KUALA LUMPUR: The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry is walking the talk to retain women in the workforce by offering flexible hours for its officers beginning this month.
Minister Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim said the ministry hoped to blaze the trail for other ministries to implement similar policies in order to encourage more women to stay in their jobs.
The policy, which was effective on Sunday, is also extended to male officers.
“We are offering our staff three options of flexible work arrangements – working from home, flexible working hours and a modified compressed work week system.
“We are currently taking applications from our officers now. This initial and trial phase will be implemented for three months,” she told reporters after launching the Career Comeback Programme and grant by the ministry and TalentCorp here yesterday.
She said if the flexible work arrangements were to be a success, it would be recommended to other ministries and the private sector.
On the ministry’s three options, she said those who chose to work from home would perform their duties within office hours.
“The second option is to enable officers to come to work and then leave based on their choice of time but they must maintain the number of required work hours a day.
“The third option is the modified compressed work week system which will allow officers to replace work hours on another day if they have to leave work early,” Rohani said, stressing that there would be no compromise on work productivity.
It was reported that the Government had targeted to have 55% of women in the workforce by this year. As of 2013, the percentage of women in the labour force stood at 52.4%, one of the lowest among Asean countries.
During the event, Rohani launched the RM10mil Career Comeback Grant, approved under the Budget 2015, which aims to encourage companies to employ women who have taken career breaks to increase female participation in the work place.
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