Work Life Strategy
Definition
Measures an initiatetives
Enable staff to better manage responsibilities at work alongside their family and personal needs
Importance of Work Life Strategy
Workforce today is multi faceted with various age groups and cultural background
Everyone have difference experieces
Organisation has to recognise and meeting the diverse range of employee needs through worklife programmes for win-win outcomes
Important for talent attraction and retention with effective work life programmes
Benefits
Higher Productivity and share holder value
Improved employee satisfaction
Improved attraction and retention of talent
Reduced health related costs (Absenteeism and medical leave)
Improved customer expereince
Four Steps To Work Life Strategy
Step 2: Assessing Your Business Needs : Employee s' Work Life Needs, Workforce Profiling, Employee Surveys and Open Groups
Step 3: Implement Work-Life Programmes : Flexible Work Arrangements (FWAs). Leaves Benefits and Employee Support Schemes. Develop a Communication Plan. Considerations for an Effective Communication Plan. Putting In Place A Visible Senior Management Support. Establishing Clear Policies and Guidelines.
Step 1: Establish The need to implement / Modify Work Life Strategy
Types of Work Life Strategy
Flexible Work Arrangements
Compressed Work Schedule
Definition
Work arrangements where employers and employees agree to a variation from usual work arrangement.
Creative Scheduling
Employees's Choice of Days Off
Flexible Hours
Flexi - Shift
Flexi-Time
Interim Work
Job Sharing
Part Time Work
Phased Retirement
Phased In or Out
Project Based Work
Retirees Cover For Workers On Leave
Seasonal Work
Shift - Swapping
Telecommuting
Time Bank
Weekend Work
Leave Benefits
Definition
Benefits that are contractually agreed upon between employer and employee
Bereavement Leave
Birthday Leave
Block Leave
Career break Leave
Childcare Leave
Compassionate Leave
Eldercare Sick Leave
Emergency Leave
Extended Child Care Leave
Extended Maternity Leave
Family Care Leave
First Day of School Leave
Marriage Leave
Maternity Leave
Paternity Leave
Personal Day Off
Sabbatical Leave
Study/Exam Leave
Unrecorded Time Off for Family / Personal Matters
Voluntary Service Leave
Weekend Work
Employee Support Scheme
Definition
Support Schemes help employees manage the non-work aspects of their lives.
Family Day
Bring Children To Work Day
Childcare Arrangements
Childcare Subsides
Counselling Services/ Hotline for Employee Assistance
Eldercare Subsides
Flexible Lunch Time
Family Information and Referral Service
Work Life Consultant
Definition
Work Life Consultant is someone that is hired on contractual or long term basis provide HR mangers and employees with assistance and advice on work-life issues. Provide creative ideas and long tern solutions to help them balance employee responsibilities at home and workplace.
Areas Work-Life Consultants Can Help In
Establish the Business Case for Existing Work Life
Current Employees Profiling
Current Work Life Initiatve
Gap Analysis
Needs Assessment Process & FIndings
Analysis of Work-Life Needs
Recommendations for implementationss
Propose Flexible Work Options
Propose Leave Benefits
Propose Health & Welfare Benefits
Preliminary Cost-Benefits Analysis
Proposed Implementation Plan
Proposed Communication Plan
Government Resources
Resource Portal On Work Life
Work Life Works Portal assist employers in implementation of work-life strategies and also to educate employees about the different work life programmes and initiative available.
Providing a wide range of resources and tools, easy access research publications, implementation checklists , funding information as well as guidelines and practical tips on work-life information
Work-life events and course, provide like minded organisations and learn their industry's best practices
Work Life Harmony Report
Published by MoM gives general sector based tips to employees on how to implement work life strategy. covers examples of best practices from different industries as well as SMEs.
Tripartite Advisory On Flexible Work Arrangements
Tripartite Committee (TriCom) on Work-Life Strategy seeks to promote FWAs and provide advisory for employers.
For Employers: Outlines steps for employers to consider when implementing flexible work arrangements
For Employees: provides pointers to consider when requesting FWAs , and using FWAs.
For Supervisors: Provides pointers to consider when evaluating FWA requests, and managing employees using FWAs
Fundings
Developmental Grant
Up to $40,000, one-off
For employers who have just started on their work-life journeys. eg. Those who have implemented minimal FWAs but are keen to do so .
Purpose to help defray the implementation costs of work life programmes, especially FWAs
FWA Incentive
Up to $120000, disbursed in 3 tranches over 3 years
For Employers who have implemented some or many FWAs, i.e a proportion of their employees are already using FWAs on a regular basis.
Purpose : Reward employer
FWAs recognised for this grant include flexi-time, flexi place and part time work, . Other FWAs may be considered on case by case basis
Employees utilising the FWAs must be working on a regular basis, ie not ad-hoc or casual employees
Requirements
Appoint a work life ambassador from senior management to champion a work -life friendly workplace for your employees and to communicate the organisation's work life policies to your employees
Have at least one employee complete the work-life training course
Requirements
Appoint a work-life ambassador from the senior management
Have formalised 2 or more FWAs in the HR policy and communicate the policy to all the employees
Ensure workforce at least 20% or 30% FWA utilisation, subject to a minimum of 5 employees. Employees should be utilising the FWAs on a regular basis. Half of the employees utilising the FWAs must be Singaporean. No more than 6 in 10 employees on the same FWA type can count towards the 20% or 30% FWA utilisation criteria.
Sustain the current FWA utilisation rate at the workplace to receive subsequent tranches payout