<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Numbers of part-time, contract staff set to grow
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Goh Chin Lian
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->With the economic downturn, Singapore can expect the pool of part-time and contract workers to swell.
The trend worries Mr Lim Boon Heng, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, because these workers rarely receive social security coverage such as medical benefits and contributions to their Central Provident Fund (CPF) accounts.
Singapore needs to address this problem, he said yesterday, suggesting that the National Wages Council (NWC) study the issue over the next two years.
His call comes as the NWC, prompted by the worsening economic crisis, prepares to reconvene next month to revise wage guidelines set this May.
Mr Lim warned that 'if we do not establish a national consensus on their terms of employment', Singapore could face a situation similar to that in Japan in the 1990s, when the number of these disadvantaged workers rose.
The former labour chief drew the comparison at a dinner to mark the 40th anniversary of electronics manufacturer Singapore Epson Industrial. He lauded the Japanese manufacturer, which has more than 800 employees here, as a socially responsible employer for treating its contract workers in the same manner as employees on its permanent payroll.
'But other employers may not be so enlightened as Singapore Epson,' he said.
Cleaner Ho Chee Peng, 64, thinks the interests of contract workers like him - there were 183,600 of them last year - should be protected.
While his present boss gives him 14 days' annual leave and contributes to his CPF account, his previous boss did neither, he said.
Earlier this year, a tripartite committee issued guidelines to protect low-wage contract workers such as cleaners and security guards. These included requiring bosses to make CPF contributions, and ensuring that such workers are hired for at least six months so that they can qualify for annual leave.
In his speech, Mr Lim also called on the labour movement and employers to jointly find ways to encourage all workers to save.
He noted that after the 2003 Sars crisis, cabbies were encouraged to set up savings accounts to draw on should another Sars-like crisis hurt their earnings.
'However, I believe most taxi drivers have not been able to keep it up,' he said.
He also warned that when the current crisis bottoms out, the recovery will be long and wage growth will be slow or stagnant - a view held by many analysts.
It was a state Japan suffered in the 1990s when an asset inflation bubble led to wages remaining stagnant for many years and the number of part-time and contract workers rising, he added. Are part-time and contract workers prejudiced against by employers? Send your comments to [email protected]
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Goh Chin Lian
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->With the economic downturn, Singapore can expect the pool of part-time and contract workers to swell.
The trend worries Mr Lim Boon Heng, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, because these workers rarely receive social security coverage such as medical benefits and contributions to their Central Provident Fund (CPF) accounts.
Singapore needs to address this problem, he said yesterday, suggesting that the National Wages Council (NWC) study the issue over the next two years.
His call comes as the NWC, prompted by the worsening economic crisis, prepares to reconvene next month to revise wage guidelines set this May.
Mr Lim warned that 'if we do not establish a national consensus on their terms of employment', Singapore could face a situation similar to that in Japan in the 1990s, when the number of these disadvantaged workers rose.
The former labour chief drew the comparison at a dinner to mark the 40th anniversary of electronics manufacturer Singapore Epson Industrial. He lauded the Japanese manufacturer, which has more than 800 employees here, as a socially responsible employer for treating its contract workers in the same manner as employees on its permanent payroll.
'But other employers may not be so enlightened as Singapore Epson,' he said.
Cleaner Ho Chee Peng, 64, thinks the interests of contract workers like him - there were 183,600 of them last year - should be protected.
While his present boss gives him 14 days' annual leave and contributes to his CPF account, his previous boss did neither, he said.
Earlier this year, a tripartite committee issued guidelines to protect low-wage contract workers such as cleaners and security guards. These included requiring bosses to make CPF contributions, and ensuring that such workers are hired for at least six months so that they can qualify for annual leave.
In his speech, Mr Lim also called on the labour movement and employers to jointly find ways to encourage all workers to save.
He noted that after the 2003 Sars crisis, cabbies were encouraged to set up savings accounts to draw on should another Sars-like crisis hurt their earnings.
'However, I believe most taxi drivers have not been able to keep it up,' he said.
He also warned that when the current crisis bottoms out, the recovery will be long and wage growth will be slow or stagnant - a view held by many analysts.
It was a state Japan suffered in the 1990s when an asset inflation bubble led to wages remaining stagnant for many years and the number of part-time and contract workers rising, he added. Are part-time and contract workers prejudiced against by employers? Send your comments to [email protected]
