Workers’ Party welcomes NDR 2024 policy shifts, calls for deeper reforms on singles buying BTO flats
WP’S REDUNDANCY INSURANCE, PARENTAL LEAVE PROPOSALS
On the introduction of a new SkillsFuture Jobseeker Support scheme, WP said it was in agreement with Mr Wong that losing a job can seriously destabilise workers and their families.
The new scheme gives lower- and middle-income workers who involuntarily lose their jobs temporary financial support of up to S$6,000 for over up to six months.
WP cited its 2016 policy paper that called for the implementation of a redundancy insurance scheme.
Its proposal aims to ease the financial pressure on workers who are made redundant, to provide them with a longer runway to find suitable re-employment and to minimise the toll of unemployment on the health and well-being of their families.
The opposition party said it reiterated the call in its 2020 General Election manifesto as well as during the Budget 2023 debate in parliament.
According to WP’s manifesto, retrenched workers would receive a payout equivalent to 40 per cent of their last drawn salary for up to six months.
The payout would be capped at S$1,200 per month with a minimum payout of S$500 a month to benefit low-wage workers. Payouts after the first one would be conditional on the worker actively seeking a new job or undergoing re-training.
WP added its redundancy insurance scheme was “designed with a view to be funded mainly by premiums paid by workers while they are employed, rather than by taxpayers”.
The party also welcomed Mr Wong’s announcement that parents of newborns will get an extra 10 weeks of shared leave.
Parents will have a total of 30 weeks of paid leave when a new shared parental leave scheme is fully implemented on Apr 1, 2026.
Referring again to its 2020 manifesto, the WP said its proposal entitles parents to 24 weeks of government-paid leave. It is shared between mothers and fathers as they choose, but with a minimum of 12 weeks to be granted to the mother and four weeks to the father.
WP said Mr Chua as well as fellow Sengkang GRC MP and Associate Professor Jamus Lim had repeated this call during the parliamentary debate on the White Paper on Singapore Women’s Development in April 2022.
