• Cleaners’ basic wages will increase progressively over six years from 2023 under the Progressive Wage Model
• They will be paid an extra S$1,099 to S$1,305 by July 2028
• The recommendations are aimed at ensuring that wage growth for cleaners is “ambitious enough to close the gap with workers earning median wages”

SINGAPORE — In a leap in efforts to improve the wages of cleaners in future, some 40,000 Singaporeans and permanent residents employed in outsourced cleaning jobs will receive a basic monthly income of at least S$2,420 from July 2028, almost double what they are getting now.

Those working as outdoor cleaners, healthcare cleaners, dishwashers, conservancy general cleaners, restroom cleaners and refuse collectors will get a higher base salary of S$2,835 by 2028, up from S$1,442 at present.

Their wages will go up progressively over six years from 2023 — when their basic salaries would first rise by S$243 to S$265, depending on their job levels. They will climb between S$170 and S$265 yearly in the five years that follow.

These moves were announced as the Tripartite Cluster for Cleaners (TCC) gave its recommendations for the sector on Monday (June 7). 

The Government said that it accepted the recommendations from the tripartite cluster, which comprises representatives from the Government, unions, cleaning service firms and buyers.

The authorities said that they would roll out the enhanced wage schedule from July 1, 2023.

The wage review was aimed at ensuring that wage growth under the Progressive Wage Model — where wages are pegged to skills, productivity and career development — was “ambitious enough to close the gap with workers earning median wages”.

A Tripartite Workgroup on Lower-Wage Workers, formed last October, came up with this objective.

Mr Zainal Sapari, assistant director-general of the National Trades Union Congress, chairs the tripartite cluster and is a member of the tripartite workgroup.

Asked during an online press conference on Monday for a target for cleaners in relation to a median wage, Mr Zainal said that the tripartite workgroup had not finalised its report and so it was “premature” for him to make an assessment. 

The key is to make a “concerted effort to narrow the income gap” by ensuring that the wage hike for the lowest 20th percentile of resident workers is higher than the median wage increase, he said.

In January, the Ministry of Manpower’s Labour Force in Singapore 2020 report showed that lower-income workers were hit hard by the circuit breaker or partial lockdown to combat Covid-19 from April to June last year. 

The income for those at the 20th percentile fell 4.6 per cent in real terms last year compared with 2019. Median wages had fallen marginally, by 0.4 per cent, in the same period.

6-YEAR SCHEDULE OF WAGE HIKES

The Progressive Wage Model covers around 80,000 workers in the cleaning, security and landscaping sectors.

Right now, general cleaners receive at least S$1,236 in base wages — a rate that rose from S$1,000 to S$1,200 between 2017 and 2019, and by 3 per cent last year. 

There are two more 3 per cent increments that would bring their base wages up to S$1,312 by July 2022.

The latest adjustments to the model will see their base wages climb in 2023 by 20 per cent, or S$258, to S$1,570. In the five years after that, they are set to get yearly increments of S$170 until their base wage reaches S$2,420 in 2028.

Outdoor cleaners, healthcare cleaners, dishwashers, conservancy general cleaners, restroom cleaners and refuse collectors will get higher increments of S$265 a year in the first three years, and S$170 in the next three. They will start earning at least S$2,835 by 2028.

At present, multi-skilled cleaners who are also machine operators get at least S$1,648 a month. They will receive at least S$3,040 by 2028. 

Supervisors, who earn S$1,854 a month now, will see their wages bumped up to S$3,210.

Mr Zainal said that the wage adjustments for cleaners at higher job levels would be more significant because the committee wants to attract younger workers to the industry. 

“We want this to be a possible career that they can consider, compared with going into the gig economy.” 

The tripartite cluster said that the Covid-19 pandemic has brought to the fore the “higher value of work” that cleaners shoulder.

It cited the findings of a survey on the public’s perception of the cleaning industry done by consumer data and analytics firm Milieu Insight in November last year. 

It found that 95 per cent of Singaporeans believed that general cleaners here should be paid more.

The pandemic had also affected their view of the role of general cleaners, with 58 per cent of the 2,026 respondents saying that their role was “much more important”. The other 42 per cent said that their role was “more important”.

Asked if wage adjustments would be made for other low-wage sectors covered under the Progressive Wage Model, Mr Zainal said that reviews for the security, landscaping and lift and escalator sectors were under way, and announcements would be made when a consensus is reached.

WHY MAKE THE CHANGES NOW?

The Tripartite Cluster for Cleaners decided to review the Progressive Wage Model for the cleaning sector, despite the Covid-19 situation, to provide a clear and transparent schedule of increases.

This provides greater certainty to service providers and service buyers when it comes to the pricing and award of cleaning contracts that are fair to all parties, including cleaners.

Mr Tony Chooi, member of the tripartite cluster and president of the Environment Management Association of Singapore, said that the wage increases would add to the cost burdens of cleaning companies.

Thus, his association, which looks after the interests of service providers in the fields of contract cleaning, waste management and pest control, asked for a two-year period before the higher salaries kick in.

This would allow the cleaning industry time to price their tenders correctly and to negotiate existing contracts that stretch beyond 2023, Mr Chooi said.

Mr Jeffrey Chua, co-chair of the tripartite cluster and representative of the Singapore National Employers Federation, said that the six-year schedule would encourage service buyers to “seriously consider outcome-based contracts” and move away from shorter-term ones that tend to focus only on headcount. 

Outcome-based contracts tend to be longer-term and entail investments in technology.

OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS

The Tripartite Cluster for Cleaners made two other recommendations.

Roll-out timeline for enhanced training requirements

• All cleaning businesses must meet enhanced Progressive Wage Model training requirements by Dec 31, 2022 

• This would give cleaning businesses enough time to comply with the new training requirements, under which workers must take two Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) training modules. They are a mandatory course on workplace safety and health, and another module to be chosen from a list of core modules endorsed by the tripartite cluster

Increase training modules required of cleaners

• From 2025, cleaners in lower job rungs must complete three WSQ modules. Those in higher-level jobs, including multi-skilled cleaners and supervisors, must complete four modules

• The Tripartite Cluster for Cleaners said that this would ensure cleaners are equipped with the skills needed to meet greater demands as the cleaning industry transforms with greater adoption of technology

MOM, the National Environment Agency, SkillsFuture Singapore and Workforce Singapore said in a joint press release that the Government has accepted the recommended mandatory training requirement under the Skills Framework for Environmental Services.

"The Government will further review the training requirements beyond 2025," theY added.

"Sufficient lead time will be provided for the industry to adapt to any enhancements to the training requirements."