Louis asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources what percentage of local cleaners are directly hired by food and beverage establishments such that they do not fall under the progressive wage model.

Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M (MEWR): We do not track the number of local cleaners being hired directly by food and beverage (F&B) establishments.

The Progressive Wage Model (PWM) applies only to local cleaners employed by cleaning businesses. The model does not apply to cleaners hired directly by F&B establishments, as unlike outsourced cleaners, they are not subject to the effects of cheap-sourcing that had depressed wages. Employers are nonetheless encouraged to upgrade their worker's skills and implement productivity-based wage progression in accordance with the key tenets of the PWM.

The Government will continue working closely with the Tripartite Cluster for Cleaners to ensure that the PWM for the cleaning sector remains relevant and aligned with the industry's transformation goals.

Source: Hansard (Parliament of Singapore)

Louis asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (a) what current percentage of cleaning companies apply the progressive wage model to their foreign cleaners; and (b) whether the Ministry will start collecting such data if it does not currently do so.

Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M (MEWR): The Progressive Wage Model (PWM) was introduced to address the effects of cheap-sourcing that had depressed wages for local cleaners hired by cleaning businesses. While the PWM is mandatory for these cleaners, it is not applicable to foreign cleaners, who are typically hired on different terms, with employers bearing other related expenses, such as additional levies and accommodation arrangements.

The PWM is intended to sustain productivity-driven wage growth for resident low-wage workers, hence the collection of related data focuses on local cleaners. Nonetheless, as at 31 January 2019, about 23% of licensed cleaning businesses employing foreign cleaners were paying wages at or above the levels stipulated under the PWM to their foreign cleaners.

We encourage more employers to upgrade their workers' skills and implement productivity-based wage progression in accordance with the key tenets of the PWM, regardless their workers' citizenship.

Source: Hansard (Parliament of Singapore)

Louis asked the Minister for Manpower in the last three years, what percentage of workers in the cleaning sector are on the R1 (higher skilled) scheme and what is the breakdown in terms of the nationalities of these workers.

Mrs Josephine Teo (MOM): Over the last three years, about 20% of the Work Permit Holders (WPHs) in the Cleaning sector were higher-skilled (R1) workers.

The Ministry does not provide data on foreign workers with breakdown by nationality. 

Source: Hansard (Parliament of Singapore)

Louis asked the Minister for Finance (a) what is the Gini coefficient of Singapore for each year in the past 10 years when capital income is taken into account; (b) if such data is not available, whether inclusion of capital income is likely to increase or decrease Singapore's Gini coefficient; and (c) whether the Ministry will take into account capital income when reporting Singapore's Gini coefficient.

Mr Lawrence Wong) (for the Minister for Finance): Mr Speaker, Singapore computes the Gini coefficient based on household income from work. This data is available annually and enables the timely tracking of income inequality. 

Collecting income data from sources other than work is more challenging. Such data are typically collected based on self-reporting by respondents and are more susceptible to measurement errors. This is why the Department of Statistics has thus far not included such data in its computation of the Gini coefficient. 

Nevertheless, the Government will continue to explore ways to better measure and monitor income inequality. Regardless of the measurement issues, our approach remains to keep our social support measures progressive and targeted at the lower and middle income households.

Louis: Mr Speaker, I thank the Minister for the reply. I do understand that we do include capital income once every five years in terms of our calculation for our Gini coefficient. If we can do it once every five years, why not do it every year? I also understand that, for example, all the other OECD countries do include capital income. So, why does Singapore not include this?

Mr Lawrence Wong: Mr Speaker, I should clarify. I think Mr Louis Ng is mistaken. We do have surveys of income other than work in the household expenditure survey. It is not part of the Gini coefficient computation. So, that income is covered in the household expenditure survey which is done once every five years. As I have said just now, collecting data on income other than work is always fraught with issues, not just for us but for other countries as well. But we are continuing to see how the data can be better captured.

Source: Hansard (Parliament of Singapore)

Louis delivered his budget cut on Expand Progressive Wage Model at Committee of Supply 2021.

Louis: Sir, about 32,000 full-time workers in Singapore currently take home less than $1,300. We must do more to help our lower wage workers and I am glad we are.

We have been expanding the PWM to more sectors. I thank the Government for its latest move in expanding the PWM to the waste management sector. I also welcome the recent announcements that PWM will be rolled out to the food services, retail, strata management, pest management, and solar technology sectors. Workers within these sectors will welcome this news. But timing is also important for them. Can we roll out the implementation of PWMs within a shorter timeframe? With the expansion to these sectors, can MOM share whether all the 32,000 workers currently taking home less than $1,300 will be covered?

Dr Tan See Leng (The Second Minister for Manpower): To the questions from Mr Louis Ng and Mr Fahmi Aliman, I wish to reinforce the Government's ambition to eventually cover all sectors with Progressive Wages, on top of Workfare as a fundamental layer of support for our low-wage workers. 

We are starting in sectors with the highest proportion of low-wage workers in the workforce and identifying ways to expand beyond these sectors.

We also recognise that there are low-wage workers employed in similar occupations but distributed in other sectors. So, we are studying practical ways to cover various occupational groups under Progressive Wages and will share more when ready.

Source: Hansard (Parliament of Singapore)

Louis asked the Minister for Manpower (a) whether the recent announcement on the progressive wage model for cleaners applies to cleaners who are (i) hired directly by an F&B establishment (ii) not employed by a licensed cleaning company and (iii) who are employed on a part-time basis respectively; and (b) if not, why not.

Dr Tan See Leng (MOM): The Cleaning Progressive Wage Model (PWM) currently only applies to both full-time and part-time resident cleaners directly employed by cleaning businesses licensed by NEA. In March 2021, the Tripartite Workgroup on Lower-Wage Workers announced its intent to extend existing PWMs to staff employed in-house to perform cleaning, security and landscaping roles, which would benefit up to 50,000 of such workers. This includes extending the Cleaning PWM to cleaners not employed by a licensed cleaning business but are employed in-house. Such cleaners would include those directly hired by F&B establishments. The Workgroup is finalising its recommendations and will share more details on this move in due course.

Source: Hansard (Parliament of Singapore)