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SINGAPORE – Allowing staff to turn unused licenses into cash donations for charities is a novel idea that has yet to take hold among organizations here, but there are signs that it is gaining traction.
The idea has struck a chord amid disruptions caused by the pandemic, including travel restrictions that have curbed itchy feet for Singaporeans and led many to re-watch how they use their license.
The most striking sign that trading a license for charity came last week with the news that faculty and staff at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) donated more than $ 10 million of their unused license to support college students.
A handful of organizations, including the National University of Singapore, said plans are in the works to allow staff to donate unused annual leave, but most organizations prefer to encourage employees to help the community in other ways.
Standard Chartered Bank started a voluntary leave plan about 10 years ago that gives each employee three days a year to volunteer for the causes they care about.
StanChart, which said its staff volunteer about 4,000 days a year, gave employees an additional day of voluntary leave this year to “support our community during the pandemic.”
OCBC staff cannot donate licenses, but the bank has added flexibility during days off amid the pandemic.
Ernest Phang, OCBC’s head of corporate services for group human resources, said employees can carry over 12 days of annual leave until 2021 instead of the usual seven or collect their days due.
The bank’s “Flex Plan” also allows employees to convert up to three days of leave into flexible credits that can be used toward medical expenses, insurance premiums, or wellness expenses for themselves or their family members.
Most employees are willing to donate leave
A Straits Times poll of 474 people from Thursday through noon Saturday found that the majority of respondents want their employers to allow them to donate unused licenses.
While 81 percent said they have an unused license, 55 percent said they would support donating some of their days to charity.
Those interested in the license donation said they would prefer to donate to charities rather than be forced to pay off days owed or avoid losing them.
Others felt that charities may need more donations during the pandemic.
Those who preferred not to donate their license said they would rather spend time with loved ones or be allowed to collect their days owed. Some also felt that there were better ways to donate to charities.
About 36 percent of people willing to donate license said they would be willing to give up less than half of their unused annual fees, while a similar number estimated they would donate exactly half.
The survey found that 21 percent would donate all their licenses, while the remaining respondents, 8 percent, said they would give more than half of their unused balance.
He also noted that 62 percent said the practice of donating license should continue after the pandemic.
Experts cite the benefits of license donation and encourage all forms of charity.
Human resources experts said that while license donation is still rare in Singapore, having such schemes can make a company more attractive to job seekers.
Jaime Lim, group business leader at executive search and relocation services firm PeopleSearch Singapore, said an increasing number of job candidates the company works with said they want to work for companies with “a sense of purpose. mission “and” those who care about more than just the end result. “
“In this regard, license donation programs could certainly polish companies’ employer branding and go a long way in attracting and retaining belief-motivated professionals,” he added.
Ms Linda Teo, national manager of ManpowerGroup Singapore recruiting agency, said that the license donation is “an easy way for staff to do something meaningful and contribute to charity as the donation comes from their rights.”
He added that the license donation can help boost employee morale and the corporate image of an organization.
Dr. Zhang Weina, Senior Lecturer in Finance at NUS Business School, said all forms of donation should be encouraged, not just leaving donation.
For example, 1,600 staff members from Singapore’s five polytechnic schools (Nanyang, Ngee Ann, Republic, Singapore and Temasek) donated a total of $ 417,000 from their Solidarity Payments to support their students in need during the pandemic.
Payments of $ 600 for each Singaporean were disbursed in April to help people overcome the pandemic.
The polytechnics said in a joint statement that the donations benefited some 635 students.
Some organizations also make donations directly to beneficiaries or charities.
A FairPrice spokesperson said it donated $ 3 million to the less fortunate through its food voucher scheme this year and an additional $ 500,000 to charities whose donation receipts have been badly affected by the pandemic.
The Executive Director of the Singapore National Employers’ Federation, Sim Gim Guan, praised the donations made by NTU faculty and staff.
“The federation encourages employers to continue to do good together with their employees so that both their business and the community can do well together,” he said.
Additional reports Mok Qiu Lin
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