On 30 August 2021, the Government accepted all 18 recommendations made by the Tripartite Workgroup on Lower-Wage Workers. These recommendations were fully implemented by July 2023, and expanded the Progressive Wage approach to cover more local lower-wage workers.
Key recommendations
- Expand Sectoral Progressive Wages (PWs) to retail, food services, and waste management
- Extend Sectoral PWs to in-house local workers for the cleaning, security and landscape PWs
- Introduce Occupational PWs for administrators and drivers
- Introduce PWs and Local Qualifying Salary (LQS) as a requirement for hiring of foreign workers
Expand Sectoral PWs
New Sectoral PWs now uplift local employees in these sectors:
Extend Sectoral PWs to in-house workers
Since 1 September 2022, Sectoral PWs for cleaning, security, and landscape cover local in-house cleaners, security officers and landscape maintenance workers, beyond the coverage for local workers in licensed or registered firms.
As part of the sectoral PWMs, PWM wages for local in-house workers are negotiated by the respective Tripartite Clusters.
Occupational PWs
The Occupational PWs uplift local workers who are in occupations that exist across many sectors.
From 1 March 2023, administrators and drivers are covered under the Occupational PWs.
Requirements to hire foreign workers
From 1 September 2022, firms employing foreign workers need to fulfil both conditions:
- Pay PWM wages to local workers covered by the PWM
- Pay at least the LQS to all other local workers
Firms that do not comply with the requirements will not be able to renew existing work passes or apply for new work passes.
The LQS is $1,600. The
LQS wage requirement is pro-rated for part-time work and increases for overtime work.