Debated in Parliament on 21 Jan 2014.
Mr Christopher de Souza asked the Acting Minister for Manpower if he can provide an update on the steps that have been taken by the Government since 2010 to assist low-wage workers earning less than $1,500 per month, in particular the measures taken for such workers to (i) receive CPF benefits and cash under schemes such as the Workfare Income Supplement (WIS); (ii) be eligible for medical and dental coverage under the Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS); and (iii) be accorded better and fairer employment terms.
Madam, low-wage workers are a priority for the Government and we adopt a multi-faceted approach in helping them. Besides creating good jobs that will enable workers to provide for themselves and their families, we also seek to help workers earning lower wages improve their retirement adequacy and meet their short-term expenditure needs through Workfare Income Supplement (WIS).
In 2012, we enhanced the WIS scheme to better meet the needs of lower-wage workers. The WIS income cap was raised from $1,500 in 2007 to $1,900 in 2013 to benefit about 30% of our citizen workforce. We increased the maximum
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WIS quantum by 25% to $3,500, and increased the cash proportion of WIS from less than 30% to 40% in 2013. The frequency of WIS payouts has also been increased to help workers better cope with current expenses.
Mr Christopher de Souza asked about the steps taken to assist workers to receive WIS. The cash component is paid into his bank account or via cheque and the CPF component is credited into his CPF account. These payouts are made automatically, but only if the employee receives CPF contributions from his employer. Hence, we are also taking steps to address poor employment practices that can potentially undermine our WIS efforts. MOM and CPF Board launched the "WorkRight" programme in 2012 to step up compliance with the CPF Act and the Employment Act through education and enforcement.
We are also doing more in sectors, such as cleaning, which is prone to cheap sourcing. MOM has worked with NEA to introduce employment-related criteria in the Clean Mark accreditation scheme to encourage better employment standards. Similar criteria will also be incorporated into NEA's mandatory licensing regime for the cleaning sector which will take effect later this year. At the broader level for all workers, MOM has also been working with our tripartite partners to bring about the adoption of fair, responsible and merit-based employment through the work of the Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices (TAFEP).
Efforts to help low-wage workers and their families extend beyond what we do at MOM. The Government also provides assistance in housing, healthcare and education. As Mr Christopher de Souza has pointed out, one of the healthcare assistance schemes is the Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS). CHAS allows Singaporeans from lower- and middle-income households the convenience of seeking subsidised care at private GP and dental clinics near their homes. MOH, the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) and HPB have been actively publicising CHAS through grassroots organisations and the unions. With the removal of the age floor for CHAS with effect from 1 January 2014, all eligible family members of lower- and middle-income households are now able to qualify for CHAS.
We will continue to review and enhance the ways we extend assistance and support to low-wage workers as we strive towards an inclusive society.
I would like to ask whether MOM would consider informing each worker who receives support of various kinds of the total amount of support provided to the worker in that given
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year. And possibly, as we are trying to encourage the worker to step up and to move up, in that same letter, would MOM also provide information to these workers of further step-up schemes to enhance their qualifications?
I thank the Member for his suggestion. Let me say that with regard to the first part of the question about the total amount of benefits or subsidies that the low-wage workers would get, certainly, right now, for each of these schemes, for instance, WIS, they will be informed about their eligibility for benefits from these schemes.
I take the Member's point that he would like it to be comprehensive within a letter so that the individual knows the total amount of benefits or subsidies that he is given for any year. This is something that we can consider as we look into how we can enhance measures to help our low-wage workers as a whole-of-Government effort because it is not just about WIS and what MOM does but all the other agencies as well.
I would like to note that it is probably not possible to put everything into one letter because there may be certain schemes where it may be administratively costly and cumbersome or burdensome to put in. But we will see what we can do with regard to that suggestion.
With regard to informing the individual about the kind of upgrading programmes that they can attend, we do a lot of this through the unions, WDA, publicity road shows, job fairs and through the employers themselves. For instance, for the cleaning sector's progressive wage model, the employers will be encouraged to train and upgrade the skills of their employees so that they can move up the career and wage ladder.
Again, I take note of the Member's idea of putting them into the letter. This is something we could do, informing them about Workfare training schemes and all the other upgrading programmes that they may apply for.
PAPERCUTS