Financial subsidies, prepayment of parental leave will help firms with long absence of staff: Industry players

NORMALISING CAREER BREAKS

Mr Tan said that going ahead for four to six months may not change an employee’s job, as it does not take away their ability and achievements. It would not stop him from climbing the ladder at Providend, he added. &nbsp,

Nevertheless, Mr Tan acknowledged that if an individual is away for a prolonged period of time, he has to take the trade-offs.

The various coworkers will therefore assume the position, performing all your duties for the next two to three years. Subsequently… the trade-off is that this person may get promoted faster than you”, he said.

But, Singapore needs to establish a” job penalty” for parents who choose to take a break, according to Dr. Kalpana Vignehsa, senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore Institute of Policy Studies, whose research interests include the lived experience of marriage.

She told CNA’s Singapore Tonight that” [Firms should ] make it normal to take a short break and come back, and not try to normalize that people are going to be penalized in the workplace for focusing on young families.” &nbsp,

She added that in spite of low take-up levels, there might be a “use it or lose it” method to promote parents to use paternity keep.

She said,” We need to make it really regular and simple for parents to consider that keep so they can concentrate on raising their kids.”

She cited the Scandinavian countries ‘ experiences with parental leave and observed that fathers get from being the primary caregiver.

The relationship between ( fathers ) and their children, their relationships with their spouses, and the bonding between the two families that can be created by spending that much time together are both long-haul benefits. I would love for us to even have that in Singapore”, she said. &nbsp,