18 Jun 2010
1 The NTUC Women’s Development Secretariat (WDS) has been organising various “Little Ones @ Work” programmes during the school holidays since its official launch in June 2009. The “Little Ones @ Work” aims to promote worklife integration at the workplace and involves getting the children of staff to join their parents at their respective workplaces for a day. It is all part of encouraging employers to offer family-friendly programmes for their employees.
2 For 2010, WDS has so far received quite an overwhelming response and have gotten 54 companies to participate in this programme. At least 2,000 children will get an opportunity to join their mothers and fathers for a day at their workplaces. WDS is still expecting to get more companies to have their own “Little Ones @ Work” this year.
3 WDS is pleased with the response to “Little Ones @ Work” as it has been promoting this programme to companies since late 2008. It also thinks that as more organisations see the need to engage their employees, such worklife integration initiatives are useful and meaningful activities. This is especially so during the school holidays when families tend to spend more time bonding through either taking family vacation overseas or doing activites together. Companies if they have not already done so can consider organising a “Little Ones @ Work” day for their employees.
4 Ten unionised companies under the United Workers of Electronic and Electrical Industries (UWEEI) have come onboard this programme this year. These companies represent the manufacturing sector, and it is something quite unusual as children are usually not allowed into manufacturing and/or production areas in some companies so this programme allows for a great opportunity for the children to visit their parents at their workplaces.
5 Philips Electronics Singapore, one of the unionised companies under UWEEI, organised its “Little Ones @ Work” on Friday, 18 June 2010. Mdm Halimah Yacob, NTUC Deputy Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of UWEEI, was the Guest-of-Honour at this event. Mdm Halimah is also the Director of the NTUC Women’s Development Secretariat. Close to 200 Philips staff children are expected to participate in the day-long programme. Philips Electronics Singapore is one of the 25 companies taking part during this June school holidays.
6 This time round, WDS is also collaborating with the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) on a new complimentary one-hour parent-child bonding workshop for companies who come on board “Little Ones @ Work”. The programme looks at how parents can get their children to better understand their work and workplaces, how the children can learn to appreciate their parents’ efforts, challenges and struggles at work, and how both parents and children can look at ways to bond and have fun despite the challenges of maintaining work and family life harmony.
7 The session takes the form of an interactive quiz and following the quiz, parents and their children are encouraged to demonstrate their care and concern for one another through:
- a time of dance (depicting worklife harmony)
- words of encouragement (encouraging each other through kind and caring words)
- loving acts of service (specific actions to be done); and
- making a gift (a heart) as the final segment.
8 NTUC WDS has been strongly advocating worklife integration at the workplace under its 3R (Recruit, Re-adjust and Retain) strategy. It will continue to champion worklife integration initiatives as a strategy to raise productivity through its various programmes and initiatives this year.
Mdm Halimah Yacob
Deputy Secretary-General, NTUC
Director, NTUC Women’s Development Secretariat
