Mandated Rest Days for Cleaners without Reducing Take-Home Salary

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) whether cleaning companies under the Enhanced Clean Mark Accreditation scheme will be required to provide cleaners (whether foreign or local) mandated rest days every month without reducing their take-home salary; (b) if so what is the timeline for implementing this; and (c) if not why not.

The voluntary Enhanced Clean Mark Accreditation Scheme (EAS), administered by the National Environment Agency (NEA) since 1 November 2012, aims to raise the overall standards and professionalism of the cleaning industry through better employment practices and productivity initiatives.

The Employment Act (EA) under the Ministry of Manpower is Singapore's main labour law. It covers employees in Singapore who are under a contract of service with an employer, including local and foreign cleaners. The EA already requires cleaning companies, including those which adopted EAS, to provide their cleaners with statutory benefits, such as granting cleaners one rest day per week, as well as payment for overtime work and work performed on rest days and public holidays.