‘No children doesn’t mean we are more available’: Childcare leave increase sparks debate on workplace fairness
Can companies ensure non-parents are equally supported in the workplace when parents take more childcare leave? That’s the question some singles and child-free workers are asking after the recent announcements.
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced during this year’s National Day Rally that working parents with children aged 12 and below will get between eight and 12 days of childcare leave a year, depending on how many eligible children they have.
Parents with one child will get eight days, those with two children will get 10 days, while those with three or more will get 12 days.
For a working couple with three or more eligible children, that could mean up to 24 days of childcare leave between them each year.
Currently, each working parent gets six days of childcare leave a year when their youngest child is six and below. This falls to two days of extended childcare leave when the youngest is aged seven to 12.
‘Sometimes all it takes is one virus’
For working parents, getting an extra day off to deal with a sudden illness or unexpected school closures can make a world of difference.
Xue, a graphic designer with two young children aged two and four, welcomes the new policy.
“If I’m rushing a deadline, then my husband will take leave. If my husband has a huge case to work on, I’ll take leave,” she shared, explaining how she and her partner decide who goes on leave to care for their children.
With the current childcare leave system, the couple has had to tap on other forms of leave to care for their children when they fall sick or when their childcare centre is closed on special occasions.
The new leave entitlement would give her family more breathing room — and potentially more time with their children.
“This will allow us to spend more time with them, and help us create more memories in these short years that they ‘want’ us,” she said with a laugh. “When they grow up they probably won’t even want to talk to us already.”
The 33-year-old considers this as not just an issue of convenience, but a necessity for parents to remain in the workforce.
“Sometimes all it takes is one virus and all the children are down,” she said.
Xue warned that without enough childcare leave, some parents may quit their jobs entirely just to spend time with their children.
Yet, work must go on
Fergie, 38, works in the financial industry and leads a team comprising both parents and non-parents. She is also single and child-free.
She explained that when parents go on leave, their work generally has to be redistributed among those who remain.
“The work does not disappear simply because someone is on leave,” she said.
Maternity leave can sometimes be easier to plan for because it is a longer and more predictable absence, allowing employers to consider temporary cover, but shorter periods of childcare leave are “different”.
“In practice, the existing team absorbs the workload,” she said.
Fergie’s immediate reaction to the NDR announcement was therefore to wonder how workplaces would manage the additional absences.
“If an employee becomes eligible for 12 days of childcare leave, that potentially means another 12 working days during which their colleagues need to cover their responsibilities,” she told Stomp.
When you multiply that across several parents within a team, the operational impact can become quite significant.
No children, more time?
Fergie said employees without children are sometimes assumed to be more flexible and able to absorb extra work when parents take leave.
“I don’t think that’s necessarily true,” she said, noting that some may care for ageing parents or have other responsibilities outside of work.
“Not having children does not necessarily mean that someone’s time outside work is less valuable or that they should automatically be more available,” Fergie said.
As a mother of two, Xue also acknowledged that it is difficult to “fully understand someone else’s circumstances unless we’ve experienced something similar ourselves”.
Xue said: “Everyone has different needs and responsibilities at different points in life.”
She cited caring for elderly parents and personal health issues amongst other reasons that non-parents may need time off.
Better planning and more communication needed
Nadya Davies — founder and director of HR consultancy Bedrock Culture — said problems arise from poor workload distribution, rather than the leave policy itself.
“If planning is done properly, it will minimise perceptions that the policy is unfair,” she said.
Davies said employers should plan for absences through cross-training, contingency staff and clear handovers. Managers should also make it easier for employees to discuss childcare leave openly, she added.
Xue echoes this sentiment, saying that managers must ensure colleagues are not overloaded, while parents should also plan their leaves in advance where possible.
“Ultimately, I think a combination of good communication, reasonable flexibility, and a strong sense of team spirit can help address concerns around fairness while still supporting employees with different needs,” she said.
Similarly for Fergie, she is concerned about the structures put in place to support colleagues who may have to take on extra work in the short term.
“I think the more important question is whether workplaces are also being given the resources and structures needed to accommodate these policies without simply transferring the burden to other employees,” she said.
Extending flexibility to include everyone
Fergie wondered if workplaces could consider more family care leave for employees caring for ageing parents or other relatives.
“Non-parents are often assumed to have less legitimate demands on their time, simply because they’re not caring for a child,” workplace culture expert Davies said.
“If a company only extends flexibility to parents, it makes the policy feel exclusionary,” she cautioned.
The challenge for employers is to support parents without making other employees feel that their own responsibilities matter less.
“If you open the conversation (on flexibility) to everyone, employees feel supported and valued whatever life stage they’re in,” Davies added.
Xue ultimately hopes for a “healthier focus” on everyone’s ability to fulfil their responsibilities “while having the flexibility they need when circumstances arise”.
“It would be great if we could celebrate each other’s successes and support each other through the more challenging periods, rather than viewing different arrangements as a comparison.”
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