361 Degree Consultancy Pte Ltd

            ·  Organisations who have at least FIVE paid employees.

            ·  Organisations who would like to promote Work-Life Policy in the organisation.

             For What?

               ·   To encourage organisations to adopt a Work-Life Balance for their employees.

           ·   To provide more opportunities for the unemployed to be introduced to the workforce.

             How Much?

           ·    The WoW! Fund will subsidise 80% of approved project costs, up to a maximum of 20,000 per organisation. It Consists of:

Common Tranche

·         Maximum of $10,000 per organisation , subject to successful provision

          of Flexible-Work-Arrangements (FWAs) to appropriate staffs. There are

          five broad categories of FWA below:

1)      Part-time Work - Employees who normally work for less than 35 hours in a week.

2)      Staggered hours -Work arrangement in which employees can vary their start and finish times within prescribed limits.

         Flexi-time - Arrangement where employees can vary their daily start and end times to suit their work and personal commitments. [To qualify for enhanced funding, employees must be allowed flexibility of at least 2 hour band.]

3)      Job-sharing -Workload of a full time job is split between 2 or more people in the office. Jobsharers work at different times although there may be a time overlap to maintain continuity.

4)      Flexi-place - Arrangement in which employees perform work in places other than the office. Employees under this arrangement may be required to spend certain ‘core’ times in the office.                     

         Telecommuting - Refers to a variant of flexi-place made possible by information and communication technologies. [To qualify for enhanced funding, employee must be allowed the flexibility to work away from office for at least 2 working days per month.

5)      Alternate work schedules -Arrangement where shifts are redesigned in innovative manners to help employees manage their personal commitments [To qualify for enhanced funding, the redesign of shift schedules must be significant and useful to employees involved.]

 ·         At least 2 out of 5  of the categories of FWA above must be provided.

·         In addition, these conditions must also be achieved:

1)      Project leader has completed his/her Work-Life training.

2)      HR policies are communicated to staff. [Emails or circulars on the communication should be produced.]

       Enhanced Tier

·         Maximum of $10,000 per organisation, subject to achieving the following:

1)      Developed a Work-Life strategy to address the issues. Summary of other Work-Life or HR programmes that contribute to the success of Work-Life Harmony should be provided.

2)      Completed an employee’s needs assessment  to access whether the project had met employee needs.

3)      Tracked how applicant organisations are impacted by the Work-Life programmes, e.g, turnover, absenteeism, overheads, e.t.c.

4)      Provide proof of outcomes achieved for employees who are placed on FWA, which were declared in the Common Tranche.

·         The WoW! Fund  can be used to subsidise the following type of expenditures:

1)      Training of HR managers and line supervisors to facilitate or implement Work-Life Strategies.

2)      Engaging a qualified Work-Life Consultant.

3)      Cost of physical or IT infrastructure that facilitates the development of FWAs.

4)      Infrastructure and programmes that support selected Employee Support Schemes (ESS), e.g, lactation or family rooms.

Things to note

·         Projects must be completed within one year, effective from date of approval.

·         Only Work-Life Consultants approved by MOM may be engaged for consultancy or training.

·         The MOM reserves the right to audit successful applicants at random to ensure that the disbursed WoW! Fund is used appropriately.

·         Applicants should retain receipts, proof of purchases, as well as other documentary proof related to the project for 3 years.

To find out more, give us a call at  31…, by the way, this is a Singapore number and it is offered by Starhub. Shall share with everyone in the next post.