With the enhancements increasing the length of time parents could be away from their workplace, business associations said this may incur additional costs for employers and pose operational challenges especially for SMEs. Prime Minister Lawrence Wong had announced in his National Day Rally speech on Sunday that parents of newborns will get an extra six weeks of shared leave from Apr 1, 2025, before going up to 10 weeks a year later.
This is especially challenging in sectors that rely heavily on specialised skills, where finding suitable temporary replacements is not always so easy, said SBF’s vice chairman Mark Lee. He said that the staggered implementation of the new scheme will help SMEs put in place more sustainable manpower strategies, but the additional six weeks, and subsequently 10 weeks, of shared parental leave will still need to be planned for.NDR 2024: Parents of newborns to get extra 10 weeks of shared leave; total paid leave to increase to 7.5 months
ASME, SNEF and SBF stressed that good communication between employers and employees will be crucial to mitigating operational challenges. Parenthood champion Albert Lim, who is a council member of Families for Life, said the enhancements are a step in the right direction to support couples. But he said it was too early to tell if the enhancements will be enough to support the caregiving aspirations of parents.
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