Progressive Wage (PW) Mark

What is the Progressive Wage (PW) Mark? What firms are eligible for it?

The PW is an accreditation scheme that recognises firms that pay progressive wages to lower-wage workers. It enables consumers and corporate buyers to easily identify and support such firms.

A firm that employs at least one local resident worker (i.e. Singapore citizens and permanent residents) covered by the prevailing Sectoral Progressive Wages (SPW) or Occupational Progressive Wages (OPW) under the Progressive Wage Model that have taken effect will be eligible to apply for the PW Mark.

To be accredited with the PW Mark, the firm must (i) pay the relevant worker(s) according to the SPW or OPW requirements, and (ii) pay all other local resident workers at least the Local Qualifying Salary (LQS).

Firms may refer to Ministry of Manpower (MOM)’s website to check the wage schedules and job descriptions of occupations covered by the prevailing SPW and OPW, to determine whether their workers should be classified under SPW and/or OPW, and the progressive wages that apply to them.

If firms are uncertain on the classification of the workers or have disagreements with their workers on the classification, they may submit a query to MOM for clarifications and advice at mom_lrwd@mom.gov.sg. MOM will follow up with these firms.

What is the difference between the Progressive Wage (PW) Mark and PW Mark Plus?

The PW Mark and PW Mark Plus are two separate tiers in the same accreditation framework.

Firms can obtain the PW Mark by paying applicable employees the prevailing Sectoral or Occupational Progressive Wages that apply to them, and paying all other local employees at least the Local Qualifying Salary.

PW Mark Plus is a higher tier of accreditation conferred to firms that on top of paying the Progressive Wages laid out above, they also commit to advance the well-being of lower-wage workers by adopting the Tripartite Standard on Advancing Well-Being of Lower-Wage Workers.

How many Progressive Wage (PW) Mark can I apply for?

Each firm can only have one PW Mark accreditation (i.e. either PW Mark or PW Mark Plus) at any one time.

My firm already has Progressive Wage (PW) Mark. How can I apply for PW Mark Plus?

To be accredited with the PW Mark Plus, firms that already qualify for the PW Mark will need to adopt the Tripartite Standard on Advancing Well-Being of Lower-Wage Workers (TS-LWW), which recognises firms that adopt practices to advance the well-being of lower-wage workers beyond raising wages.

The TS-LWW outlines a set of progressive workplace practices to provide better workplace support for our lower-wage workers in the areas of training and career development, workplace safety and health, and rest area provision.

You may apply to upgrade your firm’s PW Mark accreditation to PW Mark Plus by either:

submitting a new application for PW Mark Plus on GoBusiness, which includes the adoption of the TS-LWW (if not already an existing adopter); or
applying to adopt the TS-LWW via Tripartite Alliance for Fair & Progressive Employment Practices’ (TAFEP) website directly. More information is available here. For queries on Tripartite Standards, you may email TAFEP at ts@tafep.sg.

Once your TS-LWW adoption has been successful, your firm’s PW Mark accreditation will be upgraded automatically.

How can I maintain or renew my accreditation?

The accreditation is valid for one year from the date of approval.

As long as your firm continues to meet the eligibility for the Progressive Wage (PW) Mark or PW Mark Plus, it will be renewed automatically and there is no need to submit another application to maintain your accreditation when the current one expires.

To facilitate auto-renewal of the accreditation, your firm should continue to pay the relevant local workers the relevant Sectoral or Occupational Progressive Wages, and all other local workers at least the Local Qualifying Salary.

Your firm will need to update the Occupational Employment Dataset (OED) as and when there are changes to the occupational and employment details of your employees. If there are no changes to the information you have provided, no further action is required from you. The system will automatically populate the records for you if there are no changes from month to month.

For queries related to the OED, you may contact the Manpower Research & Statistics Department under Ministry of Manpower directly at 6320 7722 (Monday - Friday, 8:30am to 5:30pm) or send them an email enquiry at MOM_OED@mom.gov.sg.

What is Occupational Employment Dataset (OED) and how does it affect my application for Progressive Wage (PW) Mark?

The OED is an online registry that is managed by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), and it collects the occupational and employment data of current workers in Singapore.

After the submission of the PW Mark application, the specific information from your OED (i.e. Contractual Working Hours, Progressive Wage Model (PWM) Job Level, PWM Job Description, Total number of working days in the month, Actual number of days worked in the month) will be used to match against the declared wage data that you have submitted to Central Provident Fund Board (CPFB) to determine if you have met the PW Mark eligibility criteria.

Please ensure that you have submitted the latest occupational and employment details of all your workers in Occupational Employment Dataset (OED) before applying for the PW Mark.

What must I take note for my OED submission?

Provide the full identification number (NRIC) of all your local workers.
Update the PWM Job Level column for workers covered by the PWM.
For part-time workers who do not work the full contractual working hours, please indicate the actual number of working hours they have worked per week under the ‘Contractual Working Hours’ column. For example, if the part-time worker has worked 20 hours a month, you can derive the actual number of working hours per week by applying this formula: 20 * 12 / 52 = 4.62 hours per week.
To aid you in fulfilling the PW Mark eligibility criteria, the Local Qualifying Salary (LQS) and PW requirements will be pro-rated for employees who worked an incomplete month (e.g. leavers, new joiners and workers who are on leave). By providing MOM with the total number of working days and the actual number of days worked in the month, MOM will be able to accurately pro-rate the LQS/PW requirements.

a. For example, if a LQS worker has worked 10 days out of 22 working days in the month, MOM will pro-rate the wage requirement for the LQS worker by applying this formula: 10 / 22 * $1,400 (assuming the LQS worker worked between 35-44 hours per week) = $636.36.

b. For new joiners, you would need to update these columns: Date Joined, Total number of working days in the month and Actual number of days worked in the month.

c. For workers who are leaving or have left the firm, you would need to update these columns: Date Left, Mode of Leaving, Total number of working days in the month and Actual number of days worked in the month.

d. For employees who took paid or unpaid leave in the month, you would need to update these columns: Total number of working days in the month and Actual number of days worked in the month.
There are employees who are found in CPFB records but are not found in OED. Please update these employee records in OED.
There are employees who are found in OED records but are not found in CPFB. Please submit the CPF contributions for these employees to CPFB.

Where can I download my Progressive Wage (PW) Mark e-Certificate?

Once you have received an email to notify you that your firm’s PW Mark application has been approved, your e-Certificate will be ready on the same day. You may log in to GoBusiness to download your PW Mark e-Certificate from your dashboard.

My application is 'Rejected'. Why is this so?

Below are some of the common reasons for why your application is rejected.

Your OED was not updated, or MOM did not receive an OED submission from you. Please ensure that you have submitted the latest occupational and employment details of all your workers in Occupational Employment Dataset (OED).
From your OED submission, your firm does not hire any PW workers. To be eligible for the PW Mark, your firm will need to hire at least 1 local worker covered by the PWM. If your firm hires PW workers, please update the relevant PWM Job Level for the PW workers in OED.
Your employees are found to be paid below the LQS/PW requirement. This could be because your employees have worked an incomplete month (e.g. new joiners, leavers, workers who on leave), hence the wage that they received is lower than the full monthly wage. If so, please update the total number of working days in the month, actual number of days worked in the month, date joined (applicable for new joiners), date left and mode of leaving (applicable for leavers). For part-time workers who do not work the full contractual working hours, please indicate the actual number of working hours they have worked per week under the ‘Contractual Working Hours’ column.

Can I re-apply for the PW Mark if my application is 'Rejected'?

You may re-apply for the PW Mark once you have rectified the issues mentioned above.

Can I get the Progressive Wage (PW) Mark even if I do not hire any workers under Sectoral PW or Occupational PW?

You are eligible for PW Mark only if you hire at least one local worker covered by the prevailing Sectoral PW or Occupational PW that has taken effect, and will be accredited if you pay these relevant workers according to the PW requirements.

If you do not hire local workers under Sectoral PW or Occupational PW, your firm is not eligible for the PW Mark.

However, you can still demonstrate your efforts to uplift lower-wage workers by adopting the Tripartite Standard on Advancing Well-Being of Lower-Wage Workers (TS-LWW), which recognises firms that adopt practices to advance the well-being of lower-wage workers. This includes providing support to help lower-wage workers upskill, and providing access to proper and reasonable rest areas for lower-wage workers working in your premises.

My firm is a government supplier. Do I need to get the Progressive Wage (PW) Mark?

For new tenders called from 1 March 2023 and quotations from 1 March 2024, the Government will require awarded suppliers and their subcontractors to be accredited with the PW Mark for the contract period, if they are eligible for it.

Suppliers and their subcontractors who do not hire any workers covered by Sectoral PWs or Occupational PWs are ineligible for the PW Mark. Hence, they are not required to be accredited.

We encourage potential suppliers who hire at least one local worker covered by Sectoral PWs or Occupational PWs to apply for and obtain the PW Mark in advance to be in good stead to fulfil the government procurement terms.

Can I adopt the Tripartite Standard on Advancing Well-Being of Lower-Wage Workers (TS-LWW) if I do not hire any lower-wage workers?

Yes, you are encouraged to adopt the TS-LWW. Although it focuses on lower-wage workers’ needs, the practices (e.g. to provide rest areas for workers) are also applicable to other groups of workers, including outsourced lower-wage workers.

Adopting the TS-LWW will reflect your commitment to adhere to these practices if you hire lower-wage workers in the future.

Firms applying only to adopt the TS-LWW, and not the PW Mark Plus, may do so directly on Tripartite Alliance for Fair & Progressive Employment Practices’ (TAFEP) website.

Who can I contact for more information?

For more information on the Progressive Wage Mark, you may visit SBF’s website. For queries on your accreditation, please contact the SBF PW Mark Administration Office at pwmark@sbf.org.sg.

To learn more about Tripartite Standards, you may visit TAFEP’s website. For queries on Tripartite Standards, you may email Tripartite Alliance for Fair & Progressive Employment Practices at ts@tafep.sg.

For queries related to the OED, you may contact the Manpower Research & Statistics Department under Ministry of Manpower directly at 6320 7722 (Monday - Friday, 8:30am to 5:30pm) or send them an email enquiry at MOM_OED@mom.gov.sg.