EMPLOYERS have been given a revised set of guidelines on managing excess workers, in a move to further help them cut costs and save jobs.

It was prompted by the worsening economy and prospects of a prolonged recession, said the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on Sunday, in a statement with tripartite partners the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF).

The changes are targeted primarily at giving businesses that continue to struggle to stay afloat, more room to design new work arrangements before considering layoffs.

Said Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong, in announcing them: ‘It’s important to provide adequate flexibility to employers so that they can weather the recession because we really don’t know how long this recession will last.’

Some of the key changes include a shorter work week; introducing no-pay leave; urging companies without a Monthly Variable Component (MVC) in their wage structures to treat any cut in basic pay of up to 10 per cent as an MVC cut; and, if reductions of the variable components are not enough, to consider cutting the Annual Wage Supplement or 13th month payment.

News on the updated Tripartite Guidelines on Managing Excess Manpower was given on Saturday for release to the media on Sunday.

The announcement was made at a NTUC event by Mr Gan, with Mr Bob Tan, SNEF’s vice-president, and Mr Heng Chee How, deputy secretary-general of NTUC. The minister also noted that the earlier guidelines had saved jobs and prevented higher unemployment.

But despite some economists seeing signs of recovery in this second quarter, ‘the tripartite partners are very mindful that we are still a long way from a sustained recovery’, said NTUC secretary-general Lim Swee Say on Sunday, when commenting on the new guidelines.

He also stressed that management must lead by example, taking deeper pay cuts and ahead of rank and file workers. By doing so, ‘we as a labour movement…are more committed, more willing to go along’, he added.

Read the full story in The Straits Times today.

kianbeng@sph.com.sg