Hospitality organisation InterContinental Singapore has enhanced its employee benefits package for the organisation’s 360 employees, effective from January 2018.
The benefits changes, which includes extended maternity and paternity leave, have been introduced in order to promote better work-life balance and to support employees’ personal and professional development.
Under the revised benefits provision, female employees will now be able to take up to six months of paid maternity leave, and male employees, who are not eligible for paternity leave that is funded by the government, will be entitled to take up to five days of paid paternity leave.
InterContinental Singapore has also introduced job-sharing, staggered work hours and telecommuting arrangements to help cater to employees’ varying needs and commitments. This will run alongside the hotel’s existing family care leave programme, which allows employees to take up to five working days of paid leave to care for immediate family members.
The organisation’s current flexible benefits provision has also been extended to include union and gym membership fees, yoga and Pilates classes, flight tickets, traditional Chinese medicine treatments and outpatient expenses for immediate family members. Employees already have access to dental and optical care, health screening and a portable medical benefits scheme through InterContinental Singapore’s flexible benefits scheme.
Employees can additionally encash accrued annual leave, as well as purchase extra annual leave, receive training for another job function for up to five working days a year, and take paid volunteer leave for community programmes at a choice of registered charity organisations. Employees can also use paid volunteer leave to take part in activities for the IHG Foundation, an independent charity launched by the InterContinental group.
The hotel has also amended its re-employment age to 68-years-old. This is the age at which individuals can be re-hired after retiring at 62-years-old. The statutory re-employment age implemented by the Ministry of Manpower in 2017 is 67.
Gabrielle Choy, director of human resources at InterContinental Singapore, said: “Hotels in Singapore have been facing a tightening supply of talent in recent years due to new hotel openings and the increase in job opportunities available in the industry has resulted in stiff competition for a limited pool of talent. It is, therefore, crucial that we develop a truly robust benefit structure focusing on the wellbeing and development of our team, and continually review and enhance our employee benefits to attract and retain talent.
“Working closely with the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and Workforce Singapore (WSG), we strive to have at least 20% of our employees to commence on the flexible work arrangements by [the] end [of] 2018.”