28 Dec 2009
2009 has seen an unprecedented economic downturn although there are now some signs of a recovery taking place. Workers have bitten the bullet and weathered the storm together with their companies. And it is important to recognise that behind almost every worker, there is a family involved. So even as the economy emerges from the doldrums, work-life integration programmes must still be carried out at the workplace.
The NTUC Women’s Development Secretariat (WDS) is once again rolling out “Little Ones @ Work” which aims to promote work-life 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. The initiative was officially launched during June school holidays this year.
This round, WDS is collaborating with the Health Promotion Board (HPB) for the first time to incorporate a workshop for parents and their children into the overall programme companies will put together for the “Little Ones @ Work”. As healthy eating and regular physical activity are key tenets of healthy living, it is important to encourage children to adopt such positive habits from young. This workshop therefore equips parents with the knowledge and skills to help their children eat healthily and lead an active lifestyle. It will comprise a presentation, food preparation demonstration and various hands-on activities.
“Parents play a pivotal role in the growth and development of children. They can inculcate healthy eating habits and an active lifestyle in their children who will, in turn, be more likely to continue adopting such healthy lifestyles in adulthood. Indeed, this collaboration with the NTUC WDS provides us with a platform to engage parents in the workplaces and empower them to nurture the health and well-being of their children.” says Mr Lam Pin Woon, CEO, Health Promotion Board.
To date, WDS has already garnered the support of 40 companies from both the private and public sector to roll out this national initiative. About 1,800 children have visited their parents at work. For this December school holidays, about 500 children were part of “Little Ones @ Work”.
At the event held at United Test and Assembly Center Ltd (UTAC) today, there were some 60 staff and their children participating in the day-long programme. UTAC is one of the 16 companies taking part this December.
“UTAC places great emphasis on a strong work-life balance corporate philosophy. For our employees to do well in their careers, we believe that it is important that their family members share and understand what the job is about and what it entails. Therefore, it is a good idea for the children of our employees to visit their parents' workplace to see what their parents do. It helps promotes parent-child understanding and strengthen the bonds between them. It also helps instil pride in the child for how their parents contribute to the society. I believe that the success of each of our employees comes from an equally supportive family in the background. UTAC is a family, and the families of our employees are our extended family." said Mr Lee Hoong Leong, President of UTAC Singapore.
Besides helping women to enter and re-enter the workforce, another key agenda of WDS is to promote work-life integration among companies and to encourage them to offer more family-friendly programmes for their employees.
Besides LO@W in 2009, NTUC WDS also organised a work-life seminar showcasing the various pro-family infrastructure and flexible work arrangements that are adopted by the Scandinavian countries and local companies in Singapore. Following the success of the seminar, WDS launched a publication, “WORK! LIVE! PLAY! The Scandinavian And Singaporean Experience On Enhancing Productivity With Work-Life Innovations" that captured the learning points from that seminar, as well as provided insights into lessons from Singapore and the Scandinavian countries on creating spaces for work and life. Eleven companies that give priority to work-life integration and Flexi-Works! Programme were featured in the publication.
Also in the second half of the year, WDS conducted a survey on some 230 married female employees with at least one child aged 12 years and below and who have utilised the maternity and childcare benefits under the enhanced Marriage and Parenthood Package.
Moving forward in 2010, WDS will continue to engage employers in work-life integration programmes and activities. LO@W will be one such programme.
