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Written Answer by Mrs Josephine Teo, Minister for Manpower, to Parliamentary Question on WorkPro grants

Employment practices

NOTICE PAPER NO. 1150 OF 2018 FOR THE SITTING ON 18 MAY 2018

QUESTION NO. 840 FOR WRITTEN ANSWER

MP: Ms Rahayu Mahzam

To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) how many companies have applied for WorkPro since its introduction in 2013; (b) whether there has been an increase in the number of applications after the introduction of the enhanced scheme in 2016; and (c) whether there are any reviews of the age management practices, redesigned work places and processes and/or flexible work arrangements implemented by the companies after the disbursement of the grant.

Answer

  1. Under WorkPro, companies can receive funding support to (i) implement age management practices through the Age Management Grant (AMG); (ii) redesign workplaces and processes to create easier, safer and smarter jobs for older workers through the Job Redesign Grant (JRG); and (iii) introduce and sustain use of flexible work arrangements (FWAs) through the Work-Life Grant (WLG).
  2. From 2013 to 2017, over 3,400 companies employing about 368,000 workers have benefitted from WorkPro grants.
  3. We have continuously enhanced the WorkPro scheme. In 2016, we raised the maximum grant for the JRG from $150,000 to $300,000 per company to further facilitate job redesign efforts. To encourage more capability development projects to incorporate the requirements of older workers, JRG can be applied as a rider on top of other government grants. Since the enhancement, and with additional effort to promote the scheme, the number of companies that benefitted from the JRG has increased from about 30 a year to about 440 a year.
  4. WorkPro funding is only disbursed when we are satisfied that the company has achieved the corresponding grant deliverables and is able to demonstrate the impact to their employees. Companies claiming for the AMG and JRG are required to submit evaluations of how projects undertaken have created a positive impact on their older employees. Similarly, under the WLG, companies claiming the Developmental Grant (DG) are required to submit evaluation reports on their FWA pilot projects, in addition to formalising these FWAs in the companies’ HR policy to be offered to all other employees. The FWA Incentive (FI) is disbursed to companies after their employees have regularly used FWAs.