Said Cheong Meng Foong, DBS Group Head of Rewards, “At DBS, people are our most important resource and we have always sought to support them in various ways. The enhanced paternity leave scheme will be a welcome addition to our suite of family-friendly programmes, aimed at promoting work-life balance for our staff. We hope that through these, employees will have more flexibility to better balance their family needs and careers.”
Apart from increased paternity leave, the bank already offers various employee benefits aimed at allowing staff to spend more time with their families and to pursue their interests. For example, the bank’s flexible working arrangements enable employees to choose working hours that best meet their individual needs and provide them with the option of working from home. On Fridays, staff can end work at 5pm and they are also entitled to a half-day birthday leave during their birthday month.
Staff also have a flexible spending account which they can use to fund health and wellness related expenses for the entire family. These are on top of industry standards such as paid childcare and family leave, which are in addition to bank employees’ annual leave.
Over the years, DBS Bank and the DBS Staff Union (DBSSU) have worked closely together to enhance staff benefits and to build a better workplace. Nora Kang, President of DBSSU said, “The initiative was announced at the DBS Staff Union 5th Delegates Conference. The union is glad that DBS is able to introduce the enhanced paternity leave scheme in such a short time. By being an early adopter of this national scheme, DBS shows itself as leading the way in staff welfare. We hope this will encourage more companies to step up in support of national efforts to strengthen family-friendly work environments.”
