MINISTRY OF LABOUR

PRESS RELEASE - 28 FEB 97

SCHEME FOR NTS WORKERS FOR TOWN COUNCIL CLEANING CONTRACTORS

On 2 December 1996, the Minister for Labour announced a special scheme to allow Town Council cleaning contractors to employ foreign workers from non-traditional sources (NTS). The scheme will be implemented with effect from 1 March 1997.

2 Currently, Town Council cleaning contractors are allowed to employ foreign workers from traditional sources only. A review conducted by the Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of National Development indicated that there is scope to step up mechanisation efforts and explore measures to reduce manpower needs in the industry. The NTS scheme is to help Town Council cleaning contractors meet their manpower shortage in the short term while the industry upgrades and reduces its manpower requirement in the longer run.

3 Cleaning contractors who wish to participate in the scheme must have cleaning contracts with Town Councils. Allocated NTS workers are only allowed to work in the Town Council estates covered by their Town Council contracts. To qualify for the scheme, Town Council cleaning contractors must be registered with the Construction Industry and Development Board, and have at least a paid-up capital of $500,000. They have to demonstrate that they have invested at least $100,000 in labour-saving equipment. They must also undertake to provide proper housing for the NTS workers. Cleaning contractors must provide their NTS workers with uniforms and issue security passes for easy identification.

4 In addition, only contractors with Town Council contracts of at least 2-year duration can participate in the scheme. For the transition period, however, Town Council cleaning contractors with remaining contract duration of at least one year with effect from 1 March 1997 will be allowed to participate in the scheme. The waiver of the 2-year contract requirement will lapse after 30 June 1997.

5 In allocating NTS workers to the Town Councils, the Work Permit Department will use a guideline of 1 NTS worker for 1,600 equivalent dwelling units. This has been assessed to be adequate to meet the Town Council contractors' shortfall in workers for some of the more difficult cleaning tasks. The Work Permit Department will also consult the Town Councils on the allocation of Town Councils' NTS quota to specific contractors. Each eligible contractor will also be subjected to the overall foreign worker dependency ceiling of 25% for the service sector. The monthly levy for each worker is $440. NTS workers will be subject to the prevailing work permit conditions, such as medical examinations, requirement of a security bond, etc.

6 Contractors have to seek the endorsement of the Town Councils with which they have a cleaning contract when applying for work permits for NTS workers. They have to submit the work permit application forms via the Town Councils, which will verify that the contractors meet the conditions for the scheme, and indicate the number of work permits they support for each contractor.

7 Those interested can obtain further details on the scheme and the application forms from the Work Permit Department at 18 Havelock Road or their respective Town Council offices. Enquiries could be made at Tel: 5383033 at the Work Permit Department.