By Shukry Rashid
When Ms Ng Eng heard last year that she had to relocate from her residence in Pasir Ris to somewhere in Bukit Panjang, the first thing that hit her was worry. Her landlord, who is also her friend, had to move, so she decided to follow suit.
The 58-year-old has been working as a packer for Kleen-Pak since 2013 and has cherished the fact that her place in Pasir Ris was near the factory in Loyang.
Ms Ng shared the journey she had to take to work every morning from her new place. She leaves her house by 5.45am, take a combination of bus and train rides, and only reaches work three hours later. Her work hours – 7am to 4pm – meant that she was late for work every day.
She was beginning to feel like she had no choice but to quit her job.
That was going to be painful as the job was more than just a job, with a workplace filled with friendly colleagues and bosses that treated her like family.
Thankfully for her, Kleen-Pak is a progressive company that allows flexible work arrangements (FWA). With Ms Ng’s current FWA that she adopted shortly after she moved to Bukit Panjang, she can comfortably reach work before 9am and ends work at 6pm.
Her main role at work is to prepare carton boxes while filling in for colleagues to pack wet tissues while they go on their lunch breaks.
Trust to Deliver
Kleen-Pak Human Resources Manager Sharon Chng said the company, which employs nearly 50 workers, embarked on various work-life initiatives back in 2013. Besides FWA, the company also enables its managers to telecommute.
She added: “Some of our workers also study part-time, so they need that flexibility.”
Kleen-Pak Managing Director Tan Hock Kiam emphasised that he was never worried about these initiatives affecting employees’ work performance.
He explained: “We have to give a certain amount of trust to the employees to ensure they perform. Whether the person is physically in the office – in front of me or not, it is not as much of a concern as long as they perform and deliver.
“We value our workers here because many of them are good workers. We want to do whatever we can to make this place not just comfortable, but flexible towards their needs. Many of them have been with us for many years, and it will be a pity if they have to leave us because we refuse to explore other avenues.”
Dedicated Assistance
To ensure more companies become as progressive as Kleen-Pak, the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) launched the ‘Work-Life Works!’ portal in October 2016.
The portal is Singapore’s first integrated work-life resource portal that provides both employers and employees with a comprehensive suite of resources such as assistance to implement work-life initiatives.
The portal, created for employers and employees, provides various resources such as guides to implementing work-life initiatives, lists of courses and grants, and an interactive forum.
Good To Know
To find out more about work-life assistance and balance, visit www.worklifeworks.sg.
Source: NTUC This Week
