline wage increases of up to 19 per cent from 2023 to 2025.

Across the group, non-executive employees, including those in supply chain and office administration, who currently do not fall under PWM schemes were also given wage increases from last September. 

FairPrice Group comprises four social enterprises – FairPrice, NTUC Foodfare, Kopitiam and NTUC Link.

A beneficiary of the PWM food service initiative is Mr Low Yuke Phin, 65, who works at the drinks stall at Kopitiam @ Tiong Bahru Plaza. He said: “Being able to stay active with work keeps me going and I am happy to see that my job scope and wages can grow, even at this age. The extra money will allow me to cope with the rising cost of living and save more for a rainy day.”

FairPrice group chief executive Vipul Chawla said: “Our people are at the heart of our business and we aim to help them cope better with the rising cost of living. In fact, we fast-tracked our PWM road map so that our non-executive employees would be better provided for.

“We are also committed to developing an engaged and future-confident employee base so that they will be equipped with the necessary skills to adapt to the fast-changing, omnichannel retail landscape and deliver the best experience for our customers.”  

The PWM was introduced in Singapore in 2012, helping to lift the wages of workers in five different industries, such as those in the cleaning, security and landscape sectors.

The food service industry is the sixth sector where the model is being rolled out.