Update on Household Services Scheme
Ministry of ManpowerSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the status and potential formalization of the Household Services Scheme (HSS) pilot, as raised by Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang. Minister Josephine Teo reported that the scheme has expanded to 71 companies serving over 10,000 households and has been extended until August 2021. The Ministry of Manpower is currently reviewing the pilot to establish it as a permanent scheme while managing risks like the diversion of workers to non-domestic tasks. Additionally, the Ministry is assessing whether the scheme can be expanded to include other services, such as care-giving, to better support households. The review evaluates the effectiveness of the HSS in meeting the needs of households and providers while ensuring foreign workers are utilized correctly.
Transcript
5 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Manpower (a) whether she can provide an update on the pilot Household Services Scheme (HSS) that allows foreign workers to provide domestic services to households; (b) whether the pilot HSS has been considered a success; and (c) whether the Ministry will consider formalising and expanding the HSS.
Mrs Josephine Teo: The Household Services Scheme (HSS) was piloted in 2017 to allow eligible companies to hire more foreign workers to provide part-time household services, such as home cleaning. Since then, the HSS pilot has seen a reasonable level of interest from participating companies to meet the demand for part-time household services. The number of HSS companies expanded from 15 in 2017 to 71 currently. These companies are estimated to serve more than 10,000 households.
The pilot has been extended to run for another year, until August 2021. This is to allow firms and households to continue benefitting from the Scheme while the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) focused on managing the COVID-19 crisis.
MOM is currently reviewing the pilot with a view to formalise it as a permanent scheme. The review takes into consideration the effectiveness of the scheme in meeting the needs of households and providers of domestic services, and the risk of HSS workers being diverted by companies to non-domestic work. We are also assessing if the scheme can be expanded to allow HSS workers to support other types of domestic services, such as care-giving services.