Discrimination at work, common?

[Wd40]

Basic benefits/entitlements like number of days of paid vacation, paternity/maternity leave, sick days are provided because you are a human being, just like that person over there.

Thats how you see it. But for companies what matters is the CTC and they have some wierd and stringent policies that they need to adhere to. Now sometimes the people who do the contract for you dont have the luxury to amend the policy of giving the same leaves to a foreigner that a local gets. But instead if they compensate you with higher salary, is it so unfair to you?

I mean if you are allowed to take paid leaves and you are able to negotiate a higher pay to compensate for the paid leaves, doesn't that even things out?

[beppi]

So it is wrong in your view - maybe even immoral - to reward good performance with days off, or give money out of humanitarian considerations (e.g. To somebody in sudden need)?
Thankfully not many think like you and the world works differently.

[Wd40]

For a moment people should stop thinking about themselves and instead put themselves in the employers shoes.

For a company the leaves that they provide is also a cost to them just like salary, only difference is, when the economy is doing good and they need more staff, they would rather have you work instead of taking leaves and will be more than glad to have you encash those leaves, same logic for overtime.

On the other hand when the economy is bad and they find it hard to pay salaries, they would rather have you take paid leaves, even more than what you are entitled to.

If I was given a choice, I would love to work in the contractor engagement mode i.e. I get paid by the hour and when I take leaves(for whatever reason sick, child care or whatever, the company has nothing to do with it) I dont get paid for those days.

I dont need the so called "benefits" which I may or may not use. I would rather have it all in hard cash.

[iamsen]

So, therefore, one should not get additional days off with tenure? The longer they are there, the more human you are?

Note I said basic. You get more stuff as you perform better but there's a bare minimum that I believe everyone should have, even if the law thinks they don't deserve it.

[iamsen]

So it is wrong in your view - maybe even immoral - to reward good performance with days off, or give money out of humanitarian considerations (e.g. To somebody in sudden need)?
Thankfully not many think like you and the world works differently.

I think you should go back and re-read my posts, you've seriously misunderstood something somewhere.

To refresh; dpot gets 3 days of childcare leave while his colleagues get 6 days of childcare leave. I say that's wrong and he should get 6 days like his colleagues.

[iamsen]

My general philosophy as an employer.

[quote]“There is, of course, research that show employee benefit programs like ours can improve retention, and appear to improve performance on some level,â€Â

[dpot]

What about the other side? Didn't you uproot your family, take them away from friends and family (and Job?) and then dig in your heels over a few days off?

That's a fair assumption, but my spouse is originally from se asia, though hasn't lived here for 20 yrs until now. Nobody came kicking and screaming...we're an egalitarian household, and one partner doesn't make a unilateral decision to move without 100% agreement. Again, taking/leaving a job is not a money issue for us...I'm not going to say more, but the issue is about the principle, and, as an adult, one has to choose whether or not a particular culture/lifestyle is suitable or not. The difference in my case, I suppose, is that I have a lot of options and freedom...so, I can live here on in the west; I can work or quit, doesn't matter.

I had an exit interview with HR today, and they were receptive...they have little experience with hiring westerners, and wanted to know how they might improve the hiring/employment process...it seemed genuine, and I know (and like) them personally...perhaps in 10-15 years, things will look a lot different in SG.

Anyway, to respond to a post on the other page, we were living in Europe before this, and got the same treatment as any citizen when it came to holiday and maternity leave, so SG was a shocker. Again, I don't really mind if people want to have a go at me, but I'd like to think that equality is something one would want to affirm rather than deny.

That said, SG has been a good destination, and this forum has provided me with a lot of insight (and laughter) during my time here; so for that, thank you!