By Goh Chin Lian

An office cleaner quit last month after she had enough of pay cuts, longer working hours and loss of benefits in four of the five times a new cleaning firm took over the contract.

The 58-year-old's monthly pay did increase over her more than 10 years of service - but only from $370 to $400.

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Her sorry state, mentioned by labour chief Lim Swee Say at a seminar last Thursday, is common among cleaners, security guards and other low-wage workers.

As contractors undercut one another when making bids, and clients go for the cheapest deal, such low-educated and low-skilled workers often accept worse terms to keep their jobs, said unionists and employers.

Many are also ignorant of their rights to benefits such as annual leave, and may not appreciate the benefits of having an employment contract, said Mr Zainudin Nordin, director of the labour movement's Unit for Contract and Casual Workers.

The trend of cheap sourcing is what a three-month-old government scheme hopes to tackle, by subsidising those firms that award contracts based on performance and quality, or best sourcing, instead of the lowest price.

A flood of applications prompted the Workforce Development Agency to announce last Thursday that it will increase funding from the initial $2 million to $5 million.

Eleven organisations have benefited from the scheme, and 53 more are waiting in line, including several hotels and telecommunication companies.

The aim is for them to lead the way in changing the approach to contracting out work, which will be a big challenge, said industry watchers.

Owners of cleaning companies like Mr Johnny Chua, who runs SQ1 Development, say four in five organisations they deal with still award contracts based only on the lowest price.

'Sometimes, we are asked to match the lowest price. We don't necessarily do that and it's one reason we were unable to retain some customers,' he said.

This is also the experience of Gladen Maintenance Services' managing director Derrick Tan. 'Some play safe and go for the second-lowest bidder, in case anything happens and the management blames them for choosing the one with the lowest price.'

Of note are smaller organisations constrained by tighter budgets. They may have weightier concerns than improving cleaning standards in their offices, and therefore settle for the cheapest, said Ramky Cleantech Services senior vice-president Milton Ng.

Organisations that have adopted best sourcing, however, say the higher price pays off in terms of better productivity, service and morale among the workers.

Leading the way are large entities like the Changi Airport Group, which started best sourcing in the 1990s. The practice covers a range of contracts from cleaning, security and landscaping to trolley retrieval and taxi coordination.

This year, it began requiring contractors to send in their bids in two envelopes, one on the quality of their proposals, and one on price. 'This allows for clear distinction between quality and price to ensure an objective evaluation exercise,' said its spokesman.

Government agencies like the National Environment Agency (NEA) also decided this year to give equal weight to price and quality when evaluating tenders for cleaners. Others, like the National Parks Board (NParks), focus on contractors meeting performance standards. NParks spells out that shoots for bougainvilleas must not be longer than 50cm, instead of stipulating the plants must be pruned every four weeks.

Such criteria based on output rather than input allow contractors to make the necessary - and appropriate - investments in manpower, training and equipment.

Having a career development programme for cleaners and a bonus scheme for those who do good work are also spelt out in new contracts by the Education Ministry, for its Buona Vista headquarters.

The ministry's spokesman said it will explore incorporating the same terms when it calls for tenders for new school cleaning and security contracts.

With firms like property and lifestyle player Wing Tai Holdings giving greater emphasis to quality and performance, workers like security guard Rohani Andam, 69, stand to gain.

The former prison warden did not undergo any training for three years under a previous contractor for Wing Tai's premises in Tampines.

A new contractor that took over last month already plans to enrol him in three courses on customer service, traffic control and handling terrorist threats in the next 12 months.

New contractor FocusGuard Security's managing director Beh Yong Pheng said that as long as the workers finish the courses and perform, they can expect 'a salary increment within a year'.

Another worker who has gained is toilet cleaner Phua Choon Yiang, 62. His employer, Horsburgh Engineering, which has contracts with the NEA, sent him for training two years ago that helped him become a nationally certified cleaner.

His boss raised his monthly pay earlier this year to $850, up from $750 when he joined the company in late 2006.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.