Pregnant? Fired? Boss must pay
Under new rules, staff fired in last 6 months of pregnancy will get benefits
By Li Xueying
PREGNANT employees will be further protected from discrimination by bosses, from January next year.
Employers who fire them, for no good reason, within the last six months of their pregnancy will have to pay these woman their maternity leave benefits.
A FAIR WORKPLACE
‘The last thing women want is to be given the choice between career and family, and then find that she’s being discriminated against at the work front.’
Mrs Lim Hwee Hua, Senior Minister of State for Finance and Transport
Maternity leave
And baby makes glee
The same rules apply if they are laid off within the last three months of their pregnancy.
These changes will tighten the current rules, which hold the employer responsible only if the employee is fired in the last three months of her pregnancy.
These measures will help address a common apprehension among women in the wake of the Government decision to extend maternity leave from three to four months.
When maternity leave was first extended from two to three months in 2004, the number of complaints from women who lost their jobs while pregnant rose.
There were 25 that year. The number almost tripled to 71 in 2006, although it fell to 59 last year, and just 19 in the first half of this year.
Combating such behaviour is crucial, stressed Mrs Lim Hwee Hua, Senior Minister of State for Finance and Transport.
‘The last thing women want is to be given the choice between career and family, and then find that she’s being discriminated against at the work front.’
But will the new measures work?
Mrs Lim acknowledged the desire from some quarters for legislation, which will be more punitive.
‘But discrimination in reality can be very subtle too. So what we want is to cultivate this whole spirit and this whole culture where it is really quite uncool to act against pregnant women, really uncool for employers to discriminate against parents of young kids.’
Meanwhile, some have asked if paternity leave would have alleviated gender discrimination, given that employers of fathers would have shared the burden along with those who had employed mothers.
Acting Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong said in an e-mail to The Straits Times: ‘I doubt introducing paternity leave will solve the issue of gender discrimination effectively.’
He stressed that employers in Singapore are ‘generally fair and do not discriminate against women’.
They understand the benefits of a harmonious work-life balance and many have introduced initiatives to achieve this, he added.
He pledged that his ministry will investigate complaints of discrimination.
‘But more importantly, we work through our tripartite partners - SNEF (Singapore National Employers Federation) and the unions - to reach out to employers.
‘We share with them best practices in the industry, showcase good employers which have adopted fair employment practices and help employers introduce such practices.
‘I think this is a more effective approach to address the issue of discrimination.’
The minister also assured bosses that the longer maternity leave will not affect companies’ competitiveness.
Earlier, at the Tuesday media conference, he acknowledged that companies will face challenges when making arrangements for workers to cover the duties of colleagues on leave.
But the Government had built in some flexibility in the maternity leave, he said, noting that the third and fourth month of the leave can be taken any time in the first year of the child’s birth.
‘That will allow them to discuss with their employees how best to minimise disruption to their day-to-day operations.
‘So I think this flexibility will give them some comfort, knowing they can manage the process and not hurt their competitiveness.’
Source : Straits Times - 22 Aug 2008
Singapore Property - Buy, Sell, Rent, Invest
Mindy Yong
(+65)91002985
mindy@mindyyong.com
Microsoft launches BizSpark to boost technology start-ups »« Singapore’s biggest employer still hiring
