MANPOWER Minister Gan Kim Yong is opposed to using the law to enforce flexible work arrangements for promoting work-life balance. He prefers taking a softer approach to convince employers that it makes business sense to offer such arrangements.
Working with unions and employer groups, his ministry will show examples to employers to demonstrate the benefits to the bottom line in being flexible, he told reporters on Thursday at the sidelines of a conference on work-life balance.
Mr Gan's comments were in response to a debate in The Straits Times' Forum pages on the need for legislation to require employers to introduce work-life balance measures.
He said: 'Instead of introducing legislation and injecting rigidity in trying to encourage flexibility, we prefer a more educational, promotional approach so that we really convert the employers.'
Such an approach is possible, he added, thanks to the close relationship here among employers, unions and the Government. This so-called tripartite relationship is often cited as a key competitive advantage of Singapore's economy. It is credited with helping all three parties overcome a long list of potentially thorny issues, from CPF cuts to layoffs.
Singapore has been encouraging companies for years to introduce measures for work-life balance, in part to prop up a flagging birth rate.
Thursday's conference, where employers shared some of their experiences in implementing family-friendly measures, is targeted especially at Mandarin-speaking employers from small and medium-sized enterprises. The talks were held mainly in Mandarin.
Mr Gan also told reporters that employers' response to work-life balance has been encouraging. A government survey shows 28 per cent of companies here had some form of formal flexible work arrangements last year - a rise from 21 per cent in 2004 .
Another measure of progress is the number of companies tapping the Government's WoW! Fund (Work-Life Works! Fund).
Despite the downturn, a total of 95 applications were received in the first seven months of this year, compared with 80 for the whole of last year. The fund supports pro-family programmes like the building of nursing, family or day-care rooms at the workplace. The Government would give up to $20,000 to help finance such policies.
