Companies must meet the Progressive Wage Model wage and training requirements for retail workers who are Singapore citizens or permanent residents.
What is it
The Progressive Wage Model (PWM) for retail workers was developed by the Tripartite Cluster for Retail Industry (TCR). It features:
- Training requirements that tap on the Skills Framework for Retail. This ensures that workers have the skills they need to carry out their jobs.
- Progressive wages set at each level. This ensures that workers are paid wages that correspond to their skills and productivity.
Employers must meet the PWM requirements to renew existing work passes or apply for new work passes.
Click here for an overview of the Retail PWM.
Who it covers
The PWM requirements are mandatory. They cover all Singapore citizens and permanent residents who fulfil both of the following conditions:
- Employed as full-time or part-time employees in retail job roles on a contract of service.
- Employed by firms which hire foreign workers, regardless of whether the firm is classified under the Retail Trade Singapore Standard Industrial Classification (SSIC) or another SSIC.
The retail PWM will cover the following retail job roles:
Responsibilities:
- Oversee end-to-end operations
- Ensure Standard Operating Procedures are followed
- Make decisions on customers' issues and service recovery
- Drive, analyse, improve and achieve sales and service performance
- Drive seamless customer experience across offline and online channels
- Evaluate and propose training needs for staff to meet market and customers' needs
Responsibilities:
- Supervises retail staff to provide customer service
- Ensure operational demands are catered for
- Possess strong product and customer service knowledge
- Conduct trainings for roles in the store
- Perform responsibilities of an assistant retail supervisor
Responsibilities:
- Assist the retail supervisor to oversee the daily store operations
- Achieve store's sales target and maximise profitability
- Prepare monthly roster of the sales team
- Supervise, coach, counsel and coordinate the activities of retail assistants, cashiers and third-party staff
Responsibilities:
- Mentor and guide the work execution of other cashiers
- Plan resources to support smooth operation in the checkout department
- Deliver training materials and conduct on-job-training for new cashiers
- Ensure daily bank-in of monies and be responsible for cash variance analysis and reports
- Perform responsibilities of a cashier
Responsibilities:
- Assist the retail supervisor or manager in inventory management
- Mentor and guide the work execution of other retail assistants
- Handle customer enquiries on promotions and leading customer to products
- Conduct on-job-training for new retail assistants
- Perform responsibilities of a retail assistant
Responsibilities:
- Assist customers in the in-store checkout process
- Process and fulfil online orders if required
- Implement current promotional events during the checkout process
- Provide customer service, such as attending to customers' queries or assisting in customer exchange and refunds
Responsibilities:
- Sell and explain the functions and qualities of products
- Assist customers by pointing out or demonstrating features and merits of products
- Manage and maintain store display standards and arrangement of products
- Stock-take and replenish stock according to company's Standard Operating Procedures
- Keep up to date with the product features, promotions and trends and participate in training to improve product knowledge and service quality
Companies may adopt different job titles, such as "Shop / Sales Assistant / Associate"
Wage requirements
Wage requirements for part-time employees are pro-rated on a 44-hours basis.
The TCR will undertake a review of the wage schedule in 2026.
| Job level |
Monthly gross wage requirements (excluding overtime payments) for full-time retail workers (35-44 hours per week) |
| 1 Sep 2024 - 31 Aug 2025 |
1 Sep 2025 - 31 Aug 2026 |
1 Sep 2026 - 31 Aug 2027 |
1 Sep 2027 - 31 Aug 2028 |
|
Retail manager
Retail supervisor
|
Left to market forces |
|
Assistant retail supervisor
|
≥ $2,635 |
≥ $2,790 |
≥ $2,950 |
≥ $3,100 |
|
Senior cashier / Senior retail assistant
|
≥ $2,395 |
≥ $2,535 |
≥ $2,680 |
≥ $2,820 |
|
Retail assistant / Cashier
|
≥ $2,175 |
≥ $2,305 |
≥ $2,435 |
≥ $2,565 |
Total monthly gross wage (for full-time work of 35-44 hours per week) refers to the sum of:
- Basic wage
- Allowances such as travel, food, and housing
- Productivity incentive payments
It does not include:
- Bonuses including Annual Wage Supplement
- Stock options
- Reimbursement of special expenses incurred in the course of employment
- Payments-in-kind
- Employer CPF contributions
Additional PWM gross wage requirements for overtime
Employers must meet additional requirements for full-time employees who fulfil both of the following conditions:
- work more than 44 hours a week.
- are covered by Part 4 of the Employment Act.
Employers must pay these employees according to both of the following conditions:
- An overtime rate of pay at least 1.5 times the basic rate of pay, according to overtime requirements under Part 4 of the Employment Act.
- A monthly gross wage of at least the PWM gross wage requirements for overtime hours before 1 September 2025 and from 1 September 2025.
| Job level |
Hourly gross wage requirements for part-time retail workers |
| 1 Sep 2024 - 31 Aug 2025 |
1 Sep 2025 - 31 Aug 2026 |
1 Sep 2026 - 31 Aug 2027 |
1 Sep 2027 - 31 Aug 2028 |
|
Retail manager
Retail supervisor
|
Left to market forces |
|
Assistant retail supervisor
|
≥ $13.82 |
≥ $14.63 |
≥ $15.47 |
≥ $16.26 |
|
Senior cashier / Senior retail assistant
|
≥ $12.56 |
≥ $13.30 |
≥ $14.06 |
≥ $14.79 |
|
Retail assistant/ Cashier
|
≥ $11.41 |
≥ $12.09 |
≥ $12.77 |
≥ $13.45 |
Averaging of gross wages
Because the retail sector sees seasonal fluctuations in sales revenue throughout the year, the TCR has agreed for the averaging of the wage requirements for retail employees covered by the retail PWM over a 3-month period.
For a given month, employers must fulfil either one of these conditions:
- The gross wage paid for that month is at least that month's wage requirements (inclusive of OT pay, if any).
- The past 3 months' average gross wage is at least the average of past 3 months' wage requirements (inclusive of OT pay, if any).
More details and worked examples are in Annex D of the TCR's report.
Training requirements
Employers must ensure that their Singapore citizen and permanent resident retail workers meet the following training requirements:
- All Retail PWM job roles: 1 Workforce Skills Qualification (WSQ) module from the list of approved modules or relevant Institute of Higher Learning (IHL) qualification conferred by MOE-registered educational institutions.
- If employer has attained in-house approved training organisation (ATO) status: 1 in-house WSQ training module with prefix “RET” in the Technical Skills & Competencies (TSC) code can be used to meet training requirements as well.
Employers will be given a grace period to comply with the training requirements:
- For new hires: six months from the new hire's date of employment.
Through proper training, retail workers will be able to increase their productivity and offer good retail experiences to customers.
More details on training requirements are found in Annex C of the TCR's report.
Find out more
For more information: