HOME-BASED PAID WORK

Dr Kanwaljit Soin asked the Minister for Labour if he will consider setting up a section in his Ministry that will regulate, monitor and expand home-based paid work for women who are home bound as they have to look after their children or the aged but need to earn an income.

Dr Lee Boon Yang: The Nominated Member of Parliament asked a similar question last year. As we have explained then, home-based work is of two categories. In Singapore, most home-based work do not involve employer-employee relationship. The usual arrangement is for a company to enter into a contract for service (as against a contract of service) with an individual party to perform a task or to undertake work at his home, using his own tools and at his own pace without any supervision. Unlike an employee of a company, he will not be paid a salary but a remuneration based on the work done for the company. An example of this type of home-based work is a housewife sewing and completing dresses for garment factories for a remuneration on a piece-rate basis.

Another category of home-based work is those which involve employer-employee relationship under an employment contract. Under their contracts, the employees concerned could operate from both the office and their homes as long as they could deliver what is expected of them. With advanced technology in telecommunications such as computers and fax machines, more people are now able to operate from their homes. Since there is employer-employee relationship, our labour laws would apply to them. Examples of this category of home-based work are journalists, insurance or property agents who are given the flexibility to operate both from the office and their homes.

At present, our Ministry's Work Permit and Employment Department provides assistance free of charge to job seekers who wish to look for employment, either on a full-time or part-time basis. Housewives who wish to seek home-based work and other flexi-work arrangements could also approach the Department for advice and assistance, although the need for such service appears to be minimal. This could be due to the fact that they could easily do so through their friends, relatives, neighbours and other sources. On the other hand, employers also have little difficulty in reaching them with home-based work, if such work is available.

Since the Work Permit and Employment Department is able to provide assistance for job seekers, including those looking for part-time and home-based works, we are of the view that there is no necessity to set up a special Section in the Ministry for the same purpose.