Photo caption: Administrator Sabariah Salim (right) and supervisor Khor Loh Teng have been working for their employer for the past 28 years.
Story and Photo by Shukry Rashid
If you think that low-wage workers (LWWs) have it tough in Singapore, spare a thought for the mature LWWs who may have it tougher, with the added worry of health problems.
Take for example 57-year-old administrator Sabariah Salim, who currently earns a monthly salary of $1,850. She has been working for local small- and medium-sized enterprise Drillcut & Jet (DCJ) Tools Pte Ltd for the past 28 years while her husband sometimes works as a part-time taxi driver.
Her current health conditions include obesity and a high cholesterol level.
Health Initiative
The company tapped on WorkPro – a grant for companies to implement age-friendly workplaces to benefit Singaporeans through job redesign and age management practices for older workers – and received $20,000 to implement various schemes to better the lives of its five mature workers.
NTUC is an official programme partner for WorkPro, and it is administered by NTUC’s U Live @ Work department.
One of these initiatives was a health and wellness workshop.
Mdm Sabariah said: “I now know that I need to be more cautious of my weight and cholesterol level. I also learnt what activities and diet I should have to enjoy a healthier lifestyle.”
DCJ representative Christie Yeo said: “Our workers need to be very hands-on and have to move things around. Even our administrators have to go out of the office into the storage space and see if everything is in place, look for the inventory to sign off and do physical stock check. These are all very physical and manual tasks, and we are blessed to have healthy mature workers.”
Age Management
With the funding, DCJ also purchased a water filtration system to enable staff to have access to clean water straight from the tap.
This saves Mdm Sabariah the time and trouble to boil water every day with a thermos water heater for everyone in the office.
Mdm Sabariah added that the age management initiatives are good to have at the workplace, especially for mature workers who feel they are well cared for.
Continued Employment
Mdm Sabariah plans to work for as long as she can if she remains healthy. DCJ introduced the tripartite’s fair employment practices to its employees to build awareness of re-employment when they turn 62.
Even before the enforcement of the amended re-employment age from 65 to 67 on 1 July 2017, DCJ has already incorporated into its employee handbook that employees can continue working beyond 65 as long as they remain fit.
Ms Yeo said: “If you look at our company profile, both Mdm Sabariah and our supervisor Mr Khor are our longest serving staff of 28 years. We are looking forward to retaining them past 65 and beyond.”
