Singapore’s Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) recently introduced the Tripartite Guidelines on Flexible Work Arrangement Requests (the “Guidelines”) which set out minimum requirements that employers should abide by. The guidelines also provide optional best practices.
The TAFEP comprises Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower (MOM), National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), and Singapore National Employers Federation. Whilst the Guidelines are legally non-binding, they supplement Singaporean law and are mandatory in practice as MOM can take action against non-compliance, such as issuing warnings to non-compliant employers or requiring them to attend corrective workshops. The Guidelines are expected to take effect on 1 December 2024.
Key details
The Guidelines replace the Tripartite Advisory on Flexible Work Arrangements issued in 2014 and the Tripartite Standard on Flexible Work Arrangements launched in 2017.
Under the Guidelines, employers are not required to offer Flexible Work Arrangements (FWAs) or agree to FWA requests, but they are required to have:
a process for employees to make formal FWA requests; and
a process for the proper consideration of requests based on business needs.
Employees beyond their probationary period can make formal FWA requests, but employers may exercise discretion whether to consider requests from employees on probation.
Types of FWAs
The Guidelines define FWAs as work arrangements where employers and employees agree to a variation from the standard work arrangement, categorized broadly into one or more of the following:
Flexi-place arrangements, where employees work from locations other than their usual office location (e.g. telecommuting, work-from-home).
Flexi-time arrangements, where employees work at different timings with no changes to total work hours or workload (e.g. flexi-hours, staggered hours, flexi-shift, compressed work schedule).
Flexi-load arrangements, where employees work with different workloads and commensurate remuneration (e.g. job sharing, part-time work).
Submission process for FWA requests
Employers should have a process for the submission of formal FWA requests and may stipulate default requirements for such requests, such as a template or required information. Employers may continue existing formal and informal practices for FWA requests and their assessment if they work well for both employees and employers.
If an employer does not have a submission process or stipulated requirements, an employee can submit a formal FWA request. As defined under the Guidelines, a formal FWA request must be submitted in writing and must include the date of request, details of the requested FWA (including expected frequency and duration), reason, and start and end dates, if relevant. If the request does not have the required information, it may not be considered as a formal request covered under the Guidelines.
Under the Guidelines, employees are expected to request and use FWAs responsibly, considering the impact on workload, performance, their team, and clients, where relevant.
Consideration process for FWA requests
Every employer should have a process in place to properly consider formal FWA requests. Once a formal FWA request is submitted, the employer should properly consider it based on business needs, focusing on factors related to the employee’s job and how the requested FWA may affect the business or the employee’s performance.
Employers should explore ways to accommodate requests as far as reasonably practical, such as reviewing work processes or re-assigning work to continue meeting business and productivity needs.
Each request should be assessed on a case-by-case basis and be viable from a business standpoint. Employers are not required to approve the same FWAs concurrently for all employees, where there are valid business grounds.
The employer is entitled to reject a request based on reasonable business grounds, such as significant cost burden, significant detriment to productivity or output, infeasibility, or impracticality. However, reasons that are not directly linked to business outcomes, such as personal bias against FWAs, are considered unreasonable grounds for rejection.
Communication of decision on FWA requests
A written decision should be provided within two months of the request, after open and constructive discussions with the employee. For any rejection, the employer should include the reason in its written decision and is encouraged to engage the employee on alternative working arrangements, which may include types of FWAs not originally requested by the employee. Employers may refer to a list of types of FWAs on TAFEP’s website here (opens a new window).
Any disagreements should be addressed as far as possible through the employer’s existing internal grievance handling procedures. Where employers do not adhere to the Guidelines, employees can approach TAFEP, NTUC, or their respective unions for assistance. TAFEP and MOM will refer to the Guidelines in cases related to FWAs.
Lockton comments
To comply with the Guidelines, employers should review their policies and procedures, and update them where necessary.
A template FWA policy has been made available by TAFEP and includes several aspects that employers may wish to adopt, such as:
procedures for the periodic review of FWAs;
specifying the need to revise, adapt or even discontinue a FWA if goals and objectives (like work performance) that have been mutually agreed between the employer and the employee are not met; and
setting out a requirement for an additional agreement that may be entered into between the employer and the employee to specify key responsibilities, expectations, and other details for FWAs to function effectively.
TO INCLUDE
The template FWA policy and other resources for employers relating to FWAs are available on TAFEP’s website linked below.