SINGAPORE — The Public Transport Tripartite Committee (PTTC)
announced guidelines on good employment practices in the public
transport industry today (Sept 16).
Under the guidelines, all employees affected by each new tender or
change in bus services contracts must be offered a job by an
incoming operator at least 6 months before the contracted
commencement date of the bus service operations.
The incoming operator must also provide at least one month for the
affected employee to consider and accept the offer.
Affected employees must be offered employment terms which are not
worse-off than what they have been enjoying before transition.
This means that terms and conditions of employment given to
affected workers of the outgoing operator, as well as wages and
allowances, at the point of offer of employment, should continue to
be honoured in full.
Incoming operators must also fully recognise the length of service
of affected employees with the outgoing operator as part of their
period of employment with the incoming operator. A driver who
served the outgoing operator for 20 years, for example, will be
given entitlements and benefits based on the driver’s 20 years of
service.
According to the guidelines, all terms and conditions offered by
the incoming operator should remain in force for at least one
year.
These guidelines were created as Singapore moves towards a
Government Contracting Model for the public bus industry in 2016.
The guidelines aim to safeguard the welfare of affected bus workers
and facilitate a smooth transition whenever there is a new tender
or when contracts are awarded to a different operator, said
PTTC.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) will tender three packages of
bus services with service commencement from the second half of
2016. Employee aspects in the guidelines will be included in LTA’s
tender specifications and subsequent contracts.
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