Should paternity leave be mandatory?

Despite several incentive schemes like baby bonus and increased maternity leave benefits, policy makers have been unable to get Singaporeans to have more babies. Singapore’s fertility rate dropped to a new low of 1.16 last year according to the data released in January. As per the United Nations fertility ranking for 2005-2010, Singapore is placed 186th in the world out of 195 countries ranked, well below Scandinavian countries that have long been plagued with low fertility rates.

Women employees often claim that maternity benefits are not enough. As one of the readers Daphne Goh commented on our website, www.hrmasia.com, “With so many incentives to encourage couples to give birth, there are some problems encountered by working parents whose bosses or superiors are not understanding enough to release their staff timely to fetch their young children from the day care.” Singapore’s Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) recently proposed to make paid paternity leave of two weeks mandatory, with cost shared between the employer and the state.

Industry professionals that HRM spoke to are quite supportive of paternity leave. Companies like Cargill and OCBC Bank provide for paid paternity leave of two days. “Yes, I am supportive of paternity leave especially for dual-income families as this is an important element in family friendly policies,” says Deana Chang, HR Manager, Cargill. OCBC is also supportive of the idea. “We will improve our paternity leave benefits in line with statutory requirements and market practice,” says Jacinta Low, Head, HR Planning & Employee Communications, OCBC Bank.

It is not the large multi-national corporations alone that are quite receptive to the idea, but small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are also in favour of family-oriented policies. “For most companies, a 2-day paternity leave is usually granted to the happy father. For those who need more time, they can utilise their annual leave. Compulsory paternity leave, if it helps raise the national birth rate, is something the SMEs may embrace,” says Bryan Teh, CEO of Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME).

While companies are quite supportive, they also have concerns about productivity and business continuity if the proposal for a mandatory 14-day paternity leave was to become a law. “There would be the issue of duration of leave and the cost component. The main concerns would be on the operational impact and the productivity level with a worker’s prolonged absence,” Teh says. There is a special concern for Singaporean males who are called for reservists at times, he adds. “This may impact the work exigencies,” Chang concurs.

There’s also the cost element which can not be ignored. Most companies and HR professionals told HRM that if paternity leave policy helps in raising the overall fertility rate of the country, then government should bear a significant portion of the cost. “As part of the efforts in supporting family friendly practices, I would support that the government provides funding of this (policy). The governmental support will allow both parents to plan on babysitting arrangements and also helps in the bonding of child,” Chang says. Teh of ASME summarises the debate as such: “Unlike large companies, most SMEs operate with a lean team. If compulsory paternity leave is effective in raising the stagnant birth rate, the government should bear a significant portion of the cost.”