69 companies and individuals were awarded at the ‘Best Companies for Mum’ awards ceremony for making flexible work arrangements (FWAs) a reality. Jointly organised by NTUC Women’s Development Secretariat (WDS) and the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP), the awards this year saw a four-fold increase in the number of recipients in all four categories compared to the first year.
“Employees today are drawn to organisations that help them find work-life balance and personal satisfaction. Best companies to work for are those dedicated to cultivating career advancement programmes and good work-life balance for their employees,” said NTUC Assistant Secretary-General, Cham Hui Fong.
“They Cared For My Family”
Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance PLC was awarded the Most Supportive Colleague Award for the help they extended to new mum, Cheng Yin Yin, 33.
“I had to go for emergency checkups due to some complications during my pregnancy. They readily offered to cover my duties during my absence on top of their own workload. They were also very accommodating when I had to take care of my elderly mother at times,” shared the receptionist.
The company has two lactation rooms for mothers. When she first started expressing milk, Ms Cheng had to spend almost 45 minutes away from work. Afraid that it would affect her work, she decided to stop nursing.
“But my colleagues actually persuaded me to continue, bearing in mind the benefits of breastfeeding for both my baby and me,” said Ms Cheng.
“They Cared For My Needs”
NTUC’s Young NTUC won the Most Supportive Supervisors Award.
When Julia Chan, 29, a Senior Executive with the organisation’s Social Media Team realised she was pregnant with her second child, due in late July this year, she knew she would need a flexible work arrangement. Her mother-in-law was elderly and she knew she could not let her care for two children on her own.
Hesitant at first, Chan approached NTUC Youth Development Unit (YDU) Director, Steve Tan, and NTUC Social Media Team (YDU) Assistant Director, Eunice Lim.
“I spoke to them about this foreseen issue and they were open to a flexi-work arrangement. I could come in to the office a little later and top up the remaining hours by working from home at night or over the weekends when my family members were free to look after my children. They emphasised that meeting the key performance indicator was of higher importance than my physical presence in the office,” she said.
In addition, her supervisors were understanding when she applied for leave for medical checkups and also during the times when she had to take childcare and eldercare leave to look after sick family members.
“What we did was really nothing out of the ordinary, as NTUC has always been a very nurturing environment for employees, and we’ve had leaders who set good examples for us to follow. This award is really for the entire team,” said Mr Tan.
Look out for more stories of exemplary award winners in coming weeks.
Original article written by Naseema Banu Maideen, and can be found in NTUC This Week (13 July 2014)
