Employees Should Work From Home By Default During Phase 1 & 2, Says MOM

Employees Should Work From Home During Phase 1 & 2, Gatherings & Socialising Not Allowed

‘Circuit Breaker’ is coming to an end, with its deadline on Monday (1 Jun). Once done, Singapore will enter Phase 1 of its reopening stage.

During Phase 1, more businesses will be allowed to resume operations, provided they acquire the necessary permissions and implement adequate safety measures.

However, this is not a green light for employees to go back to work freely. Employers are still expected to allow employees to work from home as much as possible.

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This was announced by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) in a media release on Friday (29 May), reports The Straits Times.

Working from home by default

According to MOM, all companies should adopt working from home as the default option throughout the Phase 1 and 2 of Singapore’s reopening.

This also implies that those currently working from home should continue to do so for the first 2 phases. Employees should only go back to their work place when absolutely necessary.

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MOM will conduct checks to make sure that employers adhere to this guideline and allow employees work from home where possible.

Those found in violation of these rules may have to close their work spaces again.

Gatherings and socialising not allowed

Employees should also not gather and socialise with colleagues in and outside of work during Phase 1 of reopening.

Those who return to office are also not allowed to eat communally, and should have their meals and breaks separately.

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Team-bonding and social gatherings of any kind are prohibited, and should be cancelled or postponed.

Higher caution needed during Phase 1

Although coming out of ‘Circuit Breaker’ is a step in the right direction, we must remain cautious.

In Phase 1, there will be more people up and about, which inevitably raises the amount of risk. Hence, we need to be doubly vigilant about safety measures to keep the situation manageable.

The last thing we would want is to exacerbate the situation and push back the start date of Phase 2, which for now, looks on track to commence early.

Featured image adapted from Pixabay.