<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Guidelines today on options before wielding the axe
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>MOM list will include flexible work plans and shorter work week </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Jermyn Chow
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ST PHOTO: ALBERT SIM
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->EMPLOYERS in Singapore must be socially responsible as the economic downturn bites harder, and resort to retrenchment only after all other options have been exhausted.
There are many other alternatives available before the dreaded axe is wielded, Acting Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong said yesterday.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>The Good
THIRTY-THREE heads of Singapore's top construction firms, property developers and construction-related associations have pledged to cut the injuries in their worksites to zero.
To do this, they must establish safety management plans, disclose the number of workplace accidents and injuries on their websites or in publications, and spread the safety message from top management down to the last man on the line, among other measures.
The Bad
A SHIPYARD worker drowned yesterday after falling off the scaffold of a vessel docked near the mouth of Sungei Pandan in the West Coast.
The body of Mr Suresh Ramakrishnan was recovered around 4.15pm, almost seven hours after he plummeted from a recently-christened barge.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>To this end, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) will release a set of guidelines today that will list cost-cutting options available to companies that have excess staff in a time of slowing business.
The guidelines - which are not mandatory - include having flexible work arrangements, a shorter work week and sending employees for upgrading, Mr Gan said.
Though they have been in the works for some time, the move to publish the guidelines comes just days after labour chief Lim Swee Say took DBS Bank to task for failing to consult its staff union and for not exploring other cost-cutting measures before laying off 900 workers.
Speaking on the sidelines of a workplace safety and health event held at The Regent Hotel, Mr Gan said MOM wants to send a 'very important message' to employers that they 'need to take a socially responsible approach'.
He said: 'We want to help these companies and guide them through the process, so that they look at the whole challenge holistically, and so that they also understand that there are many other options available other than retrenchment.'
He added that in some cases, a company may have to lay off workers to survive, but if this happens, the ministry will work with unions and employers to give the affected people the opportunity to upgrade themselves and find new jobs as soon as possible.
'We are not just waiting for workers to come to us...but will go down to the companies, design packages and programmes that are suitable for the companies to help their workers.'
Though the electronics and manufacturing sectors have been hit hard, others, like the services industry and the education and childcare sectors, are still hiring.
Mr Gan added: 'The key is how we can help the retrenched workers transit to these new industries.'
He also gave this assurance to companies which approach the Government, unions or Singapore National Employers Federation for help: 'We would be very happy to guide them and hold their hand through this process.'
When asked, Mr Gan said the ministry did not have a projection of how many workers would be retrenched during the current downturn, but said that whether it tops the record of 30,000 - in 1998, at the peak of the Asian financial crisis - depends on companies taking 'responsible actions'.
On who will be hardest hit, he said that the impact will be felt most keenly at middle-management levels and in PMET (professional, managerial, executive and technical) occupations.
This, he explained, is partly a factor of success: The quality of jobs here over the last few years has improved, and many Singaporeans are now in PMET or middle-level management jobs today. [email protected]
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>MOM list will include flexible work plans and shorter work week </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Jermyn Chow
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
ST PHOTO: ALBERT SIM
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->EMPLOYERS in Singapore must be socially responsible as the economic downturn bites harder, and resort to retrenchment only after all other options have been exhausted.
There are many other alternatives available before the dreaded axe is wielded, Acting Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong said yesterday.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>The Good
THIRTY-THREE heads of Singapore's top construction firms, property developers and construction-related associations have pledged to cut the injuries in their worksites to zero.
To do this, they must establish safety management plans, disclose the number of workplace accidents and injuries on their websites or in publications, and spread the safety message from top management down to the last man on the line, among other measures.
The Bad
A SHIPYARD worker drowned yesterday after falling off the scaffold of a vessel docked near the mouth of Sungei Pandan in the West Coast.
The body of Mr Suresh Ramakrishnan was recovered around 4.15pm, almost seven hours after he plummeted from a recently-christened barge.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>To this end, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) will release a set of guidelines today that will list cost-cutting options available to companies that have excess staff in a time of slowing business.
The guidelines - which are not mandatory - include having flexible work arrangements, a shorter work week and sending employees for upgrading, Mr Gan said.
Though they have been in the works for some time, the move to publish the guidelines comes just days after labour chief Lim Swee Say took DBS Bank to task for failing to consult its staff union and for not exploring other cost-cutting measures before laying off 900 workers.
Speaking on the sidelines of a workplace safety and health event held at The Regent Hotel, Mr Gan said MOM wants to send a 'very important message' to employers that they 'need to take a socially responsible approach'.
He said: 'We want to help these companies and guide them through the process, so that they look at the whole challenge holistically, and so that they also understand that there are many other options available other than retrenchment.'
He added that in some cases, a company may have to lay off workers to survive, but if this happens, the ministry will work with unions and employers to give the affected people the opportunity to upgrade themselves and find new jobs as soon as possible.
'We are not just waiting for workers to come to us...but will go down to the companies, design packages and programmes that are suitable for the companies to help their workers.'
Though the electronics and manufacturing sectors have been hit hard, others, like the services industry and the education and childcare sectors, are still hiring.
Mr Gan added: 'The key is how we can help the retrenched workers transit to these new industries.'
He also gave this assurance to companies which approach the Government, unions or Singapore National Employers Federation for help: 'We would be very happy to guide them and hold their hand through this process.'
When asked, Mr Gan said the ministry did not have a projection of how many workers would be retrenched during the current downturn, but said that whether it tops the record of 30,000 - in 1998, at the peak of the Asian financial crisis - depends on companies taking 'responsible actions'.
On who will be hardest hit, he said that the impact will be felt most keenly at middle-management levels and in PMET (professional, managerial, executive and technical) occupations.
This, he explained, is partly a factor of success: The quality of jobs here over the last few years has improved, and many Singaporeans are now in PMET or middle-level management jobs today. [email protected]
