Pro-family firms lauded

From TODAY, News
Tuesday September 2, 2008

DISCRIMINATION FEARS
Bosses can help educate staff; mums can be flexible with long leave

Alicia Wong
alicia@mediacorp.com.sg

SHE MAY have been eight months pregnant, but that didn’t stop UBS Singapore from hiring her.

Ms Rachel Lin started work as a corporate communications director two weeks before going on her 15-week maternity leave — what UBS employees enjoyed instead of the statutory 12 weeks back then. Mothers can also claim up to $3,000 for maternity-related expenses, and are protected by a UBS insurance plan in the event of birth complications.

Proving family-friendly practices are not just for multinational companies, The Event Company Staging Connections, with a staff of about 40, has hired pregnant women twice and provided them with full maternity benefits.

Both companies were lauded yesterday by Mdm Halimah Yacob, the deputy secretary-general of the National Trades Unions Congress (NTUC), at a dialogue on the impact of the state’s marriage and parenthood package.

“Quite a significant number” of unionists”, she noted, had “voiced concerns on whether women would face increased discrimination at work because of enhanced leave benefits”. The challenge, she felt, was to implement the measures in ways that meet “the needs of both the employees and employers”.

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Bosses
• Organise work to support mums while ensuring business outcomes.
• Base treatment of staff on merit, not pregnancy, on training benefits, pay, promotion, and so on
• Apply parenthood package to all, including contract workers
• Fair, transparent appraisal system
• Train managers, supervisors to implement policies effectively; engage other staff over workflow concerns

Pregnant staff
• Uphold high performance standards
• Give early notice of childcare or maternity leave; mutually agree on best time to minimise disruption
• Ensure smooth handover of duties
• Stretch last eight weeks of leave over longer period (for example, work half-days)
• Be realistic, understand bosses’ concerns
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On the employers’ end, she urged them to apply the parenthood package “equitably”, including to those on flexi-work arrangements and contract work.

They should have a “fair, transparent performance appraisal system that has measurable outcomes” to minimise conflicts over rewards.

Importantly, managers and front-line supervisors should be trained so they can fully support and implement the policies effectively, she said. And the other staff should be engaged over concerns about workflow when employees go on extended leave.

Employees must play their part, too — this includes upholding “a high standard of performance” and not expecting employers to compromise such standards, which would be unfair to other staff.

They should also notify the company early when applying for maternity leave and work with employers to ensure a smooth handover of duties. She also urged staff to be flexible in taking the last eight weeks of maternity leave — such as stretching this over a longer period, with half-day leave arrangements or a three-day workweek.

“We all need to remember that it’s important to ‘Hire on Merit’ and not ‘Fire! She’s married’,” stressed Mdm Halimah, who cochairs the Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices, a place where pregnant employees who feel they have been discriminated against can seek advice and help.