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Essential Tips on FWA Requests

Hi Fellow SME Employers,

You’ve seen several news reports on the new guidelines on Flexible Work Arrangements Requests (FWAR) that will come into effect from 1 December this year. I’d like to reassure you that adopting these Guidelines can be straightforward, and for many of us quite beneficial.

First, here are the essential points for SME employers to note:

  1. Come 1 December 2024, we will all be required to establish processes to handle our employees’ requests for Flexible Work Arrangements (FWA). If your company already has simple guidelines for flexible work arrangements that are working, you’re all set.

  2. FWA aren’t just about working from home. Apart from Flexi-Place, you could also consider Flexi-Time and Flexi-Load.

Flexi-Place

Examples:

  • Telecommuting
  • Work from Home

Flexi-Time

Examples:

  • Flexi-hours
  • Staggered hours

Flexi-Load (Smaller loads with commensurate remuneration)

Examples:

  • Job-sharing
  • Part-time work

  1. When we receive a formal FWA request, we will be required to respond to the employee within two months with a decision (approval or rejection). Any clarification and discussion we engage in before the final decision should also take place within these two months.

  2. As employers we should evaluate each request on a case-by-case basis and assess if they are viable from the business point of view.

  3. Rest assured, where there are valid business grounds, employers are not expected to approve the same FWAs concurrently for all employees in the organisation.

  4. The FWAR Guidelines do not ask for any company-wide standardised version of flexible work. Hence, clear communications will really help our employees understand why some cases are approved while others are not.

What if I have to reject a FWA Request?

As far as reasonably practical, employers should explore ways to accommodate FWA requests such as reviewing work processes or re-assigning work across team members, without affecting your customer needs and team productivity.

However, FWA requests may be rejected based on reasonable business grounds, such as increased costs, decreased productivity, or feasibility concerns.

One More Thing: Open Communication

Cultivating a workplace environment that is based on trust and open communication is essential for the successful adoption of FWA. We don’t need to wait for the Guidelines to come into effect. We can be proactive and start communicating to employees what flexible work means for our customers and for co-workers in the same team.

There may be situations where certain types of FWA may require changes in an employee’s work scope and responsibilities. Employers may also need to address any concerns about the impact of FWA on the career prospects of their high performing employees. Hence, it’s crucial to facilitate open and candid discussions between supervisors and employees to clarify expectations when implementing FWA.

To end on a a positive note, I believe embracing FWA can empower employees to excel professionally and personally, while enabling businesses to get the best out of their workforce. Companies who do this well have found that it is a very effective way to attract and retain the best people!

Thank you for reading and all the best as you work on building your processes for FWA requests.

Lee Tuck Wai
Chair, ASME Human Capital Action Group

Useful Links
More about the Tripartite Guidelines on FWA Requests
Employee’s FWA Request Form Template
Employer’s FWA Response Form Template

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