Dear Members and Friends

As we come to the end of the 3rd quarter, it is a good time to remind you the Tripartite Guidelines on Flexible Work Arrangement Requests (TG-FWARs) will come into effect on 1 December 2024. Are you, your people managers, your teams and your organization ready? 

The TG-FWARs were thoroughly discussed in a Chamber dialogue held earlier this year designed to help clarify your concerns and answer your questions. While the guidelines are mandatory, the keyword for everyone to understand is “requests”. Flexible work arrangements (FWAs) are neither an entitlement nor a right. They will not be appropriate for all jobs. However, they can be requested and must be considered by people managers and leadership teams with effect from 1 December 2024. Does your organization have a FWAR policy in place with clear procedures? Have you communicated the policy across your organization? Is the policy well understood? Many of you will have everything in place. For those of you who have not, now is a timely opportunity to act in the best interests of your business and all the people who work in it.

FWARs need to be seen as part of a positive workplace culture which enshrines the values an organization stands for and the required behaviors, which demonstrate its values and which form part of every employee’s KPIs. An integral component of positive workplace culture is recognizing output and performance rather than focusing on where work is done or the number of hours taken to achieve it. The benefits of a positive workplace culture solve all the challenges businesses are spending money on today: bullying, burnout, inappropriate behaviors, mental and physical illnesses. All of these are symptoms of a toxic workplace culture. All organizations can save costs and be more successful by addressing the root cause of the symptoms: their workplace culture.

Click here for information on FWARs and how to implement them.

Yours faithfully
Sharon Lim
Deputy Chief Executive & Director, Branding, Events and Marketing