Singapore's work culture

[sundaymorningstaple]

In a civilized country, the employees wouldn't take for granted that the 14 days of medical leave given annually by the gahment is annual leave that costs only $8/day for an hour or two and the local polyclinic early in the morning and maybe get 2 days MC from a trumped up "flu". Which normally happens on a Friday or a Monday especially if there is a Gazetted holiday on a Thursday or a Tuesday.

[zzm9980]

Which normally happens on a Friday or a Monday

I bet at least 40% of the time.

That said, I agree with SMS. I considered it ridiculous when I first arrived but quickly realized why it was that way (what SMS said) and that most reasonable managers don't actually ask for it unless it's abused.

And if you really wanted an MC to have an extra day of holiday, just land Monday afternoon and get your MC at Raffles in Terminal 3

[chris_pilgrim]

There are multiple clinics every square km of this Island. You can visit anyone for any reason and almost never have more than a 15 minute wait. (Except perhaps during the 9-10am "m.c. rush" in HDB estates.) Local HR (and everyone else) knows this, so it's not very hard to get an MC certificate. As a foreigner you'll likely pay no more than $30 for the consultation and whatever the doctor prescribes. And you have insurance reimburse it anyway.

This is true, but, if I'm feeling ill, the last thing I want to do is crawl out of bed, walk down in the hot sun to the clinic and sit in a room full of sick people.

+1. In civilized first world countries you normally only have to provide a certificate from your third day of sick leave on.

++1

back home, i only have to provide a certificate from my GP after the fifth day of my sick leave so it is the employee's conscience not to violate that trust.

definitely not happening here in sg.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Yeah, but if you wanted all the comforts of home, you would have stayed there, right? It's an adventure.

[x9200]

Sick leave is how many if not majority of the locals seem to compensate for typically short annual leave. Just imagine what would happen if there was no MC requirement.

[JR8]

It seems a curious concept, people being granted an automatic annual medical leave allowance. Surely it is an invitation for people to use it?

[the lynx]

But if you're not really sick, how would you be able to get the doctor to produce a MC for a "sick day"? Surely you're not suggesting that the doctors here sell MCs?

[JR8]

But if you're not really sick, how would you be able to get the doctor to produce a MC for a "sick day"? Surely you're not suggesting that the doctors here sell MCs?

You've lost me!

I'm coming from a starting point (and culture) of people not really getting 'sick' or taking sick-leave. The opposite of almost being handed a 'sick leave allowance' as an add-on to annual leave.

[x9200]

But if you're not really sick, how would you be able to get the doctor to produce a MC for a "sick day"? Surely you're not suggesting that the doctors here sell MCs?

Simply what I and many people would consider "not sick" in Singapore seems considered "sick". Coughing - sick, a bit of back or leg pain - sick, mild fever - very sick, runny nose - sick, some nausea - sick. See, most of these thigs are subjective so I don't think any local doctor would oppose to write an MC if you say you don't feel very well. I was offered MC many times without saying a word and simply said, no thank you.

I had once a discussion on this very subject with one guy, a section head in a big MNC, where he had a mixed environment of mostly Caucasian guys coming from a different countries in Europe on short-term contracts and regular staff on local contracts. Guess how the sick-leave distribution looked like. Of course it is always possible that the local guys are very poor with their health and the Caucasians are sound and strong...

edited to add missing "no"

[Beeroclock]

I really don't know the answer, but probably I would prefer a trust system for the first few days.

Definitely I notice here some people also take afternoons off sick leave. Just pop across to the nearby clinic, report a headache, collect your MC and a stack of unnecessary medications, claim back this approx. $50 receipt from employer, and enjoy your afternoon off (er I mean recovering from the headache!). In a perverse way the MC process actually makes it easier and kind of sanctions this behavior. Whereas if you need to front up and inform your boss/HR people might be less likely to abuse the system like this.

[TandD]

Is this work culture relate to Singaporean companies or is it also a problem with western companies who have offices there?

[sundaymorningstaple]

No. It's related to wherever you find Singaporean employees. MNC/SME/SP nevermind.

[Wd40]

In a civilized country, the employees wouldn't take for granted that the 14 days of medical leave given annually by the gahment is annual leave that costs only $8/day for an hour or two and the local polyclinic early in the morning and maybe get 2 days MC from a trumped up "flu". Which normally happens on a Friday or a Monday especially if there is a Gazetted holiday on a Thursday or a Tuesday.

Well, it works both ways. Many companies here make employees slog well beyond work hours and don't pay them for the overtime and then don't sanction leaves also. Sick leave they cannot say no.

In my opinion, it depends on the employer/employee relationship. I have rarely ever taken sick leaves in my previous companies and they used to be very generous like 22 days sick leave a year as well as only more than 3 days sick leave only then you need to produce medical certificate. Of course this is a very popular bank and the kind of benefits I used to get there cannot be compared with a typical local or localized MNC companies of Singapore. I used have 22 annual leaves and also 6 child care leaves. I never ever need to bluff and take sick leaves.

[x9200]

The companies in Singapore I worked for were as of what you mentioned very fair to the employees and this working culture was/is still around. This included the big MNC I mentioned.

Apparently in Singapore bad employers and bad attitude employees are pretty much independent entities. They are both bad with no need for lame excuses pushing the blame for ones misconduct to the other party.

[TandD]

There's hope then. We're moving because my husband is being seconded from his Uk office to their Singapore office. There's a mixture of people that are local and people who have moved from the Uk in that office. His line manager is from the Uk so hopefully means working environment/culture will be similar to here? ?? Worried we'd be without friends and without husband/dad.