SINGAPORE: It may be the last day of the year, but instead of preparing for the new school year, some 50 kids went to work.

Since the early 1990s, TransitLink has been setting aside a day for kids to go to the office and find out what Mummy and Daddy do at work.

Not surprisingly, they were one of the first three companies involved in the National Trades Union Congress' (NTUC's) pilot run of "Little Ones@Work", which allows kids to go to their parents' workplace for a day during the December school holidays.

NTUC hopes to increase the number of firms taking part in the programme to 20 by June next year.

Halimah Yacob, deputy secretary-general, NTUC and director of NTUC Women's Development Secretariat, said: "What is also very critical and important is the message that we transmit to employers that workers are not just digits; workers also have families to take care of. Therefore, it's very important that we focus on work-life integration."

According to her, companies that plan for the long term should not do away with such schemes due to the economic downturn.

"Whether you are in a downturn or you are in a better economic situation, you still need people to perform their best. They will only perform their best if they are able to take care of their needs at work and at home," Mdm Halimah said.


- CNA/so