NEA Responds to Tray Return Ambassador Job Listings; Some Companies Didn’t Even Have a Contract with NEA

Lest you were dwelling within a cave for the last couple of days, you would surely have caught wind of the latest revelation to hit Singa-ville:

Tray Return Ambassador job listings… which grant over S$2,000 in payouts.

Suffice to say; the news swiftly went viral, though reactions proved mixed.

Some, as you may have expected, we’re all ears, or in this case eyes, for this job position.

Others, however, wondered why these ambassadors would get paid more than the actual cleaners on-site.

To put it into perspective, the basic salary for a cleaner is S$1,274.

So in a sense, you kinda get why Netizens would get into a frenzy…

Though it seems that there are even more twists on the way.

NEA Responds to Tray Return Ambassador Job Listings; Some Companies Didn’t Even Have a Contract with NEA

According to The Straits Times, the National Environment Agency (NEA) has called for recent “tray return ambassador” job listings to be taken down.

The apparent reason being? No contract was awarded for the roles.

According to the news report, such job listings usually comply with a strict procedure:

Government agencies would issue a tender and grant a contract to a company.

The said company would then carry out hiring procedures.

However, several companies appear to have ignored the standard procedure.

As such, they have since been ordered to take down the misleading listings.

“We would like to clarify that those listings were made by companies of their own accord, without having secured any contract with NEA. Hence, we have reached out to those companies, and requested that they take down their unsolicited listings,” said the NEA.

One example would be Greensafe International, which posted a listing on the jobs portal, My Careers Future on 14 June.

For fulfilling the tasks required of a tray return ambassador, Greensafe International was willing to pay applicants S$1,400 to S$2,200.

So… We Were Wrong To Get Our Hopes Up?

Well, not quite.

Though several listings have been given the dismissal order, it seems that such roles aren’t entirely non-existent.

Also, the pay could actually be just as high.

For instance, recruitment company People Advantage had posted a similar listing in June 2020, with an astonishing monthly pay of S$2,000 to S$2,500.

In this particular case, a contract was actually awarded.

The NEA also revealed that it routinely seeks out ambassadors for a wide range of roles, even before the pandemic first broke out.

They did admit, however, that the process was elevated following the recent circumstances.

Why Are Cleaners Actually Paid Less?

Considering how cleaners are actually the ones toiling around the clock, one may wonder why ambassadors, usually associated with the mythical art of ‘eye power’, are actually being paid more.

Well, there seems to be logical reasoning behind it.

Apparently, ambassadors at hawker centers would command more roles than cleaners, such as ensuring safe distancing protocols and reminding diners to return their cutlery.

They may also be required to work at more than one location.

In the end, however, the NEA is not the one behind salary outputs.

“NEA does not stipulate the salary range when putting out such tenders,” they said. “The appointed vendor will be responsible for the recruitment and deployment of the ambassadors, including administration of their salaries and other related costs and benefits.”

Diners are also urged to take ownership of their common public dining places.

“We urge everyone to work with our ambassadors to take greater ownership of our common public dining places, so as to help maintain high hygiene and cleanliness standards. This will allow us to… better safeguard ourselves against any public health threats,” it said.

Penalties will begin kicking in after 1 September 2021. Diners who fail to return their trays after consumption may incur fines of up to S$2,000.

First-time offenders, however, will be let go with a written warning.

Featured Image: mycareersfuture.gov.sg; kandl stock/ shutterstock.com