FROM next month, a group of 40 employees at the headquarters of Cherie Hearts childcare chain will go on a four-day work week
Each will get an alternate Friday off under a six-week pilot project that the company's co-founder Gurchran Singh is introducing, with an eye on extending it for good to all its 39 centres.
Winning ideas
LACTATION ROOMS: Express breast milk in privacy and comfort, with a refrigerator to keep the milk fresh. Shell Singapore finance manager Teo Yian Ping breastfed for six more months after her maternity leave ran out: 'I don't have to go to the toilet or book a meeting room, and worry about other people coming in. I don't have to use the pantry fridge and mix up the breast milk with other food.'
CHILL-OUT LOUNGE: Law firm Rajah and Tann's 17th floor lounge comes with game consoles like the Nintendo Wii and Microsoft Xbox, as well as a pool table. Free breakfast is also available daily, lunch once a week, and there is a free flow of Ben and Jerry's ice cream for its more than 600 employees.
MONEY FOR HEALTH EXPENSES: All 1,500 employees at German engineering group Siemens get between $244 and $572 a year to spend on their health, from insurance and health screening to sports equipment and supplements. 'Popular items are sportswear, tennis rackets, massage belts, vitamins and Chinese herbs,' said a spokesman.
TRAVEL PERKS FOR THE FAMILY: When employees at childcare chain Cherie Hearts go on overseas work trips, the company foots 50 per cent of the bill for one or two family members to go along. Since it was introduced in 2006, about 50 employees and their family members have visited Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia.
EMERGENCY NANNY: Parents at the Urban Redevelopment Authority do not have to take urgent leave when their children's caregivers are sick. Since June, the statutory board has arranged with the operator of its in-house childcare centre to take in the children, for a fee.
ONE-MONTH PAID SABBATICAL: Law firm Rajah and Tann plans to make this one-off offer to deserving senior legal associates in its employ for at least four years. The activity is not specified, so they can use the paid leave to go on their honeymoon, help look after the baby or just chill out.
Mr Singh, 34, was given an inaugural award last night for championing work-life harmony at the workplace.
He told The Straits Time: 'Four in five of the staff are women, and most of them are married or getting married. I want them to have some additional time with their families.'
He should know. The 34-year-old will wed an assistant vice-president in his company, Ms Laura Chew, 30, next year.
Mr Singh is among a growing group of employers who realise that pay alone will not retain workers. More family and personal time are important too.
Acting Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong, speaking at the awards ceremony, cited surveys showing that workers put a premium on being able to balance their work and personal or family life.
He said three in four of about 1,000 top companies and 500 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) polled this year found that their employees became more motivated after they introduced measures to improve work-life balance.
About the same proportion also felt they were seen in a better light, the survey by the National Trades Union Congress found.
Mr Singh credits his work-life perks for Cherie Hearts' 1.3 per cent staff turnover rate, lower than the industry's 6 per cent to 7 per cent.
His 350 employees get free childcare and when they are sent abroad for work, the company subsidises the travel expenses of family members going with them.
They also get to do fun activities on alternate Fridays, from cooking competitions to watching movies with themes on character building and family bonding.
Mr Singh said his overriding concern is that the job get done, not the number of hours his workers clock in: 'If you can finish your task in seven, eight hours and the goals are met, there's no point sitting in the office 10 to 12 hours.'
He was one of two individuals who received the Work Life Leadership Award.
The other was Ms Lim Soo Hoon, permanent secretary of the Public Service Division.
She initiated a Blue Sky policy in 2006 that lets her colleagues knock off work by 6pm on Fridays, 'so that, at least once a week, they can leave the office in time to be with their families and friends'.
A total of 60 companies, including eight SMEs, also received awards for putting in place work-life measures.
Lucky Joint Construction is one SME that Mr Gan singled out last night.
The telecommunications network contractor organises family days annually for its 150 employees. Last year, it introduced bursaries for the children of local and foreign employees to study here. It also tapped a Government fund to buy laptops for managers to work from home.
Said Ms Joanne Lee, 35, who promotes work-life balance in Lucky: 'Our industry is very competitive and it's difficult to train new people. To attract people to stay, we must have something special.'
More than 450 companies have tapped the Government's Work-Life Works! fund, which gives up to $10,000 to a company to put in place work-life measures. Nine in 10 are SMEs, Mr Gan said.
He noted that work-life practices are important for the country too.'Workers who are satisfied with their work-life balance are likely to be happier social citizens, parents and caregivers.'
[email protected]
Each will get an alternate Friday off under a six-week pilot project that the company's co-founder Gurchran Singh is introducing, with an eye on extending it for good to all its 39 centres.
Winning ideas
LACTATION ROOMS: Express breast milk in privacy and comfort, with a refrigerator to keep the milk fresh. Shell Singapore finance manager Teo Yian Ping breastfed for six more months after her maternity leave ran out: 'I don't have to go to the toilet or book a meeting room, and worry about other people coming in. I don't have to use the pantry fridge and mix up the breast milk with other food.'
CHILL-OUT LOUNGE: Law firm Rajah and Tann's 17th floor lounge comes with game consoles like the Nintendo Wii and Microsoft Xbox, as well as a pool table. Free breakfast is also available daily, lunch once a week, and there is a free flow of Ben and Jerry's ice cream for its more than 600 employees.
MONEY FOR HEALTH EXPENSES: All 1,500 employees at German engineering group Siemens get between $244 and $572 a year to spend on their health, from insurance and health screening to sports equipment and supplements. 'Popular items are sportswear, tennis rackets, massage belts, vitamins and Chinese herbs,' said a spokesman.
TRAVEL PERKS FOR THE FAMILY: When employees at childcare chain Cherie Hearts go on overseas work trips, the company foots 50 per cent of the bill for one or two family members to go along. Since it was introduced in 2006, about 50 employees and their family members have visited Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia.
EMERGENCY NANNY: Parents at the Urban Redevelopment Authority do not have to take urgent leave when their children's caregivers are sick. Since June, the statutory board has arranged with the operator of its in-house childcare centre to take in the children, for a fee.
ONE-MONTH PAID SABBATICAL: Law firm Rajah and Tann plans to make this one-off offer to deserving senior legal associates in its employ for at least four years. The activity is not specified, so they can use the paid leave to go on their honeymoon, help look after the baby or just chill out.
Mr Singh, 34, was given an inaugural award last night for championing work-life harmony at the workplace.
He told The Straits Time: 'Four in five of the staff are women, and most of them are married or getting married. I want them to have some additional time with their families.'
He should know. The 34-year-old will wed an assistant vice-president in his company, Ms Laura Chew, 30, next year.
Mr Singh is among a growing group of employers who realise that pay alone will not retain workers. More family and personal time are important too.
Acting Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong, speaking at the awards ceremony, cited surveys showing that workers put a premium on being able to balance their work and personal or family life.
He said three in four of about 1,000 top companies and 500 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) polled this year found that their employees became more motivated after they introduced measures to improve work-life balance.
About the same proportion also felt they were seen in a better light, the survey by the National Trades Union Congress found.
Mr Singh credits his work-life perks for Cherie Hearts' 1.3 per cent staff turnover rate, lower than the industry's 6 per cent to 7 per cent.
His 350 employees get free childcare and when they are sent abroad for work, the company subsidises the travel expenses of family members going with them.
They also get to do fun activities on alternate Fridays, from cooking competitions to watching movies with themes on character building and family bonding.
Mr Singh said his overriding concern is that the job get done, not the number of hours his workers clock in: 'If you can finish your task in seven, eight hours and the goals are met, there's no point sitting in the office 10 to 12 hours.'
He was one of two individuals who received the Work Life Leadership Award.
The other was Ms Lim Soo Hoon, permanent secretary of the Public Service Division.
She initiated a Blue Sky policy in 2006 that lets her colleagues knock off work by 6pm on Fridays, 'so that, at least once a week, they can leave the office in time to be with their families and friends'.
A total of 60 companies, including eight SMEs, also received awards for putting in place work-life measures.
Lucky Joint Construction is one SME that Mr Gan singled out last night.
The telecommunications network contractor organises family days annually for its 150 employees. Last year, it introduced bursaries for the children of local and foreign employees to study here. It also tapped a Government fund to buy laptops for managers to work from home.
Said Ms Joanne Lee, 35, who promotes work-life balance in Lucky: 'Our industry is very competitive and it's difficult to train new people. To attract people to stay, we must have something special.'
More than 450 companies have tapped the Government's Work-Life Works! fund, which gives up to $10,000 to a company to put in place work-life measures. Nine in 10 are SMEs, Mr Gan said.
He noted that work-life practices are important for the country too.'Workers who are satisfied with their work-life balance are likely to be happier social citizens, parents and caregivers.'
[email protected]
