Since 1 June, it has become mandatory for diners to return their own trays and clean their table litter at public dining areas. This include table litter like used tissues, wet wipes, straws, canned drinks, plastic bottles as well as spilled food.
The National Environment Agency (NEA) said that from 1 June until 31 August, there will be an advisory period where no enforcement action will be taken in order to help diners adjust with this new rule. Instead, diners will be only be advised to follow the rule during this period.
Given that it has become compulsory for diners to clean up their own table after eating, there are now more job vacancies available in search of Ambassadors who can advise diners on cleaning up their own table as well as promote the Programme.
One such advertisement was posted on the website of a recruitment agency BGC Group. The job ad, which is titled “Kindness Support@Hawker Centres”, is looking for individuals who can perform a number of responsibilities.
The responsibilities include increase the tray return rate at Productive Hawker Centres, promote Tray Return Initiative with diners, conduct sharing sessions with diners as well as plan and execute other promotion activities to encourage people to return their trays at hawker centres.
As for the requirements, candidates need to have a minimum N Level qualification, fluent in English and mother tongue, good communication skills, among others.
While this is a good initiative taken by the Government, but the salary range that is being offered has taken us by surprise.
The salary is based on education qualifications and experience where those with N Level qualification will be paid S$8.60 an hour, whereas those with a Degree will be paid S$21.30 an hour.
If the workers work 8 hours a day for 5 days a week, that translates to S$1,376 (N Levels) and S$3,408 (Degree).
A similar vacancy advertised on MyCareerFuture is offering salary ranging from S$1,400 to S$2,200.
As for another same vacancy advertised on online job portal Monster.com, Tray Return Ambassador is being offered the same range of S$1,400 to S$2,200.
Cleaners earn lesser than Tray Return Ambassador
While the average salary range for these Ambassadors is from S$1,400 to S$2,200, cleaners in Singapore, especially those who work in hawker centres, earn lesser.
As of now, general cleaners receive a minimum of S$1,236 in base wages, which is an increase from S$1,000 to S$1,200 between 2017 and 2019, and by 3 percent last year.
There are two more 3 percent salary raise that would result in their base wages to go up to S$1,312 by July 2022.
This is part of the Progressive Wage Model (PWM) which will sees an increment in salaries for cleaners each year over six years from 2023.
Under PWM, the increase will be for cleaners across all job levels (cleaner to cleaning supervisor) and it will rise up to between S$1,570 and S$2,210 in 2023. The amount will subsequently increase by at least S$170 annually until 2028.
For example, a full-time general or indoor cleaner will be entitled for a monthly wage of S$1,570 in July 2023. This means the worker gets a pay hike of S$258, which is nearly 20 percent increase from the recommended salary of S$1,312 in 2022.
Based on this new wage adjustments, workers in different categories like restroom cleaners and healthcare cleaners will be paid at least S$1,795 yearly. Higher-skilled employees such as supervisors and mechanical drivers will be given at least S$2,210.
While these cleaners will eventually see a pay rise, but as of now their salary is lower than Tray Return Ambassadors.
To make it worse, their job is also very laborious with long-working hours compared to Tray Return Ambassadors.
