159,000 local lower-wage workers to earn at least $1.4k

From Thursday, firms that employ foreign workers must pay all full-time local workers at least the local qualifying salary of $1,400 as part of continual efforts to raise the wages of lower-wage workers.

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said in a statement on Wednesday that the move will benefit about 159,000 workers who are not in Progressive Wage Model (PWM) sectors. The PWM sets out the minimum pay and training requirements for workers at different levels of skill, and is now in place for some workers in the cleaning, security and landscape sectors.

Of the 159,000, about 33,000 workers were earning less than the $1,400 local qualifying salary and will start earning at least that amount from Sept 1, bringing them in line with the other workers.

Two other wage changes take effect on Thursday.

First, the PWM will kick in for lower-wage retail workers and will benefit about 19,000 full-time employees. The expansion of the PWM to cover lower-wage retail workers was announced on Aug 15.

Second, the PWM will be extended to about 19,000 in-house workers in the cleaning, security and landscape sectors. Until now, the model had applied only to outsourced workers in these sectors.

All in, about 197,000 full-time lower-wage workers will benefit from the progressive wage initiatives kicking in on Thursday.

The MOM statement said: "The extension of these PWMs to cover in-house workers will mean that workers who undertake the same job roles as outsourced workers - such as those employed in-house by hotels, facility management firms, food services firms and other businesses - must be paid at least the PWM wage corresponding to their respective job roles."

It added that employers are required to assess if their workers are covered by the PWM based on job descriptions on MOM's website.

They should update and submit their workers' PWM job roles, if any, through MOM's Occupational Employment Dataset portal, it said.

And from this month to next February, tripartite partners will focus on educating employers on the progressive wage requirements.

MOM said: "Employers will be given time to adjust and comply."

In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Marine Parade GRC MP Fahmi Aliman said NTUC is exploring with other stakeholders the possibility of expanding the PWM to more industries.

The labour MP said: "When we adopt the PWM, we want to ensure that the wages earned by workers should be commensurate with their skills and productivity levels.

"No particular group of workers should be faced with stagnating wages as experienced by essential services workers in the outsourced sectors."

The Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) said in a statement that it encourages employers to press on with productivity improvements by leveraging technology to rely less on foreign manpower as well as upskilling workers, among other things.

It added that a whole-of-society approach is needed to uplift lower-wage workers. "Therefore, SNEF encourages service buyers and consumers to support businesses that pay progressive wages and show better appreciation for the lower-wage workers," it said.

MOM has said the qualifying salary is reviewed regularly to keep pace with rising local wages and ensure that quota controls remain effective, so that these workers will be "assured that their wages will not fall below $1,400".

A company's work permit and S Pass quota entitlement is calculated based on the number of local employees earning at least the local qualifying salary.