Incentives for Companies to Extend Flexible Working Arrangements to Outsourced Workers

The following question stood in the name of Dr Tan Wu Meng –

7 To ask the Minister for Manpower with regard to outsourced employment, to what extent do flexible working arrangements (FWA) incentives apply to (i) the outsourcing entity and (ii) the contractor employing the outsourced worker during the period of such employment.

Mr Alex Yam (Marsiling-Yew Tee): Question No 7.

The Senior Minister of State for Manpower (Dr Koh Poh Koon) (for the Minister for Manpower): Sir, the Work-Life Grant was introduced in July 2013 to incentivise companies to enhance and sustain the provision of flexible work arrangements (FWAs) for their employees. Contractors that performed outsourced work for their clients could apply for the Work-Life Grant.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, many forms of FWAs, such as telecommuting and staggered working hours, have become more common. With FWAs becoming increasingly prevalent, the Work-Life Grant was ceased in August 2020.

FWAs enable employees to continue working while meeting their personal and family needs, and are especially important for those who have to take care of young children or elderly family members at home. Employers that provide the option of FWAs are more likely to attract and retain talent in the long run. That must be the biggest incentive for employers to extend FWAs to their employees.

Mr Deputy Speaker: Dr Wan Rizal. I must thank you for standing up because that is a bit of a blind spot in the far right corner.

Dr Wan Rizal (Jalan Besar): Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, for spotting me at that corner. Mr Speaker advised me to do jumping jacks previously to attract his attention.

I thank the Senior Minister of State for the answer on Dr Tan's question. There is a supplementary question here where we keep on asking ourselves. This whole idea of outsourcing creates what we call a double hurdle for those who are in FWAs. Because the contractor must be willing to provide FWAs in the first place, and then the outsourcing business must have workflows and preferences that can make it feasible for the contractor to provide FWAs. How do we ensure that companies and contractors do not pass the buck to one another?

As a context, I will give an example. A number of my residents have come forward to me. They are working in outsourced companies, for example, in security and as cleaners. They face this problem when one of them falls sick, for example, they need kidney dialysis and they need that time off. It is very difficult for them to get this arrangement. Eventually, they need to resign and find another job. So, that would be my question: how do we ensure that these companies do not pass the buck to one another?

Dr Koh Poh Koon: Sir, I thank the Member for raising this clarification. I think what he has described are genuine real challenges on the ground. Not every job description or job role is amenable to full flexible work arrangements because it depends on the roles the person has to perform and also the nature of the work.

Indeed, many outsourced workers undertake work that could present challenges for their employers to implement flexible work arrangements. These include shift workers, workers in frontline or client-facing roles, such as cleaners, manufacturing operators and service workers. It is quite a challenge to do flexible work arrangements when the worker is required to man a production line, for example.

But having said that, there is a tripartite effort to encourage outsourced companies to do a lot more flexible work arrangements where possible. There is also an Alliance for Action on Work Life Harmony, which is a good example of how the partners can come together to look at ways in which they can encourage, not just companies, but also workers, to adopt new skills, so that there is a lot more upgrading and redesign of the jobs.

Ultimately, it is about working together, seeing how we can transform the job into something that is, perhaps, much more automated and productive, and this makes it open to possibilities of flexible work arrangements through the use of technology.

I hope that is something that employers, workers and unions can work together on, to make it possible for all job roles to eventually explore some degree of flexible work arrangements.