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The Ministry said it will continue to monitor the salary movements of community care staff against the recommended salary levels through yearly surveys.
The salary guidelines for Singapore's community care sector, published on 14 February 2024, aim to provide greater transparency and clarity to amongst jobseekers and community care workers, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has affirmed.
Through in-depth engagement sessions with the community care organisations (CCOs), the Ministry said it has been able to provide guidance on implementation, such as establishing the appropriate banding of staff and salaries.
MOH was responding to a Parliamentary question by Member of Parliament Yip Hon Weng, who had asked for the rationale for the existence of separate salary guidelines for the community care sector issued by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Social and Family Development through the National Council of Social Service; and whether the Ministries will collaborate to develop a unified set of salary guidelines to avoid confusion within the sector and to ensure consistency and clarity for both employers and employees.
MOH highlighted: "It is in the CCO’s own interest to abide by the guidelines, or they will not be competitive in attracting and retaining their staff, or pay them salaries that is commensurate with their contributions".
The Ministry added that it will continue to monitor the salary movements of community care staff against the recommended salary levels through yearly surveys. In reviewing the guidelines, it will consider salary movements in relevant labour markets.
Keeping in mind the existing differences in the job roles and benchmarked to different sectors, MOH and the Ministry of Social and Family Development’s (MSF) salary guidelines apply to the healthcare and social service sectors respectively. That being said, MOH and MSF will continue to exchange salary review plans and information on a regular basis.
MOH further affirmed that higher salaries will lead to higher operating costs for all CCOs. It said: "Since 2020, the Ministry has funded CCOs through the community care salary enhancements exercise, and will continue to fund and support CCOs to adopt the salary guidelines. However, CCOs will need to co-fund some of the salary increases and these could translate into modest increases in their fees.
"Beyond ensuring competitive salaries in the community care sector, MOH and its agencies support the CCOs in ensureing that their workforce is future-ready through training and development programmes."
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Lead image / 123rf
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