By Avelyn Ng
Labour Members of Parliament (LMPs) spent the months before this year’s Budget announcement to push for what they believe would help workers lead better lives both at home and at work.
With the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) announcing its plans today in the Committee of Supply (COS) debate, we’re sure you’re wondering whether any of the recommendations by these LMPs have been heard.
To help you with that, we've done up this list.
Mission #1: To help professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) find jobs.
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MOM will be expanding Workforce Singapore’s Adapt and Grow beyond the five growth sectors – financial services, professional services, healthcare, wholesale trade and infocomm and media - to the 23 restructuring sectors covered under the Industry Transformation Maps. It will also work with progressive companies in those sectors to redeploy at-risk workers through various pre-emptive interventions.
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MOM will also be launching new Professional Conversion Programmes (PCPs), including Attach and Train.
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Also announced was the Career Trial, a renamed and enhanced version of Work Trial, which will have a higher training allowance cap and provide support for those unemployed for six months or more (previously 12 months).
We’re sure this would be good news for NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Patrick Tay as well as LMP and NTUC Industry Transformation and Productivity Director Desmond Choo, who both had suggestions to help workers decide on a new job.
Mission #2: To build a two-thirds local and one-third foreign workforce.
Using an equation to illustrate his point, Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say spoke about his ministry’s mission to build a productive workforce that is more than the sum of the workers.
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MOM will broaden job advertising requirements under the Fair Consideration Framework (FCF) to make it mandatory for more employers to advertise their job vacancies. Also, positions paying between $12,000 to below $15,000 will no longer be exempted. The FCF ensures that Singaporeans are fairly considered for job opportunities, and this is one thing we welcome with open arms.
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MOM will raise the minimum qualifying salary for S Pass from $2,200 to $2,400.
LMP and NTUC Director Melvin Yong recently called for a tightening of the inflow of migrant workers and bringing in higher-skilled foreign talents. Hopefully, this will help with that.
Mission #3: To protect more PMETS as their numbers are on the rise.
Mr Tay has also been calling for amendments to the Employment Act (EA) so that more workers will be protected. He even wrote a blog on it.
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MOM understood this need as well, and now, the core employment provisions under the Employment Act have been extended to all employees with the removal of salary threshold of $4,500. A whopping 430,000 more PMEs are expected to benefit from this change.
To keep pace with rising median wages, Mr Tay had also asserted that the salary limit for overtime pay eligibility should be reviewed and raised.
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MOM will extend additional protection such as overtime pay, working hours and rest days to more vulnerable workers, with the salary threshold for non-workmen now increased from 2,500 to $2,600.
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Besides salary-related disputes, the Employment Claims Tribunal will also now hear wrongful dismissal claims, making it a one-stop dispute resolution avenue for employers and employees.
In his MOM COS speech, Mr Lim said: “In consultation with tripartite partners, we have decided to enhance the current EA framework. First, we will remove the salary cap of EA to cover all employees, including all PMETs. Patrick Tay will be happy to hear this. He has been advocating this for some time.”
Mission #4: To provide more support for the self-employed.
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MOM will launch a Tripartite Standard on Contracting with Self-Employed Persons.
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The ministry will extend voluntary mediation services by the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management to SEPs without sector agency mediation services.
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MOM will come up with a “Contribute-as-you-earn” model for MediSave contributions.
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A scheme that provides insurance to mitigate the loss of income during extended medical leave will be out soon.
In support of the announcement on the insurance scheme, NTUC Income is working to develop an insurance product to provide a daily cash benefit for those eligible by 2019.
If you recall, LMP and Director of NTUC's Freelancers and Self-Employed Unit Ang Hin Kee had underscored the need for targeted assistance and specific support for Self-Employed Persons following recommendations by the Tripartite Workgroup recently.
Mission #5: To recognise caregiving duties and work-life balance.
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MOM also unveiled a new Tripartite Standard on Unpaid Leave for Unexpected Care Needs.
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MOM will also be enhancing the WorkPro Work-Life Grant to incentivise more sustained adoption of flexible work arrangements by employers.
We’re sure Nominated MP and NTUC Central Committee member K Thanaletchimi, as well as LMP Desmond Choo, will be happy about these. Both of them have always been pushing for women and family issues in parliament.
Mission #6: To improve the lives of low-wage workers.
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MOM will also be considering to extend the Progressive Wage Model (PWM), which was mooted by the Labour Movement, to sectors beyond cleaning, landscaping and security. The ministry will soon extend a voluntary PWM for lift technicians.
LMP and NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Zainal Sapari had also raised this suggestion at the COS debate.
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The ministry will also further study measures to improve the working conditions for workers in the PWM sectors, in response to Mr Zainal’s call to mandate rest areas for workers in these sectors.
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Responding to Mr Zainal’s calls to make Annual Wage Supplement for low-wage workers mandatory, MOM said that it would leave it to employers and unions to negotiate the total annual wage package.
Check out below for more stories on Budget 2018:
