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Oral Answer by Minister for Manpower Dr Tan See Leng to PQ on Paid Caregiving Leave

Employment practices

NOTICE PAPER NO. 1802 OF 2023 FOR THE SITTING ON OR AFTER 21 MARCH 2023
QUESTION NO. 4341 FOR ORAL ANSWER

MP: Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang

To ask the Minister for Manpower whether the Ministry will consider (i) upgrading the Tripartite Standard on Unpaid Leave for Unexpected Care Needs to take the form of Tripartite Guidelines and (ii) eventually legislating the Tripartite Standard on Unpaid Leave for Unexpected Care Needs.

NOTICE PAPER NO. 4346 OF 2023 FOR THE SITTING ON OR AFTER 21 MARCH 2023
QUESTION NO. 4346 FOR ORAL ANSWER

MP: Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang

To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) whether the Ministry will consider launching a Tripartite Standard on (i) paid childcare sick leave and (ii) paid parent care leave; and (b) if not, why not.

Answer:

1. Currently, employers are already required by legislation to provide various types of leave to support employees’ caregiving needs. For instance, besides Maternity and Paternity Leave, employers are also required to provide Childcare and Extended Childcare Leave on an annual basis.

2. Some employers have also gone beyond these legally mandated provisions to provide additional paid leave such as Child Sick leave, Parental Care leave and Family Care leave.

3. To promote such progressive practices, Tripartite Partners introduced the Tripartite Standard on Work-life Harmony, which encourages employers to provide at least two enhanced leave benefits of any type. Depending on what best meets the needs of the employer and its employees, these can include paid Child Sick leave and paid Parental Care leave, which the Member had asked about.

4. We will continue to promote workplace practices that strike a good balance in addressing caregiving and business needs. This includes encouraging Flexible Work Arrangements, which is more sustainable.