NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Patrick Tay has called on the Government to enhance absentee payroll and cost fee funding at this year’s Budget. This is to support companies on their investment in workers during an uncertain economic climate.
In a Facebook post on 14 February 2020, Mr Tay said that workers must upskill, reskill and multi-skill to stay ready for opportunities when the economy picks up.
“Everyone is paying close attention to the Covid-19 situation right now – businesses are affected, and some workers have told me that they’re worried if their jobs will be impacted. The Labour Movement stands ready to work closely with our tripartite partners to help our workers tackle tough times. In these times, we urge companies to take reference from the tripartite guidelines on managing excess manpower and cut costs to save jobs instead of cutting jobs to save costs,” he said.
Mr Tay also called on the Government to restore the Surrogate Employer Programme to help freelancers and the self-employed who are often left out when it comes to support for training.
The NTUC-Surrogate Employer Programme was a programme introduced in October 2001 which saw NTUC act as a Surrogate Employer to assist union members who were unable to obtain course-fee funding from their employers.
“NTUC stands ready to partner the Government to administer the scheme so that our growing pool of self-employed and freelancers can also have access to training assistance and incentives,” he added.
