Civil servants to get 5-day week, equal medical benefits
AUG 23, 2004
What civil servants will get:
Five-day work week
Equal medical benefits
CIVIL servants will now work a five-day week, a change that had long been resisted by the Government.
However, working hours will not be reduced and public counters will remain open on Saturday under the new work week, which applies to those who work in schools and army camps as well.
Female civil servants will also be given the same medical benefits as males in the civil service, a change Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said reflects changing societal norms.
'Ten years ago, I don't think you could have imagined a women's team wanting to climb Mount Everest. But today, there is,' he said.
These two recommendations were among 74 presented by the Remaking Singapore Committee in July last year.
Of these, the Government accepted 60, rejected 12 and agreed to review these two proposals.
As recently as middle of last year, however, the Government had turned down calls for a shorter work week.
Responding to the suggestion from the Remaking Singapore Committee, then trade and industry minister George Yeo said Singapore needed to march to the beat of the world economy and envisioned the country humming seven days a week.
The nod to equal medical benefits for male and female civil servants comes five months after the Constitution was amended to grant citizenship to children born overseas to Singaporean women, just like those born overseas to Singaporean men.
The existing policy allows only men to use up to 60 per cent of the annual outpatient subsidy for their dependants.
This is despite the fact that women make up 54 per cent of the civil service, Mrs Lim Hwee Hua pointed out last year.
The newly appointed Minister of State for Finance and Transport chaired the group looking at women's issues in the Remaking Singapore Committee.
Unequal medical benefits for civil servants have led to the perception that women contribute less in the public sector, she had said, urging the Government to amend the policy.
After saying 'no' for a long time, Mr Lee said it is time to change.
However, he added to much laughter from the audience: 'I wanted to say I was going to go to work on Saturday, but the civil servants told me: 'Please don't say that.'
'But I can tell you I will be checking my e-mail on Saturday.'
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Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.
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