Document period and use
This article explains the 2021 document. Its original dates, wage figures and examples are retained as historical context; later orders and wage schedules take precedence for subsequent payroll periods.
Framework and expansion roadmap
The report combines Progressive Wages, Workfare and whole-of-society support. It recommends sectoral PWM expansion to retail, food services and waste management, extension of cleaning/security/landscape PWM to in-house workers, and occupational wages for administrators and drivers.
The proposed implementation was September 2022 for retail, in-house workers and the firm-wide LQS requirement, March 2023 for food services and occupational wages, and 2023 for waste management. Employers hiring foreign workers would need to meet applicable wage floors for local employees.
Other chapters address fair hourly treatment of part-time and overtime work, annual NWC guidance, skills and productivity, public procurement, the Progressive Wage Mark, and social appreciation for essential workers. The report distinguishes baseline wage progression from total support such as Workfare.
Evidence and projected outcomes
The study uses the 20th-percentile full-time resident income, then S$2,033 including employer CPF in June 2020, alongside income growth, employment rates and distribution by sector and age. Its projections include a general cleaner’s basic floor rising from S$1,312 in 2022 to S$2,420 in 2028, not an assertion that every worker already earned that amount in 2021.