SINGAPORE – Bosses generally support pay rises for lower-wage workers, but a lack of suitable courses to upskill employees and uncertainty around how to calculate increases for staff working odd hours are hampering efforts.

These concerns and others were raised at a dialogue on Wednesday between Senior Minister of State for Manpower Zaqy Mohamad and around 100 executives and human resource managers, mainly from the food and beverage (F&B), hospitality and retail sectors.

The session comes after the National Wages Council released guidelines on Monday, urging firms that have done well and have good prospects to reward employees with built-in wage increases and variable payments in line with staff contributions.

The guidelines said that lower-wage workers at these companies should receive a rise at the upper band of 5.5 per cent to 7.5 per cent of their gross monthly wage, or at least $80 to $100, whichever is higher. Firms that have done well but face uncertain business prospects may moderate built-in wage increases but should still reward staff with variable payments, added the council.

Mr Zaqy said on Wednesday that wage increases are unlikely to “break the bank” for companies where lower-wage workers make up a small percentage of the workforce.

“Where I think firms will have challenges is when you’re an outsourced company like a security or cleaning company where everyone is a lower-wage worker.

“Those will feel the costs, and they are the ones we’re watching out for quite closely,” Mr Zaqy told the event, which was held at Furama City Centre hotel and moderated by Singapore National Employers Federation vice-president Tan Hee Teck. 

Wage increases will improve the lives of lower-wage workers but companies also need to set expectations, he added, noting: “It’s not just about a free wage rise just for them.

“I think it’s useful to see how we can also maximise their talents and skills... (and) upskill and train them, and see whether there are other roles they can take on to be more productive.”

One employer at the dialogue said her company struggles to compute wage increases for outsourced service providers such as security guards who work shifts, compared with in-house staff on regular hours. Another said that retailers lack software to calculate and factor in overtime pay.

An F&B sector executive said some part-time staff, such as women who have returned to work after having children, would benefit more from larger salary increases than others like students trying to earn spare cash.

Employers were speaking under Chatham House rules, meaning individuals could not be quoted.

The unions, employers and the Government are in discussions on how to address some of these issues – for example, by looking at whether temporary workers should be paid progressive wages.

The progressive wage model, which aims to lift lower-wage workers’ wages, covers those in cleaning, security, landscape, lift and escalator, and retail job roles.

It will be expanded in March to include food services, and drivers and administrators regardless of which sector they work in. It will be rolled out to the waste management sector in July.

An executive from the retail sector said that most skills and training courses are in English and more could be run in Mandarin, especially for supermarket and convenience store workers.

Another said that many training courses are too general, adding: “For us to be able to upskill our employees, I think it’d be much more effective if (the courses) are sectoral or industry-specific.”

Mr Zaqy said the tripartite partners will look at which areas can be beefed up, but he also stressed that companies must focus on taking the initiative to digitalise their businesses.

Some sectors like security have found it easier to do so due to the availability of new technologies, but more can be done to transform sectors like food services and retail and help workers acquire new skills.

“Workers have to upgrade themselves and be more productive. They can then also match up to others not just in terms of salary, but also dignity and self-worth, and contribute to the company,” he said.