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Written Answer by Minister for Manpower Dr Tan See Leng to PQ on Data on Number of Companies Offering Caregiving Leave for Employees and Plans to Encourage Such Offering to Improve Caregiving Support

Employment practices

NOTICE PAPER NO. 1612 OF 2023 FOR THE SITTING ON 9 JANUARY 2023
QUESTION NO. 2538 FOR WRITTEN ANSWER

MP: Mr Desmond Choo

To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) whether the Ministry has data on the current number of companies offering caregiving leave for its employees; and (b) what are the Ministry's plans to encourage such offering as part of its plan to improve caregiving support for employees.

Answer:

1. To support employees in their caregiving needs, employers are required by law to provide paid maternity, paternity, childcare leave and unpaid infant care leave. These have been progressively enhanced over the years. On top of these, employers may also voluntarily offer additional paid and unpaid caregiving leave. As of 2020, 19.5% of establishments surveyed1 voluntarily provided additional paid family care leave2, while 27.3% provided additional paid child sick leave3. These proportions have trended up over the years; in 2010, only 10.6% of establishments surveyed provided additional paid family care leave, while 19.0% provided additional paid child sick leave.

2. To encourage more employers to support employees in managing their caregiving responsibilities, tripartite partners introduced the Tripartite Standard on Unpaid Leave for Unexpected Care Needs in 2018, and the Tripartite Standard on Work-Life Harmony in 2021. These set out best employment practices that progressive employers commit to adopt, such as providing additional unpaid leave to employees who need to take care of their children or other immediate family members with medical conditions, or other forms of enhanced leave benefits.

3. Notwithstanding these efforts, tripartite partners recognise that leave provisions are just one of several ways to support working caregivers. It is also important to encourage and equip employers to foster and manage more flexible workplaces, which caregivers have said are a more sustainable way to support their needs. Tripartite partners will be introducing a set of Tripartite Guidelines on Flexible Work Arrangements (FWAs) by 2024, which will require employers to put in place proper processes to fairly consider and respond to employees’ requests to FWAs. We will also continue to strengthen measures to equip companies with the know-how to implement FWAs well.

FOOTNOTE

  1. Private sector establishments each with at least 25 employees and the public sector comprising government ministries, organs of state, and statutory boards were surveyed.
  2. Paid Family Care Leave refers to leave granted to employees for taking care of their family members (e.g. parents, step parents, parents-in-law, children, spouse) or to accompany them for medical appointment when they are sick or when the main caregiver is not available.
  3. Medical Certificate (MC) required.