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From 1 September 2016, the Progressive Wage Model (PWM) for the security industry will be incorporated into the Police Licensing and Regulatory Department (PLRD)’s existing licensing framework for private security agencies. All private security officers must be trained and paid wages according to the PWM for the security industry that was released by the Security Tripartite Cluster (STC) and accepted by the Government in October 2014.
The security PWM will raise productivity and professional standards of the private security industry and till date, close to 30,000 local private security officers are on board. With the PWM, many private security agencies will be better placed to attract and retain private security officers, while service buyers and the public can look forward to higher-quality security services from a better-skilled and more motivated workforce. This will further enhance Singapore’s overall safety and security.
Spearheaded by the tripartite partners, the PWM aims to provide a clear training and progression pathway for workers and raise wages in a sustainable manner, in line with skills and productivity, especially in industries where cheap sourcing is prevalent. This follows the mandatory PWMs for the cleaning and landscaping PWMs that have been implemented in September 2015 and June 2016 respectively.
Said STC Chairman and Assistant Secretary-General, NTUC, Mr Zainal Sapari, “We cannot undermine the importance of quality security services, and our private security officers in the sector have been delivering these roles well to safeguard the harmony that Singaporeans have enjoyed in our decades of progress. Setting the PWM on track is another pledge of commitment to enhance the competencies of our private security workforce, and improve their wages and create pathways for better careers for them.”
Penalties for non-compliance
PLRD and Ministry of Manpower will conduct enforcement and investigations on private security agencies and companies to ensure that they adhere to the licensing conditions and pay their private security officers salaries in line with the PWM. Private security agencies and security officers are reminded that they face stiff penalties and may risk not having their licenses renewed if they fail to comply with the licensing requirements. Employers with in-house security officers must ensure that their security officers comply with the licensing requirements. Service buyers are also encouraged to work with their security service providers to ensure compliance with the licensing requirement.
STC members are closely monitoring the manpower landscape in the industry and will continually reach out to the industry to encourage the security officers to continuously upgrade their competencies so as to progress up the PWM ladder.
Outreach to Industry Stakeholders
Since the announcement of the PWM, various STC members have been actively engaging private security agencies, service buyers and private security officers, to brief them on the PWM wage and training requirements, and to encourage them to plan for the 1 September 2016 timeline.
In late 2015, personalised letters were sent by the PLRD to private security officers who have yet to fulfill the PWM training requirements. These letters reminded them to go for the necessary training in order to retain their current positions after the PWM is implemented.
The tripartite partners have also actively engaged management representatives from private security agencies and private security officers through events and briefings to raise awareness of the mandatory PWM.
Response to Industry’s Feedback on PWM Implementation
The STC regularly deliberated on the feedback from these engagements to develop customised solutions that would help the industry comply with the PWM requirements, especially those related to training.
For instance, the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) introduced the Assessment-Only-Pathway (AOP) for security PWM modules in April 2015 to help experienced private security officers obtain the necessary qualifications without having to undergo the training modules. To encourage early attainment of the required qualifications via the AOP route, NTUC’S Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) provided up to 90 per cent funding of the AOP assessment fee for the first 2,000 workers who opted for the AOP between November 2015 and July 2016. Video tutorials and step-by-step guidelines were also rolled out and disseminated on various platforms to assist private security agencies and in-house security employers in preparing their officers for the AOP. Special coaching sessions by training organisations have also been made available to help Senior Security Officers better prepare for the assessment. In addition, flexible training delivery such as weekend classes, bite-sized modules and on-site training at the trainees’ locations were introduced.
Association of Certified Security Agencies (ACSA) President, Mr Robert Wiener, noted that security agencies which adopted the PWM early have since benefitted from it. “Agencies which embarked on PWM training and are paying PWM wages even before the implementation date have seen greater motivation among their workers. With higher wages, these officers are keen and readily take on training modules to move up to the next tier. It also helps that they now have a clear career path to look forward to.” He also emphasised, “It is critical for service buyers to understand that PWM is a strong push towards professionalising the entire industry and service buyers must play their role in embracing the changes it brings with it.”
Mr John Ng, STC Co-Chairman and Vice-President, Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) also commented, “Over these two years, tripartite partners have ploughed in their efforts in preparing the industry for this major transformation. We have customised various solutions along this journey to ensure that all stakeholders are on board PWM before 1 September 2016. We will continue to review the impact of PWM and aspects such as productivity initiatives to better the private security industry."
Security officers who have queries on the PWM can contact the NTUC U Care Centre or the Union of Security Employees. They can also contact the WDA on matters relating to training.
Moving ahead, the STC will continue to monitor the implementation of PWM on the ground, review its impact, and seek to partner the industry and its stakeholders on addressing other key challenges, such as the long working hours in the industry.
Issued on behalf of the Security Tripartite Cluster.
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