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Civil servants to get parent-care leave

Come 1 January 2012, Singapore's 76,000 civil servants will get two days of parent-care leave.

Without needing to show a medical certificate, civil servants will be able to apply for leave to care for their parents and parents-in-laws, announced the Public Service Division on Thursday.

Under this new leave category, a medical certificate will not be needed.

Civil servants will also get three days of compassionate leave for the bereavement of their immediate family members from next year.

These leave entitlements will come under the current set of unrecorded leave, capped at 14 days, for civil servants.

This means when they apply for parent-care or compassionate leave, their annual leave remains unaffected.

Other unrecorded leave includes those for marriage, paternity, examination and union activities.

"With a rapidly ageing population and smaller family units, officers with elderly parents will need time to take care of them," said Han Neng Hsiu, senior director for rewards and recognition at the Public Service Division, Prime Minister’s Office.

"The new parent-care leave reflects our position as a family-friendly employer,” he said.

Health Minister Gan Kim Yong first said on 21 November that the government was looking to provide more support for caregivers and one option was to give Singaporeans additional annual leave days to care for their elderly parents.

In response to his comments then, some Yahoo! Singapore users said they were looking forward to having parent-care leave but others were concerned how this move would help employees in the private sector.

Recruitment firm Adecco SEA's regional director Lynne Ng expects the government's latest announcement to prompt private sector organisations to "review their approach to parent-care and make some recommendations so that as a country we are aligned in this area".

"Research globally has shown that more people are taking time off to look after their parents, so this is a respectful and family friendly move that also recognises the role that our parents played in the workforce until their retirement," she said.

JobsDB’s managing director Steven Seek noted that parent-care leave is not a common practice in the private sector.

"Private sectors will definitely be pressured to follow suit. What we’d like to know is, if, it is being implemented, does it apply to local and foreign workers whose parents are living overseas?" he wondered.

Acknowledging that giving staff two days off to take care of their parents is a good retention and staff welfare progamme, Seek, however, felt there should be some form of verification when staff claim such leave. For instance, by producing a medical certificate.

"Otherwise it may as well be added to their annual leave," he said.

"From an employer’s point of view, it is an added business cost to them. If a company has 100 staff, it could mean 200 working days. Would this parent-care leave be an entitlement or as unpaid leave?"

Majella Slevin, manager of Robert Walters Singapore’s secretarial & business support division said, “We expect private sector organisations to take note of this change and possibly implement more family-friendly schemes as a talent retention strategy."