Operational Progressive Wages (OPW) & Training Requirements for Administrators & Drivers
What is Occupational Progressive Wage(OPW)?
Occupational Progressive Wages (OPW) was developed by the National Wages Council (NWC). Companies must meet the Occupational Progressive Wages and training requirements for administrators and drivers who are Singapore citizens or permanent residents. Companies need to comply with by Feb 2024 in order to be able to renew/apply for work permits.
Who It Covers?
The OPW requirements cover all Singapore citizens and permanent residents who are:
Full-time or part-time employees in administrative or driving roles on a contract of service.
Employed by firms which hire foreign workers.
From 1 March 2023, OPW will cover the following administrative and driving roles:
Administrative Assistant/ Executives/ Supervisors
General Drivers/ Specialised Drivers
Wage Requirements
The OPW for administrators is a three-level career progression model while OPW for drivers is a two-level career progression model. They feature:
- Training requirements to ensure that administrators and drivers are equipped with the skills needed to carry out their job functions.
- Progressive wages set at each level to ensure that administrators and drivers are paid wages that commensurate with their skills and productivity.
- The wage requirements recommended in the Tripartite Workgroup on Lower-Wage Workers’ (TWG-LWW) report, will take effect from 1 March 2023.
Wage requirements for part-time workers are pro-rated on a 44-hours basis. If the pro-rated part-time wage requirement is lower than the Local Qualifying Salary part-time wage requirement of $9.00/hour, the part-time wage requirement of $9.00/hour will apply instead.
The NWC will review the OPW wage requirements in 2023, for March 2024 and later.
Training Requirements
Employers must ensure that their Singapore citizen and PR administrators and drivers meet the OPW training requirements of attaining:
- At least 1 Workforce Skills Qualification (WSQ) Statement of Attainment, with no restriction on which WSQ course can be taken; or
- An in-house training programme.
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The in-house training programme must be guided by training objectives, training modality, key training tasks and training duration to meet the training requirements.
When required, employers are expected to show supporting documentation on their in-house training programme and records of workers who attended the trainings.
Phased Implementation of OPW
Employers will be given a grace period to comply with the OPW training requirements:
For new hires: six months from the new hire’s date of employment.
For existing employees: one year from when the OPW takes effect in March 2023; up to 29 February 2024.
