SBS Transit Bus Captains to get higher pay, new and enhanced incentives and benefits

Singaporeans and Singapore Permanent Residents (SPR) who join SBS Transit as Bus Captains can draw a monthly gross salary of about $3,460, which represents an increase of more than 15%. They will also receive a sign-on bonus of $3,000.

The revised salary package, which is the result of close consultations and negotiations with the National Transport Workers Union (NTWU), is covered under the SBS Transit - NTWU Collective Agreement. It benefits close to 10,000 SBS Transit employees, of which 6,500 are bus captains.

Under the revised salary scheme, new Singaporean and SPR Bus Captains will start at a monthly basic salary of $1,950, which is $175 more than the $1,775 currently.

Their salaries will also be bolstered with the extension of the newly introduced reliability incentive which pays up to $300 a month.

Under the Bus Service Reliability Framework (BSRF), which involves 25 bus services on trial until August 2016, Bus Captains receive an incentive if they achieve the set targets. With bus services coming under the new Bus Contracting Model starting September 2016, the reliability incentive will eventually be extended to all Bus Captains. In addition, the amounts for performance, productivity and safety incentives will also be adjusted upwards.

With overtime, adjustments in salary and incentives and the new reliability incentive, new local hires can earn a gross salary of about $3,460 a month in their first year of employment with SBS Transit. The salary package will come with new and enhanced benefits. These include two weeks of paid paternity leave, free travel on all train and basic bus services, free annual health screening and the roll-out of a new flexible benefits scheme with an annual credit value of $500.

SBS Transit Chief Executive Officer, Mr Gan Juay Kiat, said: "With this new package, we hope to attract more Singaporeans and Singapore Permanent Residents to join us as Bus Captains and strengthen our Singaporean core. With structured training programmes to develop the professionalism and competency of our Bus Captains, we also offer attractive career progression opportunities where they can move up to executive and managerial positions in Operations, Management and Training. In all, we have put together a package that offers an attractive career in the Bus industry."

National Transport Workers' Union Executive Secretary, Mr Melvin Yong said: "As the Singapore public bus industry grows and evolves, this review of employment terms and career progression for our Bus Captains is timely. By implementing the Progressive Wage Model and various career pathway opportunities, these are important steps to professionalise our public bus industry so that we can better attract and retain staff; and also to build a stronger Singaporean core. As our biggest local public bus operator, SBS Transit sets a good example in the fast growing industry. Working closely with the NTWU, the company sought to review the slew of welfare benefits for our Bus Captains, putting in place free health checks and staff transport services. The NTWU is also happy that SBS Transit has committed to share the BSRF incentive with our Bus Captains and support staff, who contributed significantly to achieving the various BSRF targets."

As SBS Transit has adopted a Progressive Wage Model (PWM) since 2012, Bus Captains who perform well will enjoy career progression. From Bus Captains, they can progress to become Senior Bus Captains and then Chief Bus Captains, which is the highest grade, drawing a monthly gross salary of about $5,500 or more. Bus Captains can also progress to non-driving roles to assume executive and managerial roles in Interchange and Depot Operations and Management, the Bus Operations Control Centres, and Training.

Under the PWM, Bus Captains can expect to continually upgrade their skills, boost their productivity, and enjoy career progression with increases to their salaries.