All union members, including PMEs members, can now access to legal advisory services provided by the Labour Movement
With a better educated population and as Singapore moves towards a knowledge-based economy, more Professionals, Managers, Executives (PMEs) are joining the workforce today. The number of PMEs who joined the Labour Movement (LM) has also been growing steadily in recent years. As more PME members join the LM, it is important for the LM to remain strong and relevant to meet the needs of this growing group of PME workers who will become the new rank-and-file workers of tomorrow.
PME members made up about 23 per cent of our membership today out of the NTUC Membership base of 700,000. Growth of PME members has been increasing at a faster rate over the last few years, growing about 10 per cent from 130,000 in Aug 2010 to 142,500 in Aug 2011. The growth increased to over 13 per cent to reach 162,000 members in 2012.
At a media briefing this morning, Mr Patrick Tay, Director (Legal Services Dept and PME Alignment Unit) of NTUC shared that the NTUC PME Unit (PMEU) was set up in September last year to expand its outreach and advocacy to PMEs by enhancing LM’s capabilities to service PMEs through various initiatives and programmes. It will also align the efforts of the LM to roll out initiatives based on the key pillars of 4Ps – Protecting PMEs through advocacy and workplace rights; assist PMEs in Professional Development & Progression to prepare them for future challenges; assist PMEs in career Placement through employment and employability opportunities and bringing exclusive Privileges to meet the needs of the PMEs.
Under the first key pillar of Protecting PMEs through advocacy and workplace rights, the LM will raise its advocacy level to help the vulnerable groups of PMEs. These include helping mature PMEs with jobs placement service as we work on building a strong PME database. In addition, we will assist mature PMEs in the area of employment and employability against unintended discriminating hiring practices. The LM will also help young PMEs to safeguard against under-employment, better work-life balance and employee benefits. PMEs who are freelancers are a vulnerable group too as we realize that many are not aware of their rights and obligations especially in their contract for service, or intellectual property rights. The LM hopes to bring them into the family so as to better assist them. We will also be advocating for flexi-work arrangements to help female PMEs better balance between family and work demands.
Realising that the issues and queries raised by PME members today may be more complex and occasionally transnational, the PMEU has embarked on enhancing the online advisory service to meet the more complex issues faced by PME members. Formerly known as the Industrial Relations Information System, the web-based advisory service is now renamed to Workplace Advisory. In the past, union members could only seek advice from the Industrial Relations practitioners on workplace issues ranging from workplace grievances to employment-related queries, the enhanced Workplace Advisory service is now supported by full-time lawyers from the NTUC Legal Services Dept, who can provide legal advice exclusively to union members in particular for complex queries. As opposed to having to pay legal fees at commercial rate ranging from $300 to $600 for an hour of consultation, any union member can now access this legal advisory service free of charge, paying only the NTUC Membership fee of $9 per month or $117 a year.
Union members facing more complex workplace issues have the option of sending a private message via the Workplace Advisory service where a legal consultant will then reply to their queries. Union members can also view the full list of the Frequently Asked Questions raised by fellow members to better understand the diverse issues faced by fellow workers at the workplace.
The enhanced Workplace Advisory service can be downloaded free and access through mobile app via Android and iPhone[1] phones, allowing all union members access to the service anytime, anywhere. Besides full access to the Workplace Advisory service, union members can also access the e-book “Workplace Rights for the Busy Executive” that was launched in November 2011 to help them better understand their rights at the workplace.
NTUC hopes that by providing this advisory service supported by qualified lawyer, we will be able to better assist and meet the diverse needs of the PME members. NTUC hopes that the enhanced advisory service will assist PMEs to better understand their employment rights at the workplace, and at the same time raise the awareness level among the PME populace in Singapore that the LM could provide them with valuable workplace advisory and better represent their rights at the workplace.
While non-union members have limited access to the Workplace Advisory service, the PMEU has also introduced new social media channels such as Facebook, twitter and LinkedIn to share pertinent workplace issues with the general public. Both union and non-union members can get connected to a network of fellow PMEs to exchange ideas and share their workplace experiences through these social networking platforms.
Besides the enhanced Workplace Advisory service, Mr Patrick Tay also shared that the LM is working closely with the tripartite partners on the amendments to the Employment Legislation. NTUC is pushing for changes to the Employment Act to better protect PMEs.
Other initiatives that the PMEU will be rolling out in the next few months include greater assistance to PME freelancers, followed by a Freelancers’ Day to be organised in November 2012 and a Law Awareness Day in January 2013. Details of the various initiatives will be available in the next few months.
Mr Patrick Tay said, “With the changing profile of our workforce and growing number of PMEs, we want to urge all PMEs to support their fellow PMEs by joining the union so that we can help protect and safeguard your interests in the workplace. The launch of a full fledge Workplace Advisory service for members and building it with a Mobile App capability will allow access to this service anytime and anywhere in addition to the useful links and resources that will be built into it”.
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