SINGAPORE: The Public Transport Tripartite Committee (PTTC) on Tuesday (Sep 16) issued guidelines to safeguard the job security and welfare of bus employees’ during the transition to the bus contracting model.
The guidelines, covering areas such as employment terms, employee benefits and professional training, define the obligations and responsibilities of both incoming and outgoing bus operators under the new model.
For example, all affected employees must be offered a job by the incoming operator. The offer of employment should be made at least six months before the commencement of bus service operations, and provide at least one month to the affected employee to consider the offer.
They must also be offered employment terms that are not worse than what they have been enjoying before the transition.
All terms and conditions offered by the incoming operator should remain in force for at least one year after the date of commencement of bus services, the PTTC added. Any change in such terms and conditions may be considered subject to mutual consent by the contracting parties and Land Transport Authority’s (LTA) endorsement.
Additionally, employees can choose to join the new operator or be redeployed by their current employer, where feasible.
In redeploying the employees to another suitable job, the outgoing operator should ensure that adequate training is provided and that their terms and conditions of employment are pegged at a reasonable level taking into consideration their existing job scope and responsibilities.
PTTC urged affected employees to keep an open mind and give due consideration the offer of employment by the incoming operator. If employees choose not to accept the offer, they should consider redeployment options that may include supporting the operations of other bus routes.
The guidelines will be incorporated into LTA’s tender specifications and subsequent contracts with the public bus operators, the committee added.
In May, the Government announced it will implement a contracting model for the public bus industry whereby companies will be contracted to operate bus services through a competitive tendering process. The first tender is supposed to take place in the second half of 2014, and successful bidders will start operating their services from the second half of 2016.
news source & image credit: channelnewsasia.com / Xabryna Kek
