SINGAPORE - Workers in the landscape maintenance sector will get a $100 pay rise from July 1 under the Progressive Wage Model (PWM).
This will bring basic wages for such workers to at least $1,550 - up from $1,450. Eligible employees will also get a mandatory PWM bonus effective since January last year.
This is the second pay hike proposed by the tripartite committee comprising unionists, employers and government officials that the Government accepted in 2018.
Workers in the sector had a $150 increase in minimum monthly basic pay in July 2020. Besides the wage hike this July, there will be a further $100 increase in July 2022.
The committee also announced an enhanced skills ladder on Friday (Jan 29) that will take effect from Monday (Feb 1).
Recommendations from a Tripartite Cluster for Landscape Industry (TCL) report were released on Friday and accepted by the Government.
The National Parks Board (NParks), SkillsFuture Singapore, Workforce Singapore and the Manpower Ministry said in a joint statement: "Landscape employees who had completed training for their current job role under the previous requirements will not be affected by the updated training requirements.
"Employers are encouraged to continue to send these employees for upskilling to improve their work prospects and for career progression."
The Enhanced PWM Skills Ladder aims to provide a wider and more relevant choice of training courses for entry-level job roles. There will also be more rigorous skill requirements for complex and supervisory roles to ensure that workers in these positions have the necessary knowledge and skills and can earn the corresponding PWM wages.
NParks estimates that there are about 3,000 resident landscape maintenance employees here.
The skills ladder will have more Workforce Skills Qualification courses to equip workers with necessary capabilities for their work sites.
A new dual-track career ladder will offer an additional progression pathway for existing and new workers. It includes a specialist track under the existing PWM career ladder, which the TCL said will help to professionalise landscape maintenance and make it more attractive to workers.
The track has two new job roles - landscape specialist and senior landscape specialist.
More details about the wage points for the two new job roles, training requirements and implementation timeline will be announced soon.
It also encouraged landscape companies to develop their workers' training plans early and work with their service buyers to tap training grants and schemes to upskill their workers.
NTUC assistant secretary-general Zainal Sapari, who also chairs the TCL, said the PWM review for the sub-sector reflects ongoing efforts to recognise the work done by essential services workers and ensure that their skills and wages are in line with it.
Labour MP Mohd Fahmi Aliman wrote on Facebook: "While we constantly review the existing PWMs in the security, cleaning and landscape sectors, our other key focus remains on expansion of the PWM so that more lower-wage workers can benefit."
