Why We Need Flexi-Work Arrangements To Be Enshrined Into Law

For years, parents have been saying that 6 days of childcare leave is just not enough. The debate in Parliament continues, with Workers’ Party MP Louis Chua (Sengkang GRC) calling for flexi-work arrangements to be enshrined into law. As a working mother, here’s why I support this motion wholeheartedly.

I remember telling Minister Lawrence Wong on national TV last year why 6 days of childcare leave is hardly enough for working parents. Earlier this year, I echoed the same sentiments to MP Louis Chua on a podcast that we did covering the realities of juggling work and kids in Singapore. 

But if more paid childcare leave is not an option, then flexible work arrangements will go a long way in helping us to balance both our work and families.

So when I saw that this was raised again in Parliament, I could not help but nod my head as MP Louis Chua proposed to enshrine flexible work arrangements (FWAs) into law in Singapore. This speaks to the countless parents like me, who find ourselves trying our best to juggle our work and family life without jeopardizing our jobs.

The response by Minister of State for Education and Manpower, Gan Siow Huang, raises valid points about the necessity to consider the impact of FWAs on individual and team productivity. She also explained that such flexibility of working arrangements may not be applicable to certain jobs and industries, and factory or laboratory-based work comes to mind. Indeed, this has always been the case both pre-Covid and during the pandemic, but didn’t the lockdowns force employers to find a way to make it work anyway?

Minister Gan’s argument that making FWAs rigid could be detrimental to businesses is understandable, but without legal protection, the main crux is that workers will not have the negotiating power to push for such change with their bosses.

Working parents and caregivers are at the losing end

For many years now, we have left flexi-work arrangements as a recommended guideline for companies to adopt. There were no hard and fast rules - instead, it was believed firms that were willing to offer intangible benefits like these would be perceived as more attractive among job-seekers.

We forget that ultimately, the employers are the ones who get to set the rules. As workers, we can speak up, but there’s little we can do (short of tendering our resignation) other than oblige and follow.

Businesses will naturally protect their own interests first (including their finances and productivity levels), which is why we need our government to protect the interests of us as workers.

Today, employers are mandated by law to give 16 weeks of maternity leave to eligible female employees. Even though that has been enshrined into law, some companies request for their employees to come back sooner rather than take the entire 16 weeks off at one go, in order to avoid too much disruption to their jobs. This now becomes a flexible discussion between the employer and employee, but at least the worker is empowered to say no if they feel they really need the full 16 weeks off (like I did).

If the Singapore government wants to reverse its declining birth rate, then leaving flexi-work arrangements to the employers is not an option.

In the last 12 months since the easing of pandemic measures, we have already seen companies calling their workers back to the office. This is despite evidence showing that work-from-home arrangements remain the most attractive option for worker retention and satisfaction.

As seen from a survey conducted by NTUC in early 2023, employees with caregiving responsibilities face difficulties in taking unpaid time off from work. There is generally an unwritten rule in most work cultures that even after having children, women are still expected to put their work first – especially on weekdays.

Your single (or childless) colleagues complain if you dare say that you have to take time off because your child is sick, and your boss may pass you up for a promotion in favour of another colleague without a child who can commit more hours at work than you do. 

The heart of the issue lies in the cultural and societal pressure that continues to force parents to choose between their careers and family life. Many of us, especially women, worry that we might face career stagnation or discrimination if we put our family first.

There are too few statutory protections in place that allow parents to fulfill their duties to children (especially in their younger, formative years) without having to sacrifice professional growth at the workplace.

The dilemma is compounded when parents become the default caregiver for their elderly parents who need help with activities of daily living.

As statistics indicate, the average caregiver in Singapore holds a full-time job while dedicating a staggering 6.7 hours per day to caregiving. The emotional and physical strain of these responsibilities is immense. 

The future caregiving reality is even more grim

As the saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child. But today, the average household size in Singapore has shrunk significantly, and most of us no longer have this “village” support to help us – unlike in the past. Shrinking family sizes also means there will be fewer family members to share in our caregiving duties in the future. 

Add in Singapore’s ageing population, and those of us in the sandwiched generation have an even bigger challenge.

Government statistics already show that there will be only 2.4 working-age citizens to support every senior citizen by 2030, down from 3.3 in 2022. Aside from a shrinking taxpayer base, what about the heavier caregiver burden? My grandparents were financially supported by multiple children, so there was almost always someone who would be able to take time off work to bring them to their hospital check-ups and shoulder the bill.

In contrast, how many of us today are stuck in the middle - juggling between raising young preschoolers and supporting our elderly parents? And how many of us have more than one or two siblings to split the responsibilities with?

You get my point.

Our government has long been preparing for the harsh socioeconomic realities of a rapidly ageing population, but what about solutions for the new caregiving reality?

Enshrine flexi-work arrangements into law

As MP Louis Chua rightly pointed out, the problem now is that there is currently no legal obligation for employers to offer FWAs. If other countries such as Britain, Australia, the Philippines and Thailand can and have already passed legislation governing the right to request FWAs, then surely Singapore can enact the same.

Here’s another example. At my previous workplace, my HR manager said that the company had implemented a new policy whereby employees would only be allowed to enjoy the relevant (paid) holiday leave if they were of that applicable religion or culture. This had already been rolled out in India, and Singapore was next on the list, which meant that out of the 11 paid public holidays we enjoy here, according to the company’s “rules”, I would not be entitled to Good Friday, Hari Raya Puasa, Vesak Day, Hari Raya Haji, and Deepavali, leaving me with just 6 days of paid public holidays in the entire working year.

Obviously, I protested, but it fell on deaf ears. It was only when I was able to show that the 11 days of public holidays are a statutory leave requirement, that I was able to fight for my rights for proper rest days as a Singaporean worker.

Such is the power of statutory and legal protections. It helps workers who do not have negotiating power in their workplace to push for the change that they desperately need.

Beyond mere advisories and guidelines, enshrining FWA into law will definitely be a welcome lifeline for parents and caregivers who are desperately seeking a way to balance their responsibilities.

Dawn Cher is a mother of two boys who chose to hire a confinement nanny and recuperate at home. As the founder of leading financial blog SG Budget Babe, she also shares various money hacks and tips on how parents can do more while spending less.