PAID LEAVE FOR MEN TO CARE FOR SICK PARENTS

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PAID LEAVE FOR MEN TO CARE FOR SICK PARENTS: 12.

Mdm Ho Geok Choo asked the Acting Minister for Manpower in light of the recent call for working women to be given paid leave to care for sick parents, whether men will be considered for paid leave for the same purpose.

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Manpower (Mr Hawazi Daipi) (for the Acting Minister for Manpower): Sir, we should be quite careful about increasing the statutory leave burden on companies to meet every new and emerging personal need of employees. While we appreciate that many working adults might have elderly parents to take care of, we should leave it to them to decide on how best to meet these commitments, including using their annual leave where necessary. The suggestion to mandate statutory family-care leave, on top of annual leave, for working adults to take care of their aged or sick parents will increase business cost and undermine our overall competitiveness. Instead of mandating it, we should leave it to the discretion of employers who can afford to do so, to grant such leave as part of their personnel benefits.

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A more sustainable approach is to help companies implement work-life arrangements that can better help their employees meet their needs at work and in their personal life, such as taking care of the elderly or sick parents. This promotional approach is adopted by the Tripartite Committee on Work-Life Strategy, which I chair. Employers could introduce work-life programmes, such as flexible work arrangements, part-time employment and telecommuting. This would allow greater flexibility for their employees in their work schedules to better meet both their work and personal responsibilities. The Government has programmes in place, such as the WOW! Fund and Flexi-Works! scheme, to help companies implement such flexible work arrangements.