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Formalisation of Household Services Scheme

Foreign manpower

From 1 September 2021, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) will formalise the Household Services Scheme (HSS) as a permanent scheme. Households that wish to engage part-time household services, such as home cleaning, can consider engaging companies under the HSS.

2 Launched as a pilot in 2017 with 15 participating companies, the HSS currently comprises 76 companies that provide household cleaning services to more than 10,000 households. The increased participation numbers, as well as feedback from the companies and their customers, have shown that the scheme is useful in supporting the demand for part-time household services.

3 Currently, these companies are allowed to hire female workers from India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, in addition to the existing approved countries or regions for the Services sector1. HSS companies will also be eligible for additional Work Permit quota2 to hire more workers.

4 From 1 September 2021, Cambodia will be added to the list of approved countries or regions that HSS companies can hire female workers from. In addition, HSS companies will be allowed to provide a wider range of services, such as grocery shopping, car-washing and pet-sitting. MOM will continue to monitor demand from households and assess if the scope of services can be further expanded in the future.

5 Companies that are keen to join the HSS may email MOM at mom_wpd@mom.gov.sg to be considered for this scheme. More details can be found on the MOM website.

FOOTNOTE

  1. 1 The existing source countries or regions for Work Permit holders in the Services sector are Malaysia, People’s Republic of China (PRC), and North Asian sources (Hong Kong, Macao, South Korea and Taiwan).
  2. 2 MOM will assess HSS companies’ headcount and employee composition to determine their additional quota entitlement.