DATA ON PRODUCTIVITY OF PRO-FAMILY ORGANISATIONS

DATA ON PRODUCTIVITY OF PRO-FAMILY ORGANISATIONS: 3.

Assoc. Prof. Paulin Tay Straughan asked the Minister for Manpower (a) whether he will provide data on the productivity of organisations which have won family-friendly accolades; (b) how does the productivity of firms which embrace pro-family business practices compare with others in the same industry; (c) what is the proportion of employers who embrace pro-family practices like flexi-work options; and (d) whether his Ministry has plans to further encourage employers to grant flexi-work and flexi-schedule options to employees with childcare and eldercare responsibilities.

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Manpower (Mr Hawazi Daipi) (for the Minister for Manpower): Mr Speaker, pro-family business practices, or

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work-life practices, have been shown to contribute to better employee and business performance in many international and local studies. A study conducted by the Nanyang Business School in 2005 found that firms with more work-life practices enjoyed lower employee turnover. The study also found that firms with part-time rank-and-file employees directly benefited through higher profitability, employee labour productivity and stock returns.

The same team from Nanyang Business School also conducted a more specific study on Sakae Sushi, which is the flagship brand of Apex-Pal International, winner of the Work-Life Excellence Award in 2006 and 2008. The study found that employees who benefited from work-life initiatives and who received work-life support from their supervisors and top management, were more engaged in their work and less likely to be absent from work. These employees tended to perform better at work and provide better customer service.

Employers in Singapore increasingly recognise that good work-life initiatives significantly benefit their organisations. According to the Ministry of Manpower's Conditions of Employment 2008 report, 27.5% of private-sector employers in Singapore offered flexible work arrangements such as part-time and staggered hours, compared to 20.2% in 2002. Employee take-up of these flexible work arrangements has also gone up: 7.1% of employees were on such flexible work arrangements, compared with 3.8% in 2002. In addition, many companies practise informal arrangements which allow their employees to work flexibly on an ad-hoc basis.

Over the years, the promotional approach taken by the Tripartite Committee on Work-Life Strategy has helped to raise awareness of the importance of work-life strategies among companies and

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to broaden the implementation of work-life practices, including flexible work arrangements. Such flexible work arrangements are beneficial to companies and Singapore's economy because they can help to bring more women back into the workforce, employ or re-employ older workers, and also better attract and retain talent and valued employees. For these reasons, the Government has put in place the WoW! (Work-Life Works!) Fund and Flexi-Works!, which provide up to a total of $110,000 to help employers kick-start their implementation of flexible work arrangements and other work-life initiatives.

The Committee will continue to work closely with the tripartite partners to encourage more employers to implement work-life strategies, including flexible work arrangements, to meet the needs of our diverse workforce.

Assoc. Prof. Paulin Tay Straughan (Nominated Member): Thank you for the comprehensive response. I have three follow-up questions on this. It is good to note that the Senior Parliamentary Secretary has good news for us – I hope it makes headlines tomorrow. It is good for employers to note that it is a win-win situation for both company and employees.

My first question is on the take-up rate of flexi-work option at 7.1 %. While it is an improvement over the last available data, it is still rather low. I wonder if the Ministry can comment on what are the reported barriers to employees who need this option but hesitate to take it up. My second question has to do with incentives for companies to embrace positive work-life policies. We understand that these policies are mid to long-term investments in human resource. Therefore, it comes at a cost for the organisation at the onset. Does the Ministry have plans to roll out incentives to encourage, particularly SMEs, to embrace pro-family policies, for

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example, tax breaks for organisations which practise positive work-life options?

Mr Hawazi Daipi: I thank the Member for the questions. On the 7.1% take-up rate of implementation by companies, I think it is a fairly good result so far. But, of course, we want to encourage more companies to implement work-life policies so that their workers benefit from it and they themselves, as organisations, can grow better with more engaged employees who can satisfy their customers better.

A number of initiatives have been implemented. As I mentioned earlier, there are already two funds available for companies which want to consider implementing work-life arrangements. One is the WoW! Fund, from which the employers can benefit $10,000 when they implement specific work-life arrangements for their employees. The second is the Flexi-Works! Fund, which is an initiative of the Singapore National Employers Federation and the NTUC to encourage companies to consider devising systems that can help them to employ employees on a part-time flexible basis. We are working on this. The Tripartite Committee will continue to engage the private sector organisations to do this.

On the second question about what incentives can be given to companies which may want to consider implementing work-life initiatives, I think this is a question that MCYS may be able to respond to.