Government to Enhance Grant to Promote Flexible Work Arrangements

March 5, 20189:16 am1013 views

Aiming to help women balance their career and childcare responsibilities, Singaporean government is improving the Work-Life Grant that encourages employers to provide flexible work arrangements for their workforce. The scheme, which was first launched in 2013 and due to expire at the end of this month, is set to be extended and enhanced from Jul 1 this year.

Announcing the news on Sunday (Mar 4), Second Minister for Manpower Josephine Teo said that there are several enhancement plans for the grant. First, the government has simplified the criteria for employers which are eligible to apply for the grant. Interested employers no longer require at least 20 percent of all employees to be on flexible work arrangement to qualify for the grant.

Speaking at the event to celebrate International Women’s Day at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront, Mrs Teo said that the move was made in response to feedback from companies regarding to the difficulties they face in meeting this criteria, Channel News reports.

“Under the enhanced Work-Life Grant, the employer will receive some funding so long as one or more employees adopt flexible work arrangements,” she said.

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Second, the government will give companies an allowance of S$2,000 per year over two years for each employee on flexible work arrangement. Up to 35 employees can be covered by this scheme. This amount is higher than what the current scheme offers, which is $2,000 per employee per year for the first five employees, and S$1,500 for the subsequent 20.

Third, employers that provide job sharing for the professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) in their company can receive S$3,500 per employee, rise from a maximum of $2,000 per employee under the current scheme.

Further, Mrs Teo said that the higher fund given for each employee is expected to provide more upfront support to help employers take the first step to encourage their employees to adopt flexible work arrangements. She also added that the Government has prepared a budget of S$30 million over two years for the implementation of this scheme.

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