UOB to invest Wage Credit payout in staff development, wellness
Deputy Secretary-General of the National Trade Union Congress (NTUC) Mr Chan Chun Sing exchange a handshake with UOB's Chief Executive Officer Wee Ee Cheong. Photo: Ooi Boon Keong
SINGAPORE — United Overseas Bank (UOB) will be taking the S$3.8 million it received from the Government under the Wage Credit Scheme (WCS) last year and ploughing it back into career and development and wellness programmes for 3,600 junior executives and unionised employees.
These employees, who earn a gross monthly wage of less than S$4,000, will receive a sum of about S$1,300 each. Of this, about S$1,000 will be in the form of training credits which can be used to offset the cost of professional and personal development courses specially designed for UOB by the NTUC LearningHub. These training programmes range from productivity and innovation to service excellence, to IT skills and personal grooming.
The remaining S$300 will go towards topping up the healthcare and wellness benefits employees already receive. These funds can be used to pay for healthcare and wellness expenses like gym memberships.
UOB is the first employer to use the WCS grants for such purposes. Speaking to reporters today (April 8), Ms Jenny Wong, UOB’s head of group human resources, said it would continue with the programme even after the WCS ends in 2017, as the bank takes a long-term of its employees.
“We have so many employees and various categories to take care of…but with this wage credit funding we really focus on our junior executives who may get special attention now because of this funding,” she added.
Labour movement deputy secretary-general Chan Chun Sing, attending a UOB event yesterday, said: “This is significant not because of the amount of money or anything of that sort. It Many organisations hesitate to invest in their staff for fear that they would leave their organisations, but employers should consider that employees may also choose to stay, he said. By choosing to invest in their staff, UOB can generate a “sense of camaraderie”. “It is actually good employment practice,” he said.
Ms Larissa Woon, 22, a branch service manager at the bank, said she planned to sign up for software-related courses to help her increase her efficiency and productivity at work. “I also like the fact that not all the courses are industry-focused but that there are some like the personal grooming course that can contribute to my professional image,” she said.
The WCS was introduced in 2013 as part of the Transition Support Package to help businesses cope with rising wage costs so that they can free up resources to invest in productivity. It co-funds 40 per cent of wage increases for Singaporean employees earning a gross monthly wage of S$4,000 and below until this year. As of last month, over 85,000 employers qualified for the second tranche of the WCS payouts totalling S$1.4 billion. The WCS scheme will be extended till 2017, but the co-funding will be reduced to 20 per cent.
Other employers which have revealed plans to use the WCS grants to help employees include OCBC, which last year disbursed the S$3 million it received to 1,500 employees of the bank and its securities subsidiary. The employees could either have the payouts — which ranged from S$1,000 to S$3,000 per employee — credited to their Central Provident Fund accounts or invested in shares through the OCBC Blue Chip Investment Plan.
Citibank said it has used the WCS grant to help fund the overall welfare and development of its employees, such as by holding an internal career fair that gives employees the opportunity look at career development opportunities and mobility options within the organisation, the bank said in a statement.
Mr Chan also reiterated the labour movement’s commitment to support professionals, managers and executives (PMEs), noting they are a “growing proportion” of the workforce. This included making sure PMEs are trained in the right skills to be “future-ready” and ensuring Singapore’s economy remains competitive.
