FLEXI-WORK ARRANGEMENTS

FLEXI-WORK ARRANGEMENTS: 9.

Mdm Ho Geok Choo asked the Minister for Manpower apart from legislation, how can employers be further encouraged to adopt flexi-work arrangements in a serious and concrete way so as to encourage more people, especially women, to return to the workforce.

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Manpower (Mr Hawazi Daipi) (for the Minister for Manpower): Sir, since 2004, the Ministry of Manpower has raised the awareness and profile of work-life issues, including flexible work arrangements. Through the work of the Tripartite Committee on Work-Life Strategy, which I chair, we have taken a practical approach and have seen tangible improvements over time.

According to a survey conducted by MOM in 2008, about 28% of establishments in the private sector have implemented various forms of flexible work arrangements such as part-time employment, staggered working hours, flexi-time and telecommuting from home. This is an improvement from about 24% in 2006.

The Government has committed a total of $13 million in grants to encourage flexi-work through two major schemes in partnership with the tripartite partners. The first is the Flexi-Works! Scheme, which aims to bring economically inactive individuals back to the workforce by encouraging companies to offer them part-time employment or other flexible work arrangements. The second is Work-Life Works! Fund (WoW! Fund). The WoW! Fund is given to businesses to help them introduce work-life measures at the workplace, also with a focus on flexible work arrangements. Companies can receive up to $100,000 through the two schemes.

Many companies have tapped on the two funding programmes to implement work-life strategies at their workplaces. As at August 2009, 643 companies have benefited from the Flexi-Works! Scheme and WoW! Fund. One example is the National University Hospital which tapped on the WoW! Fund to introduce an e-Rostering system to provide their nursing staff with greater flexibility in terms of shift arrangements. This empowers their staff to manage their own work-life effectiveness and flexibility.

The Tripartite Workgroup on Enhancing Employment Choices for Women, led by Mdm Halimah Yacob of NTUC, has laid down the strategy to promote flexible working arrangements. One of the strategies is to facilitate women's entry into the workplace through training. The Step-Out for Change Programme, which complements the Flexi-Works! Scheme, was introduced in July 2008 to reach out to economically inactive women and encourage them to re-enter the workforce. Through workshops on personal effectiveness and confidence building, this programme has already benefited 439 participants to date.

To make further progress, we will need to help employers understand the importance of adopting flexible working arrangement to enhance work-life harmony. Employees may be concerned that taking up flexible work arrangement may affect their performance appraisals or their relationship with their colleagues. Such concerns often prove misplaced in retrospect, but will take time to dissipate. We at the Ministry of Manpower has launched an initiative to encourage every staff member to try out at least one form of flexible work arrangement, so that they have the confidence to ask for it when they actually need it.

The Tripartite Committee on Work-Life Strategy recognises these challenges, and will continue to address them.

Mdm Ho Geok Choo: Thank you, Senior Parliamentary Secretary. I would like to ask two questions. What is actually the response rate of companies on the take-up of this scheme, especially in a non-unionised sector? To what extent is the Tripartite Committee prepared to have a statement in the appointment letters that Flexi-Works! Scheme is an available option should the employee require it?

Mr Speaker: You have two minutes left, Mr Hawazi.

Mr Hawazi Daipi: Thank you, Sir. Generally, the response is quite good. Among the 28% of companies that have implemented some form of flexi-work arrangement, we notice that organisations in the services sector have adopted the flexi-work arrangements more than other sectors. The take-up rate varies according to the industry. But what we would like to do is to encourage more to come on board. To give Members an example, Sir, in the services sector, 34.2% of companies have adopted some form of flexible work arrangements. In some of the sectors which have done well, hotels and restaurants, 49%; information and communication, 34% or 35%; and financial services, 36%. This compares with the manufacturing sector in which about 20% of companies have adopted the different forms of flexible work arrangements. So on the approach taken, we thought that it is best that the Tripartite Committee tries to encourage the adoption of flexible work arrangements through persuasive means. We do not think that legislation or requiring companies to offer on the contract of employment for the workers is the best way forward. We think that by approaching CEOs and HR managers, we will be able to get more companies to buy in to the idea. We would like to help companies to understand how to go about implementing different forms of flexible work arrangements.

3.00 pm

Mr Speaker: End of Question time.

[ Pursuant to Standing Order No. 22(3), Written Answers to Question Nos. 10, 14-16, 21-22, 27-28, 31-32, 35, 37 and 44-47 on the Order Paper are reproduced in the Appendix*. Question Nos. 11-13, 17-20, 23-26, 29-30, 33-34, 36, 38-43 and 48-50 have been postponed to the sitting of Parliament on 15th September 2009 .]

*Cols. 1391-1422.