In a 2019 report, AWARE noted that parents have six days of childcare leave, and said people caring for family members such as elderly parents should get at least the same number of leave days.
One caregiver who wanted to be known as Ms Raffael agreed that parental care leave should be on par with childcare leave.
“(Children and elderly are) both dependants and when elderly become old, they tend to become like children, they tend to be more stubborn,” she said. Older people, especially those with chronic illnesses, also typically have many medical appointments, said Ms Raffael, who works in the finance industry.
But Ms Leong of Tsao Foundation said support from other family members is more important than the number of caregiving leave days given.
“If I’m a sole caregiver with very limited support, I think that’s tough. It’s never enough,” she said.
COMPANIES ON FAMILY CARE LEAVE
Companies that CNA spoke to – UOB, Great Eastern, Far East Organization and Focus on the Family – offered employees between two and three days of family care leave.
UOB and Far East Organization said employees are allowed to use the leave days in half- or full-day increments, and no documents are required when applying for the leave.
Cigna Healthcare Singapore’s employees receive two days of family care leave, but staff who are caregivers to family members with serious health conditions also get an additional four weeks of leave every 12 months.
Google told CNA that it offers eight weeks of carer’s leave per dependant per lifetime, meaning that the leave days do not renew annually.
Ms Raffael pointed out that family care leave does not always cover extended family members who are dependants, such as aunts and uncles who do not have children.
“They can’t be living alone in their old age. Even if they do, if they have a medical emergency, you need to go and help them,” she said.
AWARE’s research report in 2019 said medical social workers are increasingly seeing older persons being taken care of by nieces, nephews or grandchildren, and this trend is likely to continue as family sizes shrink.