SINGAPORE – There has been no feedback received by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) about demotions or salary cuts due to failing to pass Progressive Wage Model (PWM) training requirements, said Senior Minister of State for Manpower Zaqy Mohamad on Tuesday.
He was responding to a question in Parliament about whether there have been such incidents since the PWM was implemented.
Ms Carrie Tan (Nee Soon GRC) had asked whether there were reported cases of experienced and older employees in the security, landscaping and cleaning sectors suffering demotions and salary cuts for failing to pass required certification tests due to language or literacy limitations.
She also asked whether MOM had looked into any gaps in addressing such unintended side effects, and what workers who find themselves in such situations could do.
Mr Zaqy said that to date, MOM, SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG), and the respective lead sector agencies of the PWMs for the cleaning, security and landscape sectors have not received feedback about demotions or salary cuts due to failing to pass PWM training requirements.
He added: “Employees who face challenges in completing PWM training requirements due to language or literacy limitations may approach SSG for further assistance. Employees who feel unfairly treated can approach their unions or MOM for assistance.”
The Straits Times reported on Feb 7 that the Union of Security Employees (USE) had intervened after security agency Apro attempted to demote 300 officers to “reset” their wages.
Labour chief Ng Chee Meng, secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress, said the demotions came as the agency no longer had the contracts to keep these officers at their current job ranks.
The move meant that the wages of the officers would be lowered.
Apro later claimed that its demoted officers would still receive higher salaries than the PWM baseline wage.
But USE refuted this, saying the officers would be better off had they been retained at their original job ranks.
The case is currently under conciliation at MOM.
On Tuesday, Mr Zaqy said the PWM provides career and training progression pathways for lower-wage workers, which allow them to see wage increases as they improve their skills and productivity.
“Each PWM ladder differentiates job rungs based on the job scope and skills required – higher wages on upper job rungs reflect the increased responsibilities and skills expected of employees,” he added.
“PWM training requirements specified for each job rung support employees in acquiring the skills needed to do that job.”
He added that employers deploy their employees to appropriate job rungs, and they are required to pay their employees the applicable PWM wage for the job rung they are deployed to.
He said: “While there are training requirements for each job rung, PWM wages are based on the job that the employee is performing and not the completion of training requirements.
“An employer must therefore pay an employee the applicable PWM wage even if the employee has not yet met the PWM training requirements, as long as the employee is performing the job.”
He also said that if the employee does not possess the skills required to perform the job, employers can redeploy the employee to more appropriate roles.
As for PWM training requirements, Mr Zaqy said tripartite partners are mindful that the requirements meant to uplift lower-wage workers should not end up disadvantaging them.
He said that to support the training of workers who may have lower literacy skills or face language barriers, training providers can supplement courses with vernacular or visual aids.
In some cases, the PWM training requirements can also be met through assessment-only pathways, allowing experienced employees to meet the requirements by completing assessments to show that they have the requisite skills, without having to attend the course.
