Environmental Public Health (General Cleaning Industry) (Amendment) Regulations 2023

No. S 459

Environmental Public Health Act 1987

Environmental Public Health
(General Cleaning Industry)
(Amendment) Regulations 2023

In exercise of the powers conferred by section 111 of the Environmental Public Health Act 1987, the National Environment Agency, with the approval of the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment, makes the following Regulations:

Citation and commencement

1.—(1) These Regulations are the Environmental Public Health (General Cleaning Industry) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 and, except for regulations 2(c) and 4, come into operation on 1 July 2023.

(2) Regulations 2(c) and 4 are deemed to have come into operation on 31 December 2021.

Amendment of regulation 2

2. In the Environmental Public Health (General Cleaning Industry) Regulations 2014 (G.N. No. S 240/2014) (called in these Regulations the principal Regulations), in regulation 2 —

(a)

before the definition of “licensee”, insert —

“ “identification number” means —

(a)	in the case of an individual who is a citizen or permanent resident of Singapore and who has been issued with an identity card under the National Registration Act 1965, his or her Singapore identity card number (including the letters that form the prefix and suffix to the identity card number); or
(b)	in the case of any other individual, the country that issued his or her passport followed by his or her passport number and (if applicable) work permit number;”;

(b)

after the definition of “licensee”, insert —

“ “resident cleaner” means a cleaner who is a citizen or permanent resident of Singapore;”;

(c)

in the definition of “salary period”, replace “(Cap. 91)” with “1968”;

(d)

in the definition of “salary period”, replace the full‑stop at the end with a semi‑colon; and

(e)

after the definition of “salary period”, insert —

“ “section 80H(2) Order” means an order made by the Commissioner for Labour under section 80H(2) of the Act in respect of cleaners.”.

New regulation 2A

3. In the principal Regulations, after regulation 2, insert —

“Components of “progressive wage model bonus”

2A. For the purposes of paragraph (b) of the definition of “progressive wage model bonus” (as defined in section 2 of the Act), a progressive wage model bonus in relation to a cleaner includes any additional payment by a licensee to the cleaner by way of bonus payments or annual wage supplements.”.

Amendment of regulation 3

4. In the principal Regulations, in regulation 3(2), replace “(Cap. 117A)” with “1993”.

Replacement of regulations 4, 5 and 6 and deletion of regulations 7, 8 and 9

5. In the principal Regulations, replace regulations 4 to 9 with —

“Prescribed requirements for application for cleaning business licence

4.—(1) For the purposes of section 80G(4)(e) of the Act, the prescribed requirement for an application for a cleaning business licence is that as at the date of the application, the applicant has at least one officer or employee who —

(a)

has at least 2 years of practical experience in supervising cleaning work; or

(b)

has been certified by the SkillsFuture Singapore Agency for having attended —

(i)	at least one training module under the Singapore Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) System that is specified in Part 1 of the Second Schedule; and
(ii)	at least one training module under the Singapore Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) System that is specified in Part 2 of the Second Schedule.

(2) For the purposes of section 80I(2) (read with section 80G(4)(e)) of the Act, the prescribed requirements for an application for the renewal of a cleaning business licence are —

(a)

during the period of 12 months immediately before the date of the application, the applicant must have performed or started performing at least one cleaning contract under a valid cleaning business licence; or

(b)

in the case where the applicant does not satisfy the requirement in sub‑paragraph (a), as at the date of the application, the applicant has at least one officer or employee who —

(i)

has at least 2 years of practical experience in supervising cleaning work; or

(ii)

has been certified by the SkillsFuture Singapore Agency for having attended —

(A)	at least one training module under the Singapore Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) System that is specified in Part 1 of the Second Schedule; and
(B)	at least one training module under the Singapore Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) System that is specified in Part 2 of the Second Schedule.

(3) In this regulation —

“officer” has the meaning given by section 80G(8) of the Act;

“SkillsFuture Singapore Agency” means the body that is established by section 3 of the SkillsFuture Singapore Agency Act 2016.

Requirements of progressive wage plan

5. For the purposes of section 80G(4)(c) of the Act, the progressive wage plan of an applicant for the grant or renewal of a cleaning business licence must —

(a)	relate to every citizen or permanent resident of Singapore the licensee or applicant employs or proposes to employ as a cleaner in its cleaning business;
(b)	specify the basic wage payable to every cleaner in paragraph (a) that is on an increasing scale depending on seniority, responsibilities, cleaning work experience and training received;
(c)	specify an amount as the basic wage for each class of cleaners in paragraph (a) that is not less than the amount specified under section 80H(2)(a) of the Act for that class; and
(d)	specify that where the cleaner belongs to a class of cleaners specified as eligible for a progressive wage model bonus under section 80H(2)(b) of the Act, the cleaner will be paid a progressive wage model bonus.

Conditions of cleaning business licence

6.—(1) For the purposes of section 80H(1) of the Act, the following conditions are imposed on every licensee:

(a)

in the case where the licensee was required to satisfy the requirement in regulation 4(1) or (2)(b) in respect of the grant or renewal of the cleaning business licence, the licensee must ensure that at all times at least one of the licensee’s officers or employees has the practical experience or qualification mentioned in regulation 4(1) or (2)(b), as the case may be;

(b)

the licensee must enter into a contract of service in writing with each cleaner employed by the licensee;

(c)

every contract of service entered into between the licensee and every resident cleaner must provide for the payment of a basic wage and a progressive wage model bonus to the resident cleaner, that —

(i)	is not less than the minimum amount of basic wage and minimum amount of progressive wage model bonus, respectively; and
(ii)	in the case of a progressive wage model bonus, is at the frequency,

specified by the section 80H(2) Order for the class of cleaners to which the resident cleaner belongs;

(d)

the licensee must ensure that every cleaner employed by the licensee satisfies the training requirements as may be specified by the Director‑General for the class of cleaners to which the cleaner belongs;

(e)

the licensee must not deploy any individual who is not employed by the licensee to carry out any cleaning work, unless the individual is a cleaner employed by another licensee;

(f)

the licensee must keep the records, accounts or documents specified in paragraph (2) for the period of retention specified in paragraph (3).

(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1)(f), the records, accounts or documents are —

(a)

a copy of every cleaning contract entered into by the licensee —

(i)	in respect of which performance under that cleaning contract has not started or has started but not completed as at the date of the licensee’s application for a cleaning business licence; or
(ii)	in respect of which performance under that cleaning contract has been completed during the 12 months immediately preceding the date of the licensee’s application for a cleaning business licence;

(b)

the accounts of the licensee’s cleaning business;

(c)

a copy of the contract of service between the licensee and every cleaner —

(i)	who is in the licensee’s employ as at the date of the licensee’s application for the grant or renewal of the licensee’s cleaning business licence; or
(ii)	who is employed by the licensee after that date,

including any amendment, variation or addition to the contract of service; and

(d)

training records in respect of each cleaner the licensee employs containing all of the following particulars in respect of each cleaner:

(i)	the cleaner’s full name;
(ii)	the cleaner’s date of birth;
(iii)	the cleaner’s identification number;
(iv)	the courses and training modules (including the name and course code thereof) that the cleaner has attended, whether before or during the cleaner’s employment with the licensee;
(v)	the name of the training provider of each course and training module mentioned in sub‑paragraph (iv);
(vi)	the date and results of any assessment that the cleaner has taken, whether before or during the cleaner’s employment with the licensee.

(3) The period of retention mentioned in paragraph (1)(f) is —

(a)	in the case of the records specified in paragraph (2)(a) — 4 years after the expiry of the cleaning contract concerned;
(b)	in the case of the accounts specified in paragraph (2)(b) — 4 years after the end of the period to which the accounts relate;
(c)	in the case of the records specified in paragraph (2)(c) — 4 years after the end of the employment of the cleaner to whom those records relate; and
(d)	in the case of the training records specified in paragraph (2)(d) — for as long as the cleaner concerned is employed by the licensee.”.

Replacement of Second Schedule

6. In the principal Regulations, replace the Second Schedule with —

“SECOND SCHEDULE

Regulation 4(1) and (2)

Training modules under Singapore Workforce
Skills Qualifications (WSQ) system

Part 1

Technical skills and competency title

Competency code

1.	Supervising service operations

CLG-SS-301C-1

2.	Customer management

EVS-PDV-3005-1.1

Part 2

Technical skills and competency title

Competency code

1.	Demonstrate and apply understanding of cleaning methods and processes

CLG-SS-304C-1

2.	Effectiveness management

EVS-PDV-3002-1.1

”.

[G.N. No. S 1023/2022]

Made on 27 June 2023.

LEE CHUAN SENG

Chairperson,
National Environment Agency,
Singapore.

[MSE/C030/01/138; NEA/LD/42; AG/LEGIS/SL/95/2020/26 Vol. 1]

(To be presented to Parliament under section 111(4) of the Environmental Public Health Act 1987).

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