Singapore Employers Must Process All Flexible Work Requests from December

Empowering the Workforce: Singapore Employers Must Process All Flexible Work Requests from December

Starting in December, every Singapore employer must process all flexible work requests. Minister of State for Manpower Gan Siow Huang stated that Singapore’s tight labour market and growing number of retirees who need caregiving are among the main reasons for implementing flexible work arrangements. She also stated that the arrangements will allow more seniors and people who have taken on the caregiver roles to work at their own pace. On this note, Minister Gan cited that if Singapore were to grow a strong labour force, they must empower working adults to work, and flexible work arrangements are the way to go.

 

Singapore’s Working Landscape

The country’s demographics will be shifting significantly in less than six years. Data shows that by 2030, one out of four residents will be over 65. In 2023, the employment rate for Singaporean seniors (over the age of 65), will exceed 30%. The rate of women’s employment has also increased, with a hike of 76.6%. However, there’s still a significant number, roughly 260,000 women of working age, who are not currently participating in the workforce.

 

Building a Progressive Workplace

The Assistant Secretary-General of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), Ms. Yeo Wan Ling stated that one of the biggest reasons for this large number is because of women handling primary caregiving responsibilities. Ms Gan, Ms Yeo, and Mr Edwin Ng act as the tripartite workgroup’s Honorary Secretaries of the Singapore National Employers Federation. This decision was made after consulting multiple stakeholders, companies, trade associations, unions, and community organisations focused on women, fathers, and senior citizens.

Explaining the choice of guidelines instead of mandating legislation, Ms Gan emphasised a “progressive” approach to flexible work options. According to her, prioritising this approach is a bigger need at the moment. It would foster sustainable, win-win flexible work arrangements, which adds to “administrative lightness.” In other words, businesses can easily implement it.

 

Serious Consequences For Not Following the Guidelines

When asked about the new enforcement, Ms. Gan highlighted the competitive advantage of offering flexible work arrangements. She stated that employers who embrace a “progressive” approach and cater to employee requests for flexible work will attract top talent. She added, saying if employers want talented hires, they must be willing to get competitive in their offer.

Along those lines, Ms Gan mentioned that if employers do not comply with the guidelines for establishing a clear process to revise flexible arrangement requests from employees, TAFEP will have to step in. TAFEP will advise and educate employers on following the guidelines, as stated in the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices.

Ms Gan is fairly confident in Singaporean employers. She remarked that employers will know what to do for the sake of good business.  The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) responded to queries, stating if employers do not comply with the guidelines on purpose, they may receive a warning from the Ministry. This willful defiance will result in them attending corrective workshops, to ensure they understand and implement the guidelines effectively.

 

What The Guideline Entails

The new guidelines will allow Singaporean employees to request flexible work arrangements starting December 1st, 2024. The guidelines apply to all employers and employees who have completed their probationary period. This guideline also takes account of the employers’ perspective; MOM acknowledges that employers have the final say on flexible work arrangement requests.

Therefore, MOM governs the process for requesting flexible work arrangements. However, the outcome of the request is left to the employer.

The guidelines explain the types of flexible work arrangements:

Flexi-Place

This arrangement allows employees to work from locations outside the office, which includes telecommuting and working from home.

Flexi-Time

Refers to the arrangements where employees can work at different times. This includes staggered starts, flexible shifts, and compressed work weeks.

Flexi-Load

This arrangement enables employees to take on different workloads and get compensation accordingly, such as job sharing and part-time work.

The guidelines emphasise a mutual understanding between both parties. Employees should consider workload, performance, and team or client impact before requesting. On the other hand, employers must weigh all reasonable causes to accommodate employees’ requests. The request will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis and business viability.

Employers can reject requests with valid business justifications, and approving identical arrangements for all employees simultaneously will not be expected.

 

Making A Formal Request

Employers must establish a formal request process on how they see fit. For instance, creating a work portal. In a case, where there are no processes in place, then a formal written request with the date, desired flexible arrangement with frequency and duration, reason for the request, and if applicable, start and end date would do. Requests without these vital details will be considered informal and fall outside the guidelines’ scope.

 

Fair Outcome For All

Employers will have two months to respond to a formal flexible work request. If an employer rejects a request, they are required to give a written justification. With that said, employers are encouraged to explore alternative options with the employee, to promote open and constructive communication. In the case of disagreements, employees can refer to the organisation’s internal grievance procedure. Unionised employees have the option of seeking support from their unions. All employees can also approach TAFEP for assistance.

 

A Win-Win Situation

Employers like SNEF’s Mr Ng emphasise the potential flexible work arrangements have to attract and retain talent, which is inclusive of valuable demographics such as seniors, caregivers and those with special needs. The tripartite partners acknowledge the need for support. Therefore, they are equipping businesses with resources to adapt.  Businesses will soon be able to access educational workshops and training programmes.

On top of that, the Productivity Solutions Grant will offer financial support for these initiatives as well. These events, which are scheduled for May, will assist companies in easing the transition to a flexible work environment.

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