Singapore’s Tripartite Guidelines on Flexible Work Arrangement Requests

On 4 March 2024 at the Ministry of Manpower Committee of Supply 2024, it was announced that a Tripartite Workgroup was convened in September 2023 to develop a set of Tripartite Guidelines on Flexible Work Arrangement Requests and to look at how to support employers to implement flexible work arrangements across different industries and job roles productively

1. Tripartite Guidelines on Flexible Work Arrangement Requests (“Guidelines”)

While further information on the Guidelines have yet to be provided, it is expected for the Guidelines to set out:

1. How employees should request for flexible work arrangements; and
2. How employers should consider these requests and communicate the outcome of such requests properly.

The Guidelines are expected to be mandatory.

We understand that the Tripartite Workgroup has been consulting with stakeholders on the scope of the Guidelines and will finalise their recommendations soon. It is currently unclear when the Guidelines will be implemented.

2. Support for employers to implement flexible work arrangements

The Tripartite Workgroup is looking at how to support employers to implement flexible work arrangements across different industries and job roles productively as the flexible work arrangements would not be a “one size fits all” solution. Some flexible work arrangements may be suitable for certain roles but may not be suitable for other roles.

We understand that the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices and Institute for Human Resource Professionals will also be curating training and resources going forward to help supervisors and Human Resource practitioners implement flexible work arrangements, redesign jobs for flexible work arrangements, and manage workers on flexible work.

There are also existing grants that employers can leverage to offset the financial costs of adopting flexible work arrangements, including the Productivity Solutions Grant and the Company Training Committee Grant.

We will provide more information on the Guidelines and support provided to employers to implement flexible work arrangements once these have been released.