Proportion of Public Service Agencies that Provide Unpaid Leave for Parents with Multiple or Pre-term Babies

9 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Prime Minister (a) what is the number and percentage of public service agencies that provide unpaid leave for parents with multiple or pre-term babies; (b) what is the take-up rate of such leave for each year in the past five years; and (c) if data on the take-up rate has not been collected, whether the Prime Minister’s Office will start collecting this data.

Mr Chan Chun Sing (for the Prime Minister): In line with the Tripartite Standard on Unpaid Leave for Unexpected Care Needs, all Ministries and Statutory Boards provide for officers with a child who is born pre-term, or as part of multiple births, or with medical conditions, to apply up to four weeks of unpaid leave per year, before their children turn two.

In the past five years, an average of 25 officers in the Civil Service utilised this leave provision each year.