For overseas readers and people who aren't that familiar with how social workers are paid here in Singapore, it goes like this...
The pre-requisite for being a social worker in Singapore is a BA in Social Work or shared major in Social Work + something else which equates to a starting pay of $1800-$2000 for most if not all VWOs (Just for a comparison, a public bus captain here can earn up to $1900 a month). This is standardised by National Council of Social Service (NCSS) which governs all the social service agencies. And NCSS comes under the Ministry of Community Development, Youths and Sports (MCYS). So to cut the story short, funds to VWOs come from MCYS and NCSS. Thereafter, how VWOs distribute $$$ to salaries/programmes/admin etc is different for each on of them.
However, if one chooses to work as a medical social worker (MSW), the guidelines are slightly different. If I am not wrong, they are governed by Ministry of Health (MOH) who hire MSW as "allied health professionals". As such, their starting pay is usually $200-$300 higher than a peer with the exact same qualification. There has been debate amongst social workers on why the vast difference. The pay and benefits are so much better despite the fact that the qualification and designation are the same!
I surely welcome the pay hike to match social workers pay to that of MSWs, which hopefully comes along with more recognition to what we really do. I mean I do not belittle the work that MSWs do. Their caseload can hit up to 100+!!!! FSCs do not have it any better - 60-80 on average, more so if turnover of staff is high and cases get passed on? Caseload at Homes are usually 30-40ish. I am thankful that at my current workplace, my director is firm about quality over quantity and our caseload is capped at 20. I am currently doing 13 cases but with very intensive intervention and supervision, so I am one happy social worker for now.
WHEEEEEE!!! AND Happy Social Workers' Day in advance my fellow social workers!
*Hmmm... if teachers get a day off on Teachers' Day, why not social workers? For the record, I took leave on 16 March to give myself a break and catch up with my social work buddies!
**And finally.. I will be eligible for credit cards! hahaa.
Z
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