Organised by the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) Women’s Development Secretariat (WDS) in partnership with the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP), the annual “Best Companies for Mums” contest recognises companies and individuals for their remarkable efforts in making it possible for employees to achieve better work-life harmony through the implementation of flexible work arrangements (FWA) and various employee support initiatives.
“Best Company For Mums” SG50 Special Award
This year, in celebration of Singapore's 50 years of nation building, the “Best Company for Mums” contest introduced a once-off special award category to show recognition to companies that have developed dedicated employee support schemes to provide holistic support to working women at their different life stages that go above and beyond the statutory requirements of providing leave and staff benefits.
Five companies – Cerebos Pacific Limited, DBS Bank, KK Women’s & Children’s Hospital (KKH), Infineon Technologies Asia Pacific Pte Ltd and SP Services – were awarded the prestige SG50 Special Award for showing strong dedication to help their employees achieve work-life harmony by implementing tailored FWA and employee support schemes that address their employees’ specific needs during the different phases of their careers and lives. These companies also ensure that their policies are sustainable and progressive to respond to the needs of the changing profile of workers.
One of the SG50 Special Award winners KKH has put in place various forms of FWA, including compressed work week, flexi-hours, job sharing and tele-commuting, among others, to empower its employees with the flexibility to determine their preferred working arrangements and hours to better manage their work and caregiving responsibilities. The hospital also offers part-time positions for employees who can only work less than 35 hours a week and offers them the same career development pathway available for full-time staff.
In addition to the FWA practices, the hospital also has various employee support schemes to meet the different needs and demands of their employees. For instance, the hospital provides a fully equipped lactation room for breastfeeding mothers, sets up a Workplace Child Care Centre to provide infant care and child care support for employees, and has initiated a ‘Wind Beneath My Wings’ Award to recognise supportive family members of employees who have enabled them to achieve work-life balance.
Currently, KKH has over 4,500 employees, with 89 per cent of them are females. With a predominantly female workforce, the FWA practices have enabled the hospital to retain many female employees who may have otherwise exited the workforce due to family commitments, which is one of the top reasons for resignations at the hospital.
About the “Best Company for Mums” Contest
The nomination period for the “Best Company for Mums” contest started in March this year during NTUC WDS’ International Women’s Day celebration. Companies and individuals were called on to nominate exemplary examples by sharing personal stories of how their employers or supervisors have helped them achieve better work-life harmony.
More than 170 nominations were received. The judging panel, comprising representatives from NTUC and TAFEP, shortlisted the final awardees based on the nominees’ personal stories and criteria including the extent of FWA practices available at the company, variety of pro-family employee leave schemes, employee support schemes for mothers and infrastructural support like lactation facilities and onsite childcare.
A total of 65 model companies and individuals were presented with the ‘Best Companies for Mums” Awards in various categories - “Most Empowering Company for Mums”, “Most Enabling Company for Dads”, “Most Supportive Colleague”, “Most Supportive Supervisor”, as well as the “SG50 Special Award”. These awardees have shown exceptional efforts in making FWA work for their employees and enabling them to achieve better work-life harmony.
“TAFEP congratulates the winners of this year’s “Best Company for Mums” contest. I am especially heartened to note that among the winners, some are from sectors like retail and F&B, which are known to be labour intensive. These winners have clearly shown that it is possible to put in place practices that support the needs of their employees, despite the constraints that they face. I hope the examples of these winners will inspire other employers to look beyond traditional constraints, and think of innovative ways to create inclusive workplaces,” said Mrs Roslyn Ten, General Manager, TAFEP.
Panel Discussion on “Overcoming Challenges to enable FWAs”
As a form of recognition for their pro-family practices, three winning companies from the contest – KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, OCBC Bank and RE & S Enterprises – have been invited to share their journeys on overcoming the challenges to enable FWAs at their workplaces.
After which, the attendees also participated in a panel discussion on “Overcoming Challenges to enable FWAs” with Mr Chan Chun Sing, Secretary-General, NTUC; Ms Sylvia Choo, Director, NTUC WDS; Mrs Roslyn Ten, General Manager, TAFEP, together with the representatives from the three winning companies, to share their views and gain more insights from the panellists. Some 300 company representatives and union leaders participated in the active discussion held at the Devan Nair Institute for Employment and Employability.
Moving Forward
NTUC WDS aims to increase the awareness of the importance of having FWA at workplaces to attract back-to-work women and retain female workers in their jobs. Through the “Best Company for Mums” contest, NTUC WDS hopes to identify 100 exemplary companies to champion family-friendly workplace practices. These companies will serve as outstanding examples of pro-family companies that other companies and organisations can look up to and showcase best FWA practices which employers and employees may find useful.
“The availability of flexible work arrangements at workplaces remains one of the key concerns for women who are considering to return to the workforce, as well as for working mothers to remain in their current jobs, as they need flexibility in managing their work and family responsibilities. However, many companies still find it difficult to implement such practices and are slow to take the first step. By showcasing positive examples through this contest, we hope to strengthen the awareness of FWA practices and enlighten more employers and employees to further champion efforts in making workplaces friendly and flexible for workers. This will encourage more women back to work and widen our talent pool,” concluded Ms Sylvia Choo, Director, NTUC WDS.
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