“Best Companies for Mums – You can do it too!”
Today, 16 model companies and supervisors have been recognised for their exceptional efforts in making flexible work arrangements (FWA) work for their employees and enabling them to achieve better work-life harmony.
Jointly organised by the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) Women’s Development Secretariat (WDS) and Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices (TAFEP), the inaugural “Best Companies for Mums” contest spotlights outstanding examples of pro-family companies that others can look up to and showcases best FWA practices which employers and employees may find useful.
“The availability and accessibility of flexible work arrangements at workplaces remains one of the key concerns for women who are considering going back to the workforce. However, many companies still find it difficult to implement such practices and are slow to take the first step. Supportive co-workers are also very important for such practices to work. By showcasing positive examples through this contest, we hope to amplify the awareness of and enlighten more employers and employees, and ultimately, attract and retain more back-to-work mothers,” said Ms Cham Hui Fong, Assistant Secretary-General (ASG), NTUC.
Mr Bob Tan, Co-Chairperson TAFEP and Vice President of the Singapore National Employers Federation added “Many working mothers would like the opportunity to join the workforce but they need some flexibility in managing their work and family responsibilities. By practicing fair employment and putting in place flexible work arrangements, employers will be able to encourage more women back to work and widen the talent pool.”
About the “Best Companies for Mum” Contest
The contest, which launched in March this year during NTUC WDS’ International Women’s Day celebration, called on working mothers to nominate their employers by sharing a personal story on how their employers or supervisors have helped them achieve better work-life harmony.
More than 100 nominations were received. The judging panel, comprising representatives from NTUC and TAFEP shortlisted the final 16 awardees based on the nominees’ personal stories and criteria including the extent of FWA practices available at the company, variety of pro-family employee leave schemes, employee support schemes for mothers and infrastructural support like lactation facilities and onsite childcare.
All winning companies and supervisors have walked away with a unique “Best Companies for Mum” plaque.
NTUC WDS Work-life Seminar: “Best Companies for Mum, You can do it too!”
More than 100 company representatives and union leaders have come together to gain more insights on work-life harmony at this year’s NTUC WDS Work-Life Seminar, held in conjunction with the “Best Companies for Mums” Awards Ceremony.
As a form of recognition for their pro-family practices, three winning companies from the contest - Absolute Kinetics Consultancy P/L, DBS Bank Ltd and Housing Development Board have been invited to share at the Work-life Seminar on how they have gone a step further to enable their working mothers to meet demands both at work and at home.
To advocate the importance of having FWA at workplaces to attract back-to-work women, NTUC WDS has been organising FWA training workshops for employers and employees since the start of 2012. More than 130 employees and employers have since partaken in six of such sessions.
Moving forward, NTUC WDS aims to equip companies and employees with knowledge of FWA implementation through more runs of the workshops and customising these workshops for companies to train their employees and management on sustainable implementation of FWA practices. The target is to reach out to 300 companies and employees through more workshops by end of 2014.
“NTUC WDS will continue to work with the unions and employers and various agencies to advocate the importance of having FWA to attract and retain back-to-work women at the workplaces. In order to work towards wider outreach and more sustainable and scalable implementation of FWA, we will also continuously review our programmes and initiatives to ensure they remain relevant,” concluded NTUC ASG Cham Hui Fong.
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Annex A
List of Awarded Companies and Supervisors for “Best Companies for Mums” 2013
Winning Companies
| 1 | Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific |
| 2 | Absolute Kinetics Consultancy Pte Ltd |
| 3 | Changi General Hospital |
| 4 | Singapore Management University |
| 5 | Housing Development Board |
| 6 | DBS Bank Ltd |
| 7 | Procter & Gamble |
| 8 | Tan Chong International Ltd |
| 9 | SSTC School For Further Education Pte Ltd |
| 10 | Environmental Resource Management |
| 11 | Health Promotion Board |
| 12 | Polycom Asia Pacific Pte Ltd |
Winning Supervisors
| Supervisor Name | Nominator Name | Company | |
| 1 | Mr Teo Kai Hoe | Ms Katherine Guay | National Environmental Agency |
| 2 | Mr Soh Seng Eng | Ms Marie Lim | Housing Development Board |
| 3 | Mr Josh Goh | Ms Christine Ting | GMP |
| 4 | Ms Joyce Chan |
Ms Thicelia Pijay & Ms Lucy Yap |
NTUC Club |
