Labour Movement supports Recommendations on Principles for a more Family-Friendly Workplace

Labour Movement supports Recommendations on Principles for a more Family-Friendly Workplace

1 September 2008

Media Release

1 The Labour Movement supports the Government’s recent announcement on the enhanced Marriage & Parenthood (M & P) package as these are pro-family measures and are a good way for companies to use as a tool to promote staff morale and retain talents.

2 NTUC will continue to work with its tripartite partners – Government agencies, employers and unions – to ensure that most companies are able to implement the changes smoothly with as little disruption to company operations. We welcome employers to support the early implementation of the enhanced M & P measures before the legislation takes effect in October 2008.

Guiding Principles on Family-Friendly Work Practices
3 The Labour Movement will also continue to work closely with company management and the unions to ensure fair employment terms are carried out for staff and that the key principles relating to family friendly practices are adhered.
 

• First, work and family are interrelated. An employee needs to work to have resources to support his/her family. At the same time, an employee who is able to care for his/her family can add more value at work. Thus family friendly workplace practices benefit both the employer and its employees. The productivity and profitability of a business is dependent on the quality and commitment of its employees. A family friendly workplace is a higher-performing organisation because it can better attract and retain talent, has high staff morale and productivity, has low sick leave, absenteeism and staff turnover, and incurs lower recruitment and training costs.

• Second, family friendly workplace practices thrive when organisations practise good human resource management and development policies. Employees should be selected, promoted, retained, given opportunities for training and upgrading based on merit, experience, capability, aptitude and other relevant job-based requirements.

• Third, the organisations, managers and employees all have a part to play in nurturing a family friendly workplace culture. The culture is based on reciprocity and trust with each party responsibly fulfilling its part:

4 Unionists welcome the M & P Package as progressive and forward looking in helping to tackle the challenge of a low fertility rate that Singapore is facing. A significant number of them also voiced their concerns over whether women would face increased discrimination at work because of the enhanced leave benefits. However, there is enough in-built flexibility for employers to consider how they would want to implement the M & P Package through their HR and development policies.

5 The tripartite partners have agreed that the hiring decision should not be pre-conditioned on marital, pregnancy status, or number of children but on aptitude, merit and experience. Female employees should not be sidelined on non-work reasons related to her pregnancy. Irresponsible employment practices such as disguised termination, dismissal or non-renewal of employment contracts on non-work related grounds which deny female employees their maternity protection rights are not acceptable.

6 In recognition of the operational challenges faced especially by smaller employers, we would like to encourage more of them to tap into the available resources such as the Work-Life Works or WoW! Fund to help organisations and employees develop practical flexible work arrangements.

7 The Labour Movement believes that if the guiding principles are followed, we can work together to find practical and sustainable win-win solutions. By helping working people be able to have fulfilling family lives and strike a good balance between family and work, they will be more committed at work and their workplaces. The Singapore economy will benefit from a more productive workforce and the nation can be a better place to live, work and play.

Mdm Halimah Yacob
Deputy Secretary-General, NTUC