WILL PRICES RISE?
When asked by reporters how consumers would be affected, TCR said that over the long term, prices would rise but businesses should continue to look at improving productivity to sell more and to offer more competitive prices.
There are more than 29,000 retail enterprises in Singapore spanning convenience stores, department stores, supermarkets and shops selling fashion, sporting, consumer electronics, furniture and household goods among others. Some of the retail workers are also in firms in the wholesale sector.
Pointing to a manpower crunch in the retail sector, the Singapore Retailers Association’s honorary secretary Helen Khoo said she hopes that wage increments and structured career pathways will help retailers retain workers and attract more people to join the industry.
Mr Chou Cheng Ngok, a TCR co-chair and representative for the Singapore National Employers Federation, said that the PWM recommendations by the TCR considered feedback from the retail industry, such as seasonal fluctuations in sales and performance incentives.
This would help employers with the implementation of the new requirements, said Mr Chou, who is also group chief executive officer and executive director of Popular Holdings.
“With the Singapore economy emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, I strongly urge retail employers to leverage technology to transform their business, redesign their jobs and upskill their employees to stay relevant and be more productive,” he added.
TCR said there would be a review of the retail sector’s PWM in 2024.
The Government has accepted the recommendations of the TCR, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on Monday.
Senior Minister of State for Manpower Zaqy Mohamad said this was a “landmark PWM” and thanked employers for supporting the measures despite facing inflationary pressures.
“Ultimately it’s not just about wage increases … but how do you continue to sustain increases over time, so it’s important to look at business productivity, workforce productivity and … job redesign,” he said.
MOM will enforce the implementation of Retail PWM requirements through employers’ eligibility for work passes.
Employers will need to comply with the stipulated Retail PWM requirements, and any other applicable PWM and Local Qualifying Salary requirements, in order to apply for or renew work passes including work permits, S Passes and Employment Passes.
The ministry said it will give employers time to adjust and comply with the progressive wage requirements. Instead of enforcement, MOM will focus on educating employers instead of suspending their work pass privileges during the six-month transitional period.
For retail workers employed by firms which do not hire foreign staff, TCR expects market forces to eventually push their wages up as well.
From this year to 2026, the Government will co-fund PWM wage increases under the Progressive Wage Credit Scheme, as announced during Budget 2022.
Given recent significant inflationary pressures, the Government said in June that its co-funding share in 2022 will increase from 50 per cent to 75 per cent for resident employees with gross monthly wages of up to S$2,500.
It will go up from 30 per cent to 45 per cent for employees with gross monthly wages of above S$2,500 and up to S$3,000.
Mr Zaqy said he hopes that the credits will help to buffer business costs, and that the PWM does not translate to rising costs for consumers.
“We want things to be cost-effective, cost-efficient, affordable … but at the same time, it should not be at the expense of low-wage workers,” he said, adding that businesses should improve productivity to become more cost-efficient.
The implementation of the Retail PWM is part of a range of progressive wage requirements that will take effect from Sep 1. Other measures are new Local Qualifying Salary requirements set at S$1,400, and the extension of the PWM to in-house cleaners, security officers, and landscape workers.
In addition, the Tripartite Workgroup on Lower-Wage Workers had recommended the expansion of the PWM to the food services sector and occupations such as administrators and drivers in March 2023.
Retail staff to get pay increases from Sep 1, with expansion of Progressive Wage Model & Latest News Update
Retail staff to get pay increases from Sep 1, with expansion of Progressive Wage Model & More Live News
All this news that I have made and shared for you people, you will like it very much and in it we keep bringing topics for you people like every time so that you keep getting news information like trending topics and you It is our goal to be able to get
all kinds of news without going through us so that we can reach you the latest and best news for free so that you can move ahead further by getting the information of that news together with you. Later on, we will continue
to give information about more today world news update types of latest news through posts on our website so that you always keep moving forward in that news and whatever kind of information will be there, it will definitely be conveyed to you people.
Retail staff to get pay increases from Sep 1, with expansion of Progressive Wage Model & More News Today
All this news that I have brought up to you or will be the most different and best news that you people are not going to get anywhere, along with the information Trending News, Breaking News, Health News, Science News, Sports News, Entertainment News, Technology News, Business News, World News of this made available to all of you so that you are always connected with the news, stay ahead in the matter and keep getting today news all types of news for free till today so that you can get the news by getting it. Always take two steps forward
Credit Goes To News Website – This Original Content Owner News Website . This Is Not My Content So If You Want To Read Original Content You Can Follow Below Links