New National Instructors and Coaches Association to be set up by NTUC
Freelance coaches Kelvin Chua (L) and Justin Teh pose for a photo on August 13, 2018. NTUC is forming a new National Instructors and Coaches Association to look after the interests of freelancers who teach sports, enrichment and wellness in schools and communities.
SINGAPORE — As the gig economy continues to take flight here, concerns over the welfare and career development of freelancers will see the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) setting up a national association for freelance coaches and instructors in fields such as sports, dance and fitness.
Tapping the labour movement's network and resources, the National Instructors and Coaches Association (Nica) aims to address the major issues this group of workers face — from the loss of income due to illness or injury, payment-related disputes, to professional development to help improve their work prospects. For instance, association members will get access to insurance packages from its insurance partners that mitigate against income loss due to prolonged sick leave.
Freelance coaches and instructors with Sport Singapore and the People's Association, as well as those engaged by schools for co-curricular activities in sports, music, fitness, dance and wellness, among others, are eligible for membership to the association. There are about 5,000 full-time freelancers in these fields, based on estimates from NTUC.
They form part of a growing gig economy in Singapore, and Ministry of Manpower statistics from June 2017 showed that "own account workers" — self-employed persons who run their own trade without employing a paid worker — numbered 202,900, or 9.3 per cent of the resident workforce. This was a 19.7 per cent jump from 169,500 workers in June 2015.
GROUND UP INITIATIVE
Announcing the formation of the association on Monday (Aug 13), NTUC assistant director-general Ang Hin Kee said other coaches and instructors — including employees in fitness clubs, for instance — are also welcome.
On the impetus for setting up the association, Mr Ang said the coaches' and instructors' communities had met NTUC and asked if they could work with the labour movement to resolve some of the issues they face.
"We realised that a lot of issues, challenges and their needs come from their working with the Government, say, the Ministry of Education, People's Association, Sport Singapore… Their needs are quite common," said Mr Ang, noting that the association began from the "ground up".
These needs range from protection from loss of income due to illness, to the lack of affordable insurance products catering to their needs, he added.
To help address income loss, Nica members who pay an annual S$117 membership fee will receive an exclusive insurance deal that offers up to 50 per cent discount on the first-year premium for a prolonged medical leave insurance product.
Several foreign and local insurers, which Mr Ang did not name, have indicated their interest in offering this product, he said. The coverage, between S$50 and S$80 daily, will amount to about S$1 a day in premiums.
Mr Ang, who is also director of NTUC's Freelancers and Self-Employed Unit, noted that freelancers did not have access to such a product previously, which exposed them to the risk of a complete loss of income when illness or injury hit.
A big group of customers is required to launch such an insurance scheme because of the need for "collective risk-bearing" for insurers, added Mr Ang.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, labour chief Ng Chee Meng said that the association will give freelancers better representation, and allow them to develop a better working relationship with government agencies, which are the main buyers of their services.
Freelancers, he said, had told him that the Government's procurement system could be fairer, as their fees have not risen in years, and market competition has also depressed wages.
The association will also look into areas such as work-related disputes, including those relating to payment and cancellation of services — another bugbear for freelancers.
Training will also be a focus, as workshops and training programmes by accomplished master trainers could be held for coaches and instructors to raise their work prospects.
While there are currently formal groups such as the Sports Coaches Association of Singapore, and other informal ones that represent the interests of freelancers in these fields, they are sometimes hampered by constraints on time and resources, said Mr Ang.
They also find it difficult to gather enough volume and representation in order to get good insurance deals, as well as "collate (their) voice" when negotiating contractual terms with buyers, he said.
He noted that many freelancers felt a bigger national group would bring together their voices, putting them in a more influential position.
AFFORDABLE INSURANCE, CAREER PLANNING
Freelance netball coach Justin Teh, 47, was happy to support the association as he said the freelance community is fragmented, and "there is no organisation or united front that looks after our welfare, our contracts and our progress".
He added that the association would bring insurance premiums that cost "an arm and a leg" for individual freelancers down to a reasonable and affordable rate.
Mr Kelvin Chua, 50, president of educational institution International Sports Academy, said the association can also guide freelancers in career and financial planning.
For example, sports and fitness trainers should aspire to become master trainers and entrepreneurs in the future, said Mr Chua.
About 15 members will form the association's organising committee, and approval of the group's name and constitution will have to be sought from the Registry of Societies — a process that typically takes two or three months.
When asked if national associations will be set up for other groups of freelancers, Mr Ng said Nica was a "first step", and NTUC will look at "where it brings us".
"This is a first move to see what we can do for the new economy and for (the) new development of what is a Singaporean worker," he said.
The other associations affiliated to the NTUC are the National Taxi Association and the National Private Hire Vehicles Association, which represent the interests of cabbies and private-hire car drivers respectively.
