Pregnant? YOU'RE FIRED

Amdist this tough economic times, greater maternity benefits aimed to encourage more birth seem only to prove counter-effective.

There were 119 pregnancy-related complains lodged with the Ministry of Manpower in the first nine months, a shocking jump from 72 in 2007 and 95 last year.

Most of the woman complained that they were sacked under the pretence of poor performance, but actually just because they were pregnant. Others were simply underpaid or denied maternity benefits.

In fact, maternity benefits can be a burden and liability rather taxing on the company. Mothers-to-be are given 4 months of maternity leave, of which they can received their full pay without working.

During their leave, companies would need to hire stand-bys to fill in their positions. When the mothers come back to work, these stand-bys normally stay on, resulting in redundant manpower. This weighs heavy on the company's resources, especially during bad times.

Should the company opt not to hire additional staff, the existing manpower would have to take on extra workload. Not only will it be demoralizing for the staff, productivity and performance would most likely be affected too.

While it may be understandable for companies to want to maximise productivity and output, in the longer run, the company can promote itself as a good employer that values human resources assets, thereby command loyalty from its existing employees who knows that their welfare is being fully taken care of. At the same time, this aids in attracting more talents.

Singapore is facing ageing population problems. Government solution to this problem is greater maternity benefits. There are many working mothers who are driven by career, and this maternity benefits is targeted at this group of woman to encourage them to bear more children without sacrifing their career.

Companies do have a social responsibility towards its employees and as such, obliged to support the government in this policy. It is a long term win-win situation for both parties as compared to if they were to just try to maximise profit in the short-term.