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The Tripartite Cluster for Landscape Industry (TCL) has put forth a review of the recommendations for the Progressive Wage Model (PWM) for the landscape maintenance sub-sector, to bring about better work prospects for workers. First mooted by NTUC in 2013 and then launched by the TCL in 2015, the PWM for the landscape maintenance sub-sector aims to give landscape employees a clearer career progression pathway which allows them to earn higher wages that commensurate with improved training, better skill sets, higher standards and higher productivity.
This latest review will encompass the following:
A. Enhanced PWM Skills Ladder – takes effect on 1 February 2021
The Enhanced PWM Skills Ladder will provide more relevant, and a wider choice of training courses for entry-level job roles; plus more rigorous skills requirements for complex and supervisory roles.
B. Review of the PWM Career Ladder
A new dual-track career ladder will be introduced, offering an additional progression pathway for existing workers and new entrants to the industry.
The recommendations come after several rounds of consultations and focus group discussions with tripartite partners and industry players. Such efforts are a step towards shaping the future of the landscape industry, with specific recommendations focused on protecting the wages and work prospects of vulnerable essential service workers in the sub-sector, enabling them to advance alongside industry transformation.
Enhanced PWM Skills Ladder
Due to the outsourced nature of the landscape maintenance sub-sector, workers are required to perform duties that meet the needs of the sites that they are deployed to. The PWM Skills Ladder has now been enhanced via an expanded list of WSQ courses, ensuring that workers are suitably skilled for the job scope of their respective sites. For instance, if a landscape worker is deployed to handle mainly watering, pruning and mulching work, the worker may not necessarily need to be trained in turf maintenance.
With the aim to nurture workers and help them advance in their careers, the Enhanced PWM Skills Ladder also seeks to ensure higher proficiency levels for those with supervisory responsibilities or those who have more complex job scopes. This ensures that the workers have the required knowledge and skills of their respective job roles and in turn, earn the corresponding PWM wages.
The Enhanced PWM Skills Ladder will take effect from 1 February 2021.
Review of the PWM Career Ladder
The TCL also sought industry views to address current challenges of labour shortage and low perceived value of landscape maintenance work. To this end, the TCL is proposing to introduce a Specialist Track under the existing PWM Career Ladder. This new dual-track career ladder is a step towards professionalising the sub-sector, thereby making the profession more attractive for both new entrants as well as existing workers.
Under this new Specialist Track, two new job roles have been proposed, namely (i) Landscape Specialist and (ii) Senior Landscape Specialist. In addition to the current PWM Career Ladder which maps out the career path towards Landscape Supervisor, landscape maintenance employees who prefer specialisation in landscaping skills such as horticulture would have this new option as well.
The TCL will carry out further industry consultations to propose the appropriate wage points for the two new job roles under the specialist track, training requirements as well as the implementation timeline. More details will be announced when ready.
All stakeholders to play a part in improving workers’ wages and work prospects
The recommendations serve to ensure landscape maintenance employees progress alongside industry transformation, and are duly recognised for the essential work that they perform. Key to the smooth implementation of the recommendations, the TCL encourages landscape companies to develop their workers’ training plans early and to work with their service buyers to take advantage of available training grants and schemes to upskill their workers.
These new recommendations complement the wage schedule that has been set out in the last review in 2018, under the mandatory PWM. Come 1 July 2021 onwards, employees in a landscape worker role will earn at least $1,550 in basic wages – up from $1,450 currently. In addition, eligible employees can look forward to the mandatory PWM Bonus that landscape companies have to pay their workers, effective since January 2020. More details in Annex C.
NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Zainal Sapari, who is also Chairman of the TCL, said, “Ensuring fair wages, good welfare and better work prospects for our vulnerable workers remain a key focus of NTUC and our tripartite partners. This review of the PWM for the landscape maintenance sub-sector is testament to our ongoing efforts to recognise the real value of the work done by such essential services workers, and ensure their skills and wages commensurate accordingly. After all, landscape maintenance employees are the ones who keep our greenery lush and ensure our vision of becoming a City in Nature can be realised to benefit many generations to come.”
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Annex A: Proposed PWM Skills Ladder
Annex B: Proposed Dual-Track Career Ladder
Annex C: PWM Wage Ladder and PWM Bonus
Annex D: Tripartite Cluster for Landscape Industry
