SINGAPORE – Employers in Singapore will have to consider flexible working arrangements (FWA) such as work from home (WFH) days if formally requested by employees when a new set of guidelines comes into effect on December 1, 2024.

The tripartite guidelines for flexible working arrangements requests, announced on Tuesday (16 April) by the Tripartite Working Group on Flexible Working Arrangements – comprising representatives from government, trade unions, employers and staff groups – cover flexible working arrangements such as four-day weeks, home working and staggered working hours.

What are the different types of flexible working arrangements (FWAs)?

The FWAs include:

• Flexible spacewhere employees work flexibly from locations other than their usual office location (e.g. teleworking, home office).

• Flexitimein which employees work flexibly at different times without changing the total working time and workload (e.g. flexitime, staggered working hours, flexible shifts, compressed working hours).

• Flexible loadingwhere employees can work flexibly with different workloads and corresponding remuneration (e.g. job sharing, part-time work).

Although not legally enforceable, the guidelines state that companies should establish processes for employees who have completed their probationary period to make formal FWA requests and communicate how those requests will be processed.

The guidelines state that “employers should carefully review employees’ FWA requests.” “When evaluating an employee’s FWA request, employers should focus on factors related to the employee’s job and how the requested FWA may impact the business or the employee’s job performance.”

FWA requests must be rejected for valid business reasons, including:

• Cost: if the TWA leads to a significant increase in costs for the employer.

• Detrimental to productivity or performance: if the TWA results in a significant reduction in the quantity or quality of individual, team or organizational productivity or performance, or negatively impacts the organization’s ability to meet customer needs.

• Feasibility or practicality: where this is not feasible or impractical due to the nature of the work task, or where there is no possibility of changing the working arrangements of other employees, or where the recruitment of new employees is necessary to comply with the FWA application.

Unacceptable reasons for employers to deny FWA requests are those that are not directly related to business success, such as “management does not believe in FWAs” or “the supervisor would prefer to see the employee face-to-face in the office,” the guidelines say.

The story continues

Ministry of Labor accepts FWA guidelines

In a statement on Tuesday, the ministry said that “the government has accepted all ten recommendations of the Tripartite Working Group on the Tripartite Guidelines for Flexible Working Arrangements (FWA) requests.”

“The guidelines are designed to make it easier for workers to apply for FWAs, while recognising that employers remain the prerogative to decide on working arrangements. The public service will continue to advocate for FWAs and adopt the principles set out in the guidelines,” MOM added.

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