Support measures for both lower-wage workers and employers, through Progressive Wages, Workfare, Workright and Workcare.
Find out how we are supporting lower-wage workers and employers in taking every step forward.
Progressive Wages
Today, up to 9 in 10 lower-wage workers benefit from Progressive Wage moves. These moves include the Local Qualifying Salary, the Progressive Wage Model, and the Progressive Wage Mark.
Employers can also receive co-funding support for wage increases with the Progressive Wage Credit Scheme.
Employers that hire foreign workers must pay all local workers at least the Local Qualifying Salary (LQS) or the Progressive Wage Model wages where applicable.
The Progressive Wage Model (PWM) helps to increase wages of lower-wage workers through skills upgrading and improving productivity.
More than 150,000 lower-wage workers are covered across nine sectors and occupations: cleaning, security, landscape, lift & escalator, retail, food services, waste management and administrators and drivers.
For employees:
For employers:
The Progressive Wage (PW) Mark helps consumers and corporate buyers identify and support employers that pay progressive wages to their lower-wage workers.
Play a part to uplift lower-wage workers by supporting companies with the PW Mark.
To support employers, the Government is co-funding wage increases given to lower-wage workers from 2022 to 2028. The Progressive Wage Credit Scheme will co-fund up to 30% of the wage increases given to lower-wage workers in 2026 to 2028.
Workfare
Workfare supplements income and retirement savings of lower-wage workers and encourages upskilling with training support.
The Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) Scheme provides cash and CPF top-ups to supplement incomes and retirement savings of lower-wage Singaporean workers. Older workers aged 60 and above and all persons with disabilities will receive the highest payments of up to $4,900 per year.
The Workfare Skills Support (WSS) Scheme encourages lower-wage workers, including self-employed persons, to upskill.
Under WSS (Basic), eligible employees taking short-form courses, such as courses recommended under the Progressive Wage Model and Workforce Skills Qualification courses, can automatically receive training allowance and cash awards. Self-employed persons can apply to receive the same support. Employers sponsoring employees for such courses can also apply to receive absentee payroll.
Under WSS (Level-Up), eligible trainees taking long-form training, such as full qualifications from Institutes of Higher Learning and SkillsFuture Career Transition Programmes (SCTP), can apply for training allowance.
Workright
Launched in 2012, Workright protects the employment rights of workers through public education and enforcement of the Employment Act and the CPF Act.
For employees: Check the guide on employment laws to find out your employment rights.
For employers: Read the employer toolkit to find out how to comply with employment laws.
Workcare
Introduced in 2019, Workcare aims to improve the work environments of lower-wage workers and strengthen public appreciation for the work that they do.
In 2022, the Tripartite Standard on Advancing Well-Being of Lower-Wage Workers was launched, which specifies a set of good practices that employers should implement at the workplace to uplift the well-being of lower-wage workers.