Flexible Work Arrangements – Next Steps For Employers

The recently announced Tripartite Guidelines on Flexible Work Arrangements Requests (Guidelines) require employers to, as far as reasonably practicable, consider employees' formal requests for flexible work arrangements (FWA) from 1 December 2024 (Effective Date). The three types of FWAs that can be requested are (i) flexible place of work, (ii) flexible working hours (with no change in total working hours and workload) and (iii) flexible workloads.

This is a landmark shift in the Singapore employment landscape as FWA requests which can currently be brushed off would soon have to be properly considered by employers, and such requests can only be rejected if employers have reasonable business grounds to do so.