Landscaping companies bidding for government contracts must give its workers bonus from 2020

WORKERS involved in landscape maintenance will receive bonuses from Jan 1 next year (2020) and annual increments in their basic wage package from 2023 to 2025.

The move follows recommendations put out in the addendum to the Tripartite Cluster for Landscape Industry (TCL) report. The full addendum was released on Wednesday and accepted by the government on the same day.

"The recommendations in the addendum to the TCL's report are important steps towards implementing the annual bonus recommendation published in the TCL's 2018 report on proposed enhancements to the landscape Progressive Wage Model (PWM)," said the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and the National Parks Board (NParks) in a joint statement.

The Progressive Wage Model sets out minimum pay for different job levels and pegs wage increases to a skills ladder.

It was introduced in 2015 and made compulsory in June 2016 for companies bidding for government contracts.

The TCL report was published in November last year.

Under the Progressive Wage Model for the landscaping sector, eligible resident landscape employees will receive a mandatory annual bonus from Jan 1 next year.

It is payable to Singapore citizen and permanent resident landscape maintenance employees who have worked for the same employer for at least 12 months.

The total bonus in a given year must be no less than two weeks of the worker's basic monthly wage. It has to be paid at least once but not more than twice a year.

MOM and NParks said: "The Progressive Wage Model bonus will help to uplift the total income levels of landscape maintenance employees and their savings, and encourage them to stay with the same employer.

"Employers will also be able to better attract and retain their employees, and invest in their training with improved staff retention."

The landscape sector employs about 3,000 residents.

MOM and NParks also support the TCL's recommendation to implement the minimum annual increment of 3 per cent, subject to a review, to wage levels for all landscape maintenance job levels from July 1 each year, starting 2023 to 2025.

This aligns with the recommended yearly adjustments of S$150, S$100 and S$100 to each basic wage level from 2020 to 2022, also to be implemented on July 1 each year.

MOM and NParks said: "These recommendations will ensure that landscape maintenance employees enjoy sustained wage growth.

"Complying with the PWM (including payment of the PWM bonus) will continue to be a mandatory requirement for landscape companies registering for the National Parks Board Landscape Company Register."

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