Employers must fairly consider flexi-work requests from Dec 1

All employers in Singapore must fairly consider formal requests from employees for flexible work arrangements (FWAS) from Dec 1, 2024, under the new Tripartite Guidelines on Flexible Work Arrangement Requests.

- Tay Hong Yi

The compulsory guidelines were unveiled on April 15 during a company visit to the Ridout Tea Garden outlet of fast-food chain McDonald's by the three co-chairs of the tripartite workgroup that had worked on them since September 2023.

The co-chairs are Minister of State for Manpower Gan Siow Huang; Singapore National Employers Federation honorary sec-

retary Edwin Ng; and Ms Yeo Wan Ling, assistant secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC).

The rules will cover formal requests for FWAs, and the processes to submit and evaluate these, but not govern the outcome, the workgroup told reporters at a briefing held earlier in April.

The workgroup said this approach is in line with laws elsewhere, in countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia.

The rules also adopt a broad definition of FWAs beyond the flexiplace arrangements such as remote or hybrid working, popularised by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Instead, the workgroup aims to sensitise employers, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises with less advanced human resource processes, to consider flexi-time and flexi-load arrangements too.

Examples of such arrangements include staggered work hours, part-time work or job sharing.

"It must be the employers' prerogative to decide if (an) FWA for a particular job is viable from a business point of view. That is a key principle that all tripartite partners subscribe to," the workgroup said at a briefing on April 4.

It added that the administrative burden is kept light to ensure all firms can comply.

The guidelines will apply to all employees who have served their probation, and cover only formal requests.

On the difference between formal and non-formal requests, the workgroup said formal requests often take the form of structured, recurring arrangements that entail some change in work processes.