A slew of measures to enhance support for local Professionals, Managers and Executives (PMEs) was announced by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on Wednesday (Jul 8), as part of ongoing efforts to “strengthen the Singaporean core”. The measures do not apply to Singapore PRs.
MORE SCRUTINY OF FIRMS
Starting Oct 1, firms will be required to publish the salary range of job vacancies they post in the Jobs Bank to comply with the Fair Consideration Framework’s advertising requirement.
From October as well, Employers who apply for Employment Passes (EP) where the job advertisement did not state a salary range will have their applications rejected, MOM said.
The ministry said it will also step up its scrutiny of EP applications for selected firms which have a “weaker Singaporean core” of PMEs relative to others in their industry. These employers will be required to submit more information to check whether Singaporeans were considered fairly, MOM said.
About 150 firms from industries such as IT, finance and services are currently on a watchlist Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say said, with more firms expected to be under additional scrutiny. The watchlist includes firms which have received complaints of discriminatory hiring practices.
“With this closer scrutiny, it will take longer, they will have to answer more questions, and the outcome is, they are more likely to face greater difficulties to get their EPs approved,” said Mr Lim.
However, the minister admitted that for some sectors, there are just not enough skilled Singaporean professionals. For this, the ministry is working on a plan to bring skilled foreigners in, and then for the knowledge to be transferred to the local workforce.
“We work with the economic agencies and say: ‘Okay what can we do, under SkillsFuture, to strengthen the supply’,” he said. “In some sectors, where things are moving very fast, we have to look at the skills development, in the short term, we are prepared to live with a weaker (Singaporean) core but there must still be efforts to transfer the knowhow to strengthen the Singaporean core.”
WAGE SUPPORT FOR MATURE PMES
Under a two-year pilot scheme, employers who employ mature PMEs who have been out of work for at least six months, in mid-level jobs that pay at least S$4,000, will receive wage support. The tiered subsidies will cover up to 40 per cent of the employee’s gross monthly salary, with a subsidy cap of S$2,800 a month.
Named the Career Support Programme, the scheme aims to encourage employers to tap on the wealth of experience that mature Singaporean PMEs can bring to the workplace, MOM said.
PMEs who register with the Workforce Development Agency’s Career Centres and e2i will be eligible for the programme, which will also be launched on Oct 1.
REFINING WORK PASS CONTROLS
With immediate effect, the authorities will reject work pass applications that contain “doubtful” qualifications such as those from degree mills. This is to ensure that foreign PMEs are of a “suitable quality and experience”, MOM said.
“‘Doubtful’ means I don’t really know: Did you study for your degree?” Mr Lim said. “Maybe the institute just asked you to pay for your degree, and pretended to conduct the lesson. You pretend to study, and at the end of the day, you all pretend that you graduated. That to us is doubtful.”
DISPUTE RESOLUTION EXPANDED
From the first quarter of next year, dispute resolution for local PMEs will be stepped up with the establishment of the Employment Claims Tribunal (ECT). PMEs who earn more than S$4,500 a month and are not covered by the Employment Act will then have an avenue to resolve statutory and contractual salary-related disputes, the ministry said.
In addition, the tripartite partners have agreed to enhance coverage under the Tripartite Mediation Framework to cover re-employment and employment statutory issues, remove the salary cap of S$4,500 to cover all PME union members and to include rank-and-file union members in non-unionised companies.
NTUC ‘HEARTENED’ BY ANNOUNCEMENT
The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) said it welcomes MOM’s enhanced support for Singaporean PMEs, and added it was “heartened” to see its recommendations and feedback reflected in the announcement.
For instance, it had suggested that a salary range be published on the National Jobs Bank, the removal of a salary ceiling for tripartite mediation, as well as more support for mature PMEs – all of which were implemented by MOM.
“We look forward to working closely with the tripartite partners to reach out to more workers who require the necessary assistance, and for the changes to have a positive impact on Singaporean PMEs,” said Mr Patrick Tay, assistant secretary-general of the Labour Movement.
Source: www.channelnewsasia.com
