7 in 10 say employers not quite supportive of flexi-work: poll

By Imelda Saad, Channel NewsAsia, 1 Mar 2013

Nearly 7 in 10 respondents in a survey by the labour movement here say their employers are not quite supportive of flexi-work arrangements.

The union says legislating flexi-work may be inevitable as more workers aspire for greater work-life balance.

In the survey posed to 5,720 people, the respondents were asked if they are happy.

Six in 10 said they are happier after getting married and nearly 8 in 10 said they are happier after they became parents.

But 43 per cent also said they do not have enough time for their family. Four in 5 said they hardly have any personal time.

Most said their employers are not quite supportive of flexi-work arrangements.

About 6 in 10 said they do not have supportive colleagues.

The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) said this is indicative that a lot of companies here may be just paying lip service to work-life balance. It added that legislation may be the way to go.

Cham Hui Fong, director of industrial relations department at NTUC, said: "We think that eventually that would be the way to go, but at this point in time we are working with the companies to see how we can make it more accessible for the employees, make it more convenient for the employees to ask when they need to have flexi-work arrangement, flexi-time to care for their family.

"We are actually looking at something similar to the re-employment law, whereby when the person has the need to go into flexi-work arrangement, or flexi-time, that employers should be obliged to provide this. 

"But of course it is subject to certain understanding that (the employer) is able to re-schedule the work or that (the employee) is able to meet the expected output."

One analyst said legislating the right for a worker to ask for flexi-work arrangements is an important signal.

Dr Mathew Mathews, research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies, said: "I think the area of legislation that can be looked into is the idea about employees having the right to ask for flexible work-life arrangements.

"That right will signal to employers that employees need to be taken care of. it's not just how they can fully maximise them and their work, but also to allow them to have that happiness by engaging in work-life initiatives and being able to take care of their family needs as well.

"The whole idea that if there is a clause which gives provision for the worker to ask, then for one, the worker does not feel that he is raising a demand, that this is something that he has every right to ask for that provision and his fellow colleagues won't see him as going against the grain, that he is exercising his perfect right, just like somebody taking maternity leave or going for some other kind of approved leave. 

"This is an approved flexibility that can be incorporated in the work culture, so I think this will signal a step forward for this whole work-life initiative."

However, the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) said legislating a right for employees to request for flexi-work to take care of their children will create unnecessary friction and stress at the workplace, not only between employers and employees but also among employees.

It added that not every job can be done on flexi-hours and few companies can guarantee a job 12 months later.

"It would be better to focus on helping employers to implement flexi-work and mothers to secure suitable jobs when they re-enter the workforce," said SNEF.

The labour movement is taking some steps to get companies to move into this direction, for instance requiring flexi-work arrangements to be worked into the union's collective agreement with employers before the agreement is renewed. But so far, fewer than 10 unionised companies have agreed to those terms. 

There are about 1,500 unionised companies in Singapore.

Workers whom Channel NewsAsia spoke with were mixed in their views about whether they do have work-life balance.

Most that do reveal that they work for multi-national corporations.

Karine Lim, a partner account manager, said: "I'm a new mum so I have to strike a balance between at home and at work and at my organisation. I think my company has given me a lot of flexibility. When the need arises, we have full support of the management."

Loke Han Kang, an account manager, said: "I would say it's more like work-life integration because nowadays, sometimes you are at home and you are still working. When you are in office, you are actually doing something (for the) home, so it's more integration than separating it. You really need to put effort and time and say, 'this is the time I need to spend with my family'."

Relationship manager assistant Jovyn Chua said: "Certain things are time-sensitive so even if I have a family, if I go home on time, my husband won't be home because of his work, so we won't be able to meet. So there isn't any work-life balance, that's how I feel." 

Moving forward, the labour movement is doing more to engage stakeholders. For example, it is getting employers to come up with action plans to have work-life balance policies instituted in the workplace.

It is also asking the government to give the same kind of benefits to single mothers and working married mothers, as well as asking for more government incentives for companies to have work-life balance initiatives at their workplace.

‘Mindset change needed’ for flexi-work to take off
Some workers not comfortable with such arrangements, even if 41% of companies offer them
By Woo Sian Boon and Kelly Ng, TODAY, 2 Mar 2013

Although his supervisor had requested to work from home for a few days a week — making use of the flexible work options offered by his company — Marketing Executive Chiu PK, 29, hesitated to follow his lead.

He said: “For lower-rank employees, will we dare to ask for this? In Singapore, we place a lot of emphasis on work performance and work assessments. I worry about my bonus or pay increments, so I feel the pressure to always be in the office just to show that I’m doing my work.”

Auditor Sarah Phua, 25, felt that at this early stage of her career, it was better for her to spend more time in the office.

“I don’t have personal obligations such as having to take care of a family yet. Choosing a flexible work option might also mean shorter hours and a compromised pay, and I wouldn’t want that,” she said.

Finance Executive Lim Weili, 26, believes that flexible work arrangements are “reserved” for working mothers. He said: “Sometimes bosses hire males because there is the implicit assumption that male workers will not go on maternity leave or won’t choose flexible hours due to family commitments. Hence, they may make less allowance for males seeking a better work-life balance.”

Senior Marketing Consultant Eileen Lee, 33, had options such as compressed work weeks and half-day work at her company. But she chose to place her one-year-old daughter in infantcare and work full-time as she could not find childcare with daily or half-day rates.

She said: “If I trade off my salary by going on a flexi-scheme and earn less, and the childcare still charges me the full rate, there’s no point.” She is, however, glad that her supervisor is flexible enough to allow her to work from home “on certain odd days”.

For one reason or another, including misplaced beliefs or otherwise, some workers here are still not comfortable taking up flexible work arrangements that are available to them at their workplace.

The issue of flexible work arrangements has come under the spotlight after Yahoo! Chief Executive Marissa Mayer sent a memo to staff earlier this week to say that the company will scrap its work-at-home policy from June.

The Government and the labour movement have been actively promoting such arrangements as Singaporeans seek better work-life balance.

Various initiatives have been rolled out over the years, such as the Flexi-Works! Scheme and the WoW! Fund, to help companies provide flexible work arrangements, such as part-time work, staggered hours, job-sharing, telecommuting and alternative work schedules.

According to Ministry of Manpower statistics, 41 per cent of establishments offered at least one form of flexible work arrangement last year, up from 25 per cent in 2007.

The Yahoo! memo explaining the policy change said face-to-face interaction among employees fosters a more collaborative culture.

While they acknowledged the constraints of offering flexible work arrangements, companies here said they encourage employees to take up such options.

Microsoft Singapore, for instance, makes informal arrangements for its workers to work from home “on an ad-hoc basis”. A company spokesman said it has so far “not experienced any issues such as a decline in productivity or deterioration in teamwork”.

He added: “However, we are also cognisant of the fact that face-to-face interaction between colleagues continues to be important ... We do encourage employees to focus on working effectively and if that means face-to-face is needed, they should prioritise it. Managers are also encouraged to have more regular meet ups with individuals through one-on-ones and team meetings.”

At law firm Rajah & Tann, its lawyers and supporting personnel are offered the option of a three- or four-day compressed work week, staggered work hours or different working times.

Ms Rebecca Chew, the firm’s partner in charge of human resources, said: “Our management’s doors are always open to our employees at all times for suggestions and feedback on how our work-life strategies can meet their needs effectively. The overarching guideline is that the quality of our work for the clients cannot be compromised and work must be delivered according to clients’ expectations.”

Constant reviews and feedback from supervisors and assessment tools ensure that employees’ competencies are tracked, she said.

Speaker of Parliament Halimah Yacob, a former labour Member of Parliament and a champion of workers’ welfare, reiterated that it was not possible for companies to adopt a cookie-cutter approach to embrace flexible work arrangements.

She said: “However, what is possible is for companies to focus on flexibility whether in terms of how the work is done ... the working hours, flexible benefits such as childcare or parental care leave.”

She added: “Also, we need to recognise that not all types of work can be made flexible. Jobs in the service sector are more amenable to such flexibility compared to manufacturing jobs, for instance.”

Seng Hua Hng Foodstuff Human Resource Manager Damien Tong said it would be hard for his company to implement telecommuting, for instance.

“For production-related work, you can’t virtually manage a machine. Also, in our context of operations, we need visual management,” he said.

Mr Tong felt that such arrangements are also not practical for those in frontline services where workers are “paid for their time and presence”.

He added: “That said, a lot of management (personnel) are also very conservative, so if they don’t see their workers coming in to work, they don’t have a comfort level.”

Mdm Halimah felt that, whatever the circumstances, companies need to ensure that there is a “proper process” where employees feel comfortable to raise a desire to have flexible work arrangements.

For the work arrangements to fully take off here, human resource experts said that mindsets, culture and the level of trust between supervisors and their workers must change.

Mrs Sher-Li Torrey, Founder and Director of Mums@Work, suggested clear policies and frameworks outlining the key performance indicators which are constantly communicated between employers and employees.

Mr Josh Goh, Assistant Director of Corporate Services at human resource consultancy The GMP Group, added: “The employer has to empower the employee and rely less on face-time. The employee, on the other hand, must not be rigid and allow a certain amount of flexibility within the arrangement.”