Labour chief urges firms to be socially responsible when rewarding workers
By S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 05 November 2009 1723 hrs

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SINGAPORE : Be socially responsible when considering rewards for workers, said labour chief Lim Swee Say. He added that such a stance would further strengthen ties between labour and management.

Meanwhile, Singapore's tripartite partners have issued a new set of guidelines on "Managing Manpower Challenges for Enhanced Competitiveness and Sustainability". It is targeted at companies which are no longer confronted with the problem of excess manpower.

With an improving Singapore economy, there have been calls to restore bonuses and wages which were cut during the downturn.

The labour chief said Singapore's brand of tripartism has helped avoid worst case scenarios.

"We are happy that in some cases, companies have decided to give a one-off payment in recognition of the sacrifices made by workers, we welcome that. In some cases, companies are talking about partial or full restoration of the wage cut or freeze, again we appreciate that," said the NTUC's secretary-general.

Just as important now is how the tripartite partners wrap up efforts to battle the downturn.

Mr Lim said: "If you wrap the downturn in a way that could be socially responsible, it will further strengthen the trust between the labour and management. The next time round, the workers would be even more responsive.

"But if you wrap up this downturn wrongly... (where) you give consideration only to the stakeholders, you give them more dividends - in some cases special dividends - and neglecting the role of the workers, then in the next downturn, it will be more difficult for them to expect the labour movement to respond accordingly."

And that is where the latest guidelines come in. The guidelines propose that companies, which have recovered, review cost-cutting measures with workers and trade unions. And those granting wage adjustments should take into account the uncertain outlook in 2010.

The guidelines also urge companies to look at strategies to enhance business competitiveness.

Improvements to the global economy are bound to bring about new challenges - among them, tougher competition for the investment dollar. That is why the Singapore labour movement wants to continue encouraging companies to enhance the productivity of their workers.

So the Workforce Development Agency (WDA) has set aside an additional S$3 million for the Best Sourcing Initiative Early Adopters Scheme - meant to help companies defray costs in adopting practices for better quality service.

The scheme was launched in July and now has a total grant of S$5 million.

WDA said it is also encouraged by the high take-up rate for the scheme. - CNA /ls