Companies that voluntarily pay progressive wages and provide job progression pathways to their lower-income workers will be recognised with a Progressive Wage Model (PWM) Mark.
Manpower Minister Josephine Teo announced the initiative in Parliament on 1 September 2020.
She also noted that several sectors, including Food Services and Retail Trade, have the potential to come on board.
NTUC first pioneered the PWM in 2012. It now covers around 80,000 workers in the cleaning, security, and landscaping sectors.
Mrs Teo was responding to NTUC Deputy Secretary-General Koh Poh Koon’s call to expand the PWM in other sectors.
According to Mrs Teo, mandating the implementation of PWM in other sectors could be risky given the current economic climate.
“Businesses are still trying to find a firmer footing. Therefore, any moves to expand PWM into new sectors immediately, in the midst of great uncertainty in the labour market carries higher risk. Given our overriding priority to preserve jobs, we should proceed with care,” said Mrs Teo.
She added that the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) would first work with tripartite partners on the voluntary adoption of the PWM, through the PWM Mark.
Additionally, Mrs Teo explained that for the PWM Mark to work, there must be a broader movement involving society at large.
She said: “As consumers, we must be prepared to pay slightly more, and intentionally support such progressive companies by purchasing their products or services.
“This will spur more companies to be progressive and adopt the PWM Mark, which in turn will benefit our lower-income workers.”
Meanwhile, Mrs Teo also said that MOM will continue to work with tripartite partners to push for “sound practices” to protect Singaporeans from unfair retrenchments.
She cited examples such as updating the Tripartite Advisory on Managing Excess Manpower and Responsible Retrenchment and the implementation of NTUC’s Fair Retrenchment Framework.
The ministry will also intensify its efforts to ensure fair treatment of locals applying for jobs, said Mrs Teo.
MOM will also build on the Fair Consideration Framework to engage more employers.
According to Mrs Teo, MOM will engage an expanded group of employers to review their hiring practices.
The expanded group will include companies whose Singaporean core has been weakening, or whose EP and S Pass workforce are overly concentrated from a single foreign nationality source.
“Through active intervention, we will help them reshape their workforce profiles. We will do this together with economic agencies like EDB [Economic Development Board] and MAS [Monetary Authority of Singapore],” said Mrs Teo.
